If you were expecting the Ottawa Senators to make a big splash on day one of free agency, well then you haven’t been following them very closely for the last few seasons.
This is still a team on a strict internal budget and that makes it difficult to dive into the free-spending ways of July 1st.
So while other teams are able to chase the big names on the market and sign them to in many instances ridiculous contracts, the Senators have to be a little bit more careful. Pierre Dorion did some quiet shopping yesterday but obviously isn’t in any rush to add to the roster at this point.
They’ll continue to look for a bottom pairing defenceman and potentially another forward but if they don’t find something that makes sense financially, they seem content to go into next season with this group.
In the end, the Senators signed six players on day one of free agency although not one of them should be considered an NHL regular heading into the 2016-2017 season. Mike Kostka, Phil Varone, Casey Bailey, Max McCormick, Chad Nehring and Mike Blunden.
From a PR standpoint maybe they could have held off on announcing those deals for a day or two. The optics of signing AHL talent while the rest of the league is improving their NHL roster isn’t great. In all seriousness, these were deals that needed to get done. No big names but some much-needed depth for the team in Binghamton following a disastrous season.
Dorion mentioned yesterday that Blunden has a chance to crack the line up but that seems like a less than ideal scenario. While the Senators are fairly thin on the right side after Mark Stone and Bobby Ryan, would certainly rather see a roster spot go to a young player instead of Blunden.
Here’s Pierre Dorion’s thoughts on Day One of Free Agency.
