While the Ottawa Senators are not expected to be overly active in free agency this summer, they do have to make some important decisions regarding some of their own players.
Four key pieces of the team- all 25 and under and each expected to be an important part of this team for years to come- need new contracts. Mika Zibanejad, Jean Gabriel Pageau, Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone (and Alex Chiasson) have all hit restricted free agency at the same time and put the Senators in a position where they have to make some difficult and obviously important decisions about the future of the hockey club.
The organization sounds confident that these contracts are going to get done but the length and term appropriate for each of these guys remains up for debate. Here’s what Murray had to say about the restricted free agents during his season-ending press conference. Transcript courtesy of The 6th Sens.
“I think that’s an individual thing. I think that there are a couple that we are going to look at a shorter term – one to two years – and then there are a couple that we would like to sign for a longer term thing. I don’t want to get into specifics obviously, but that’s sort of the approach and we’ve identified that. We’ve already started talking to a couple of the agents and we’ll see how it works out. We have an ideal (strategy), but they may have a different point of view totally.”
Looking at that group of five, you can sort of see who might fit into which category.
Mark Stone and Mika Zibanejad both seem to fit the mould of players worth taking a long term gamble on. In both cases, the Senators know exactly what they’re going to get from those players and it’s clear where they fit in with the team long term. Zibanejad is a second and hopefully one day first line centre. Stone is going to be a fixture in the top six for years to come. Obviously the players and their agents have some say in the matter but I’d be looking long term with those two.
Mike Hoffman and Jean Gabriel Pageau both look like candidates for shorter term deals. Bridge contracts. Although in the case of Mike Hoffman, it’s a bit of a gamble because at 25 years of age, he could be entering unrestricted free agency at the end of his next contract. Not saying I’ve heard anything specific or that I would support such a move but don’t be surprised if Mike Hoffman’s name comes up in trade rumours at some point. Really think of the four, the Hoffman negotiation is the toughest to predict.
Alex Chiasson is the wild card in the group. He’s not a top six forward and at times late in the season, had a hard time cracking the line-up. If there was trade interest, I think Murray has to at least consider it. Otherwise, a short term deal makes sense.
I did a little crowd-sourcing on Twitter this morning (Zibanejad, Stone, Hoffman, Pageau) and it’s interesting to see the range in the response. For each of the players, both long and short term options were proposed and honestly, you can make a strong case for either approach with four out of five of these guys.
The off-season is always interesting around these parts but perhaps more than any other season, how the Senators handle their own restricted free agents figures to be one of the most compelling storylines of the summer.
