"Call it Plan B. After a trip to the Stanley Cup final in 2007, the Senators felt they had the pieces in place to get back, and maybe even win this time, with a little bit of tinkering. But after minimal roster changes, the spring of 2008 saw them eliminated in a first-round sweep by the Pittsburgh Penguins, and in 2009, with more minor alterations, they didn't even make the playoffs. Last season, injuries and the fact they just weren't good enough saw them go down to the Penguins in Round 1 again. So, in the tail end of a disastrous current campaign, the decision was simple. It was time to tear it down and start over again. "Younger, quicker, better-balanced and hard-working is the type of team we want," GM Bryan Murray said of Plan B. "To do so we have to draft well and do a good job in player development." Some key decisions will also have to be made before, during and after the summer. So, in the spirit of that great eighties movie Back to the Future, it's time to rev up the DeLorean (hey, we can dream, can't we?) and spring ahead a few months. Goalie Craig Anderson has to be re-signed. He was on management's radar months ago as an upcoming free agent who could look very good in a Senators shirt. A slick trade to get him out of Colorado before that has proven the Senators right with their hunch. In six games, Anderson has looked very much like a goalie the Senators can build around — at least until Robin Lehner is ready to become a full-time, No. 1 NHL 'tender. Plan B includes going forward with a young and talented group of defencemen. But what will the Ottawa blue line look like next season? Chris Phillips, Sergei Gonchar and Erik Karlsson will be the top three names on the depth chart, in some order. And Matt Carkner will occupy a spot on the 5-6 combo. " Read more: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Ottawa/2011/03/05/17509036.html
