When the Ottawa Senators signed free agent forward David Legwand to a contract a few days into the free agent frenzy last year, it was somewhat of a polarizing move.
On one hand, you could see what the Senators were trying to do. There were still question marks about Mika Zibanejad’s ability to produce as a top six centre and with Jason Spezza on the way out, the Senators were desperate to replace some offence from the centre ice position.
Legwand was an affordable option that had put up points in the past. Ottawa had to spend some money and felt like production from the centre ice position was the biggest area of need.
But at the same time, there were question marks about Legwand, who after a stellar career in Nashville had shown pretty clear signs of decline during his brief stint with the Detroit Red Wings. The Legwand addition also meant that Jean Gabriel Pageau was suddenly in tough just to crack the roster.
David Legwand became a target of fan criticism for a large portion of the season but honestly, he wasn’t that bad. He wasn’t the top six forward Sens’ Management hoped they were getting but he was a serviceable fourth line guy. The biggest issue was that more than anything, he just wasn’t needed. And yet at the same time, he seemed to automatically get power play ice time for most of the year despite some pretty clear struggles in that role. Come playoff time, Legwand would actually watch a game from the press box as a healthy scratch.
Legwand is the final year of his two year contract and set to earn $3.5 million in real dollars this season with a cap hit of $3 million. It should come as no surprise but his is a contract the Senators would love to move this season.
And rumour has it Legwand himself is quite open to the idea of a deal. While Legwand fit in well with this group off the ice, becoming a respected veteran on a young team, things just didn’t work out the way he thought they would in Ottawa. Murray sort of hinted at it in his season ending press conference saying something about a couple veteran guys that wouldn’t mind going elsewhere.
It’s hard to imagine there would be a ton of interest in Legwand’s services but it’s possible a younger team trying to reach the cap floor might have a need for a veteran like Legwand. Arizona and Buffalo immediately come to mind. Bryan Murray spoke a couple weeks ago and mentioned that he might try to include a bad contract in a deal with another team. Legwand along with Colin Greening are most likely the contracts Murray was referring to.
With Turris, Zibanejad, Pageau, Smith and Lazar all capable of playing the centre ice position, the writing is on the wall for Legwand. If the Senators can’t find someone to take his contract this off season, he’ll likely be in and out of the line up most of the year.
Will be interesting to see what the Senators do with Legwand this summer.
