Safe to say that was pretty close to what we were all expecting from the first day of free agency.
With most of the spots on the roster already accounted for and a few deadweight contracts still on the books, the Ottawa Senators really didn’t have many options heading into the Free Agent Frenzy. It said a lot about the day when Erik Condra was far and away the most talked about player leading up to the opening of the market.
In the end, Condra decided to leave for warmer pastures. He ended up getting that third year on his contract and with the Tampa Bay Lightning, no less. The Bolts are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender in the East, Condra is friends with Head Coach Jon Cooper and the state of Florida doesn’t have income tax. There was no doubt that Condra’s first choice was to stay in Ottawa but in the end, I bet moving to Tampa was a pretty easy decision for Condra.
The Senators were pretty set on not giving Condra that extra year on his contract. Having been burned by giving too much term to role players in the past, Ottawa management wanted to be careful with this contract.
Erik Condra tells @TSN1200 that he did give Ottawa a last chance to match the offer from Tampa and the Sens declined.
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) July 2, 2015
Condra is obviously an incredibly useful player and was a huge part of that late season rally. The $1.25 million a season he’ll get paid next year is an absolute steal for the Lightning. It goes without saying, but all the best to Erik in Tampa Bay. He was a hard-working, extremely loyal player for this organization and will certainly be missed.
With career highs of 9 goals and 25 points, the Senators have certainly have prospects in the system that can help fill the hole left by Condra. The thing is, Ottawa now has to make sure a young player is given the opportunity to fill that role. If all this does is ensure more ice time for Chris Neil and Colin Greening, well then that is less than ideal.
In the end, it was a pretty quiet day for the Senators. They signed some big money AHL contracts which will certainly help out the team in Binghamton but the NHL roster was untouched. Eric O’Dell has a chance to play some NHL games in the future but will probably need a couple of injuries to get his chance.
Bryan Murray addressed the media at the end of the day and while he mentioned on a couple of occasions that he’s still talking to a couple of free agents and to other GMs about trade possibilities, it really does sound like that might be it for Ottawa’s off season. They still need to get Mike Hoffman and Alex Chiasson signed to new deals and sound more than ready to go to arbitration if they have to.
Murray stressed that the team is pretty close to their internal budget ($60-$63 mil?) right now so it’s unlikely they would make a big splash.
More coming in a little bit.
