On Saturday, the Sens sent defenceman David Rundblad and a 2012 2nd rounder to Phoenix for centreman Kyle Turris, a number 3 overall pick from 2007.
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| Newest Ottawa Senator Kyle Turris |
Right now Turris is no more a top 6 forward than Rundblad is a top 2 defenceman. Their old teams were hoping they would be someday. Now their new teams are too. If you're going to be waiting on a kid anyway, he might as well be playing a position where a void exists. So both teams were just addressing needs.
My concerns about the deal? Turris' resume. The entire NHL was excited about him as an 18 year old because he lit up BC's Tier 2 Junior Hockey League. In the four years since leaving that league, he really hasn't done anything eye popping yet. Behold...
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2005-06 | Burnaby Express | BCHL | 57 | 36 | 36 | 72 | 32 | 20 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 6 | |
| 2006-07 | Burnaby Express | BCHL | 53 | 66 | 55 | 121 | 83 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 16 | |
| 2007-08 | U. of Wisconsin | WCHA | 36 | 11 | 24 | 35 | 38 | ||||||
| 2007-08 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2008-09 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 63 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 21 | -15 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2008-09 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 8 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | -1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2009-10 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 76 | 24 | 39 | 63 | 60 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2010-11 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 65 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 2010-11 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2011-12 | Phoenix Coyotes* | NHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -2 | |||||
| 2011-12 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | Statistics Unavailable | ||||||||||
| NHL Totals | 137 | 19 | 27 | 46 | 43 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |||
You'd think a 3rd overall, 2007 draft pick would have arrived by now. Patrick Kane was chosen two picks earlier and he's been fantastic, as billed. Thomas Hickey went one pick later than Turris, 4th overall to LA that year. Hickey was a WHL teammate of Jim O'Brien, who went later in that first round. Suffice to say, Hickey is in the Kings' future plans the way O'Brien is in Ottawa's - and that's not at all.
We'll find out in the coming months if Turris is a Hickey or a Kane or, most likely, something in between. I don't put much stock in his zero points in 6 games so far. It'll be a while before he gets up to speed after missing camp and most of the season.
Some Sens fans worry Turris may be Nikita Filatov 2.0. There certainly are similarities. Both are former first rounders, who got cranky with the team that drafted them. Filatov didn't nearly live up to his former draft status. Turris may not either. We'll have to see. But I think you can also compare this to the tale of Pascal Leclaire. The Sens had to give up Antoine Vermette for Leclaire, who was also a very high draft pick. That was expensive.
When a GM gives up that much for a player - whether it's a very high pick in the draft or assets in a trade, they will give their new player everything he needs to succeed. Time, line mates, quality minutes, whatever. Otherwise, the GM and his scouts look like chumps for giving up so much for him.
So, like Leclaire and unlike Filatov, who only cost them a third rounder, Turris will get every chance to shine in Ottawa. He will not yo-yo up and down from Binghamton or play on the 4th line. Not this season. Hopefully, Murray will have more luck with this former first rounder than he did with the kids from Columbus.
The move will likely force the Sens to send Kaspars Daugavins to the minors. Meanwhile, it probably moves pesky Binghamton defenceman Mark Borowiecki one step closer to the NHL.
