With the free agent market set to open tomorrow, the Ottawa Senators are left with one unrestricted free agent on their NHL roster.
Erik Condra, who played such an important role on the team’s third line during their surge into the playoffs this past season, is without a contract. And after spending his entire career with the Senators organization, Condra is just a day away from being able to sign with the team of his choosing.
Condra is one of those affordable depth players that just about every team should be able to make room for. He’s a reliable bottom six guy and in the last couple seasons, has also become a penalty kill specialist of sorts. You would be hard pressed to find a guy with better hockey sense than Condra. While he’s never going to blow anyone away with his offensive talents, he can always be counted on to make the smart play. And it’s that intelligence at both ends of the rink that has made him an advanced stats darling over the past few seasons.
But with 11 players already signed and two RFAs still to sign (Hoffman, Chiasson), the Senators are facing a bit of a roster crunch. They have plenty of cap space but room on the roster is another story. Yet with that said, they remain interested in Condra.
Last night, Bruce Garrioch suggested that Erik Condra is looking for a three year term on his new deal.
While the contract would certainly end up below $2 million a season, that extra year on the deal has to be what is holding this up. And I get the concern. An organization that prides itself on the young pipeline of talent needs to do their best to avoid situations where veteran players are “blocking” spots that could otherwise be taken by a young guy. At the same time, this contract is going to be a fairly low cap hit so maybe that extra year doesn’t make much of a difference, assuming they could still trade him if they needed to free up the roster spot.
Condra has apparently already received calls from other teams that have interest.
The Senators tabled another offer to Condra on Monday so now it’s up to Condra and his agent to decide if that’s enough to sign on the dotted line or if they’d rather wait it out and see what offers come in tomorrow.
-Yesterday, the Senators announced that they’ve submitted their qualifying offers to four of the team’s restricted free agents including Mike Hoffman, Alex Chiasson, Shane Prince and Cole Schneider. Garret Thompson and Darren Kramer did not receive qualifying offers.
-The Senators kick off their annual development camp today at the SensPlex in Kanata. Physical and medical testing are scheduled for this morning with the first on-ice sessions planned for this afternoon. A reminder that all on-ice sessions are open to the public. If you can find the time, it’s a great chance to get a glimpse at the Senators of the future. The full roster and on-ice schedule is available here.
