Ottawa Senators Fan Blog

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.

THE THREE TEAM DEAL THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN

There is a lot of reports today that the Senators and Lightning were working on a three team deal just hours before completing their trade. Earlier in the day, I had reported that Bryan Murray was once again speaking with the Blackhawks. Well after some late night and early morning digging, here is what almost went down.

The trade talks had the Senators sending Andrej Meszaros and Chris Neil to the Blackhawks. Chicago was to send Ottawa Brent Seabrook and a prospect (rumoured to be Bryan Bickell). The Hawks were then to turn Meszaros and Nikolai Khabibulin over to the Lightning in exchange for Filip Kuba, a first round pick, and a higher end forward such as Radim Vrbata or perhaps a Ryan Malone or Vaclav Prospal.

So what happened? I'm not sure really, but I'm guessing the proposed deal broke down in one of two places. Chicago was not ready to part with much more than Brent Seabrook when it came to the deal with the Senators while Ottawa wanted a little more return than that. And/or I'm guessing the Lightning probably felt like they were giving up too much as Chicago was talking about 30 goal scorers in return. But I'm just speculating. What I do know is that Khabibulin almost returned to the Bolts yesterday.

As for Chris Neil, I am hearing that there may still be a deal to be done with Chicago.

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.

MURRAY NOT LOOKING TO TRADE VERMETTE

Antoine Vermette's new deal with the Ottawa Senators makes him untradeable. By this I mean that the deal he made with Bryan Murray is so good for the Senators, Murray could not possibly trade him. And if he somehow brought himself to actually trade the two-way forward, he would stand to get a lot in return because of the deal. With a cap hit of under $3 million per year for a guy coming off a 25 goal season, for one of the better face-off guys in the NHL, for a stubborn penalty killer such as he is, this is a steal.

If the Vancouver Canucks coveted Vermette before, they must be drooling over him now. Murray played this perfectly, standing strong, willing to go to arbitration, and came out a clear winner. Thing is, Vermette comes out a winner too. If he can continue to improve, he will hit the free agent market as a valuable two-way forward. His payday is sure to come. Throw away the trade rumours, because it would have to be one sweetheart of an offer for Murray to part with such a key component to Ottawa's secondary scoring at the price their paying for his services.

Update on Andrej Meszaros - Here is what happened - Mez received a final offer from Murray. He came back with a shortened length and they appeared to be closing in on a deal. Meszaros is now weighing this offer against the Russian offer. I am unaware of any deadline being given to Meszaros to accept the deal or counter, but I am guessing that it's open ended for now anyway.

BOUWMEESTER RE-SIGNS WITH PANTHERS

Jay Bouwmeester has re-signed with the Florida Panthers. The deal is reportedly a one year term at $4.9 million. As a result, the sought-after puck moving defenceman has avoided arbitration.

This move will likely spell the end to trade rumours which had Bouwmeester coming to the Ottawa Senators. While a sign-and-trade can certainly occur, it appears much more unlikely now, since any team dealing for Bouwmeester will likely be renting him for a year before he tests the free-agent market.  Even if Antoine Vermette only signs for one year (through arbitration or otherwise), the Panthers would be better served keeping Bouwmeester and trying to swing a deal with another team before July 1, 2009. Trading for Vermette would have the Panthers inheriting the same problem in that scenario.

While another team may bite the bullet and give Jacques Martin good, long term future value for Bouwmeester, Bryan Murray is not interested in dealing away assets for a short term gain. Doing so hurts the team much more than it helps. If Murray is going to deal Vermette, he's going to get someone who will fill a void now and into the future for the club.

The pure economics also would not make sense for the Senators. With Bouwmeester earning 4.9 million with this deal, Andrej Meszaros will be hard pressed to get 4.5 million. Antoine Vermette is not going to command that kind of money either, so Murray is not going to trade away a big part of what little secondary scoring he has for a more expensive player such as Bouwmeester, when he has two players who fit into much needed roles and will likely sign for less.

Expect both Vermette and Meszaros to be part of this team in 2008-09.