If the Ottawa Senators are going to return to the form that had pundits labelling them bona fide Cup contenders they are going to need more from Mike Fisher.
Now, before the legions of Fisher fans out there jump down my throat screaming that Fisher is the heart and soul of the Senators and the team's captain-in-waiting, take a breath. Mike Fisher is a good hockey player and by all reports a real stand-up guy who does a ton of great work in the community. But...
Fisher is entering the first year of a 5 year contract extension that will pay him $21 million. Under this new deal Fisher will earn $6 million, an eye-popping raise over the $1.5m he earned in 2007-08. This means he will be making more than Daniel Alfredsson ($5.4m) and any other Senator except Dany Heatley ($10m) and Jason Spezza ($8m). Three things have to happen for Fisher to fulfil the $6m in expectations he has set for himself:
- clearly establish himself as Ottawa's second line centre
- hit the 25 goal/60 point marks
- avoid prolonged scoring droughts
Early reports indicate that new Senator boss Craig Hartsburg will follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and separate the Alfredsson-Spezza-Heatley trio. This will likely mean that Fisher will be paired with Alfredsson. Alfredsson is an exceptionally smart, hard working and creative player with whom Fisher should do well, but this is not the first time for the this experiment and in the past it has failed to produce the desired result.
If Fisher and Alfredsson do succeed in developing some chemistry, Fisher should have little trouble improving over his 2007-08 production of 23 goals/24 assists. The defensively responsible Alfredsson should also help Fisher rebound from his 2008 team worst -10 plus/minus rating.
Consistency, at least in terms of scoring, has always been one of Fisher's biggest problems. Last season he went on 7, 14 and 18 game scoreless streaks that are simply unacceptable for a player averaging close to 20 minutes a game playing time.
Mike Fisher's work ethic, combined with occasional burst of brilliance, mean that Fisher has few detractors. Nonetheless, there are some who are whispering that Fisher is the league's best third line centre and wondering if he will ever develop into the solid number two centre the Sens have been lacking for years.
It would be unfair to say that Ottawa's 2008-09 fate rests on the shoulders of Mike Fisher. Nonetheless, now that Fisher's a $6 million dollar man he has to step up and make a consistent and significant offensive contribution if the Senators are going to be a factor in the Eastern Conference.
To avoid the wrath of Fisher fans, I've posted some links to Fisher-related videos, below.
Fisher is paid $6M...in his first year. Then he's paid $4M for the next three years, and $3M in his last. For an average of $4.2M. Saying he needs to live up to a $6M contract is ridiculous. $4.2 may even be a little bit high, but not ridiculously so. Especially given some of the contracts handed out this summer. It's called front-loading a contract, and lots of teams do it.
Posted by: Conrad | September 19, 2008 at 08:33 AM
Fair enough, but the fact is that he's got a pretty serious raise and is now making the kind of dough that, for a centre, usually comes with a serious expectation of offensive production. Fisher has all the intangibles any player can have - but he's got to put up some more tangible numbers.
Posted by: HockeyDirt | September 25, 2008 at 04:33 PM