Ottawa Senators Fan Blog

MURRAY ADDS DEPTH, CAP SPACE

I was away in cottage country late last week, so sorry for not posting about the Brad Isbister signing. I don't think it is really all that newsworthy, although his size and speed would suggest otherwise. Isbister was signed by the Senators to a two-way contract. He is likely to start the season in Binghamton. Sorry, but this is Randy Robitaille all over again, so personally, I hope he was brought in to help the team down in Bingo.

One thing we are seeing here is Bryan Murray loading up the depth in the forward ranks. Murray is either hoping that one of Jesse Winchester or Nick Foligno can step up and be big secondary scoring contributors, so that he can place the best guys remaining into specific roles on the team, or he is loading up the depth at forward to position a possible trade before the season opens. There is a really nice mix of youth and veteran within the forward ranks, and I believe that Murray would like to see how all this plays out in camp so that he can assemble the best possible lineup. I believe once things become more clear to both Murray and the coaching staff about who fits in where, we will see the Senators shop around some of this depth to get some help where needed.

I like the fact that Murray has left ample cap room to add a player now or in the future to improve the team, while he has loaded up with some good raw talent at both forward and defence that he can use to attempt to improve the team through trade now, or in the future. He has a lot more flexibility than he had a month ago.

Still hearing rumblings about Glen Murray. He may be invited to participate in camp. Some emails came in wondering about Mark Parrish. There may be something there too. Working on getting more information.

NYCHOLAT TO CANUCKS, GLEN MURRAY?

The Ottawa Senators have traded Lawrence Nycholat to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Ryan Shannon. The Senators blueline, which looked quite thin in early July had suddenly become quite deep, making Nycholat expendable. In Shannon, the Senators get a forward who registerd 13 points (8G, 5 A) in 27 games with the Canucks last season. Shannon is not a very big guy, listed at 5'9, 173 pounds. He did get his name on the Stanley Cup as a member of the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.

Nycholat was unhappy in the organization due to lack of opportunity. Friday's deal that brought in Filip Kuba and Alexandre Picard reportedly prompted Nycholat to ask to be traded over the weekend. The Senators wanted Nycholat to be patient and go for a roster spot during training camp, but in the end, they granted him his wish to go elsewhere.

In another developing story, the Senators have expressed interest in the possibility of signing free agent forward Glen Murray. Ottawa has about $5 million in cap space left, of which about $2.5-3 million is spendable. Murray can certainly be had for less than that, and he could potentially be the top six forward Bryan Murray has been seeking since losing Cory Stillman to free agency.

MESZAROS TO RECEIVE OFFER SHEET FROM BOLTS

The Andrej Meszaros saga took a turn today as rumours that the Tampa Bay Lightning intend of tendering an offer sheet for the services of Andrej Meszaros have been confirmed by multiple sources close to both the hockey club and Ottawa Senators as well, and in fact, an offer sheet may have already been signed.

The offer is send to be in the $4.5 - $5 million range. This amount would result in Tampa's first, second and third round pick going Ottawa's way in 2009. It appears as if the Lightning have swung a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins to get a third round pick back which would allow them to make to tender the offer sheet. Murray is unlikely to match the offer because of salary cap restrictions and he is unlikely to get that kind of return should he be able to deal him.

There are also some rumours swirling today that something might be brewing again with the Chicago Blackhawks. Details as they become available.

MESZAROS UPDATE

It's been a while, since there has been very little to report lately. I do have an "update" on the status of Andrej Meszaros. I reported a while back that Murray offered in the $3.5 million/yr neighbourhood in a multi-year deal.

The Meszaros camp is stuck on both money and term. All along, Meszaros has been seeking a four year, $18 million deal.

I think all this will end up in a three year, $11 million dollar deal, perhaps with a fourth year at an option. Expect to see Meszaros when camp begins.

SENATORS, VERMETTE AVOID THE ARBITRATOR

The Ottawa Senators have signed Antoine Vermette to a two-year contract worth $5.525 millon. Vermette and the Senators were due to appear before an arbitrator today, but avoided the often ugly event by reaching an agreement at the eleventh hour.

Bryan Murray did well with this one. He signed Vermette without having to break the bank, and he did not lock into anything long-term. This was a fair deal becuase Vermette still has to prove he is worth big money before he can sign a big money contract (not that $2.7+ million is anything to sneeze at). If Vermette blossoms in the next two years, he will have helped the Senators be successful and be in a position to cash in big time as an unrestricted free agent. Of course, a strong season this year could see the Senators awarding him with a richer contract in the form of an extension.

There is also the possibility that Murray will trade Vermette, but I don't see that happening. All along I have felt that doing so for a puck moving defenceman would be a mistake because their secondary scoring, as weak as it is, would further suffer from his absence. Not to mention the fact that it would mean the departure of the number one face-off man on the team and one of its best penalty killers.

I had not heard anything to suggest that anything has changed since my last report on Andrej Meszaros, until I read Bryan Murray's quote that said there has been nothing new with him. I will check into this further as while Murray is one to keep things very quiet, he is not one to lie. One would think that if he was close like two of my sources suggested he was, he would have said as much. So I may have been wrong on that one, sorry. But we'll see what happens over the next couple of days.