With Clarke MacArthur now locked in, the Senators will shift their attention to getting both Marc Methot and Bobby Ryan inked to new contracts.
It’s certainly not going to be easy and in some ways it sounds like they’ve decided to take a step back in negotiating and wait until training camp to see if they can get something done.
Clarke MacArthur said that Bobby Ryan texted him yesterday and jokingly wrote “Thanks for leaving me in the trenches to take the grenades.”
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) August 20, 2014
As I understand it, discussions have been productive with Ryan’s agents but to this point, Ryan himself has not been overly involved. Bryan Murray and Pierre Dorion are hoping that once Ryan is here in Ottawa for training camp next month, more serious discussion can continue.
Ottawa would definitely like to know where they stand with Bobby before the season starts. If his intention is to test free agency, the Senators will obviously have to listen to trade offers throughout the season.
It would be a difficult trade to make though, especially if other teams know the talented winger plans to test the market on July 1, 2015. That’s obviously not a road the Senators want to go down but one they need to be prepared for.
On Methot, it sounds like there was a pretty significant gap between the two sides during initial negotiations. Methot and his camp are likely to set the bar around $5 mil while the Senators would prefer to see that amount closer to $4 mil a season. It’s just speculation on my part but I think both sides will be looking for term on this one. Methot is an important part of this team but I don’t think this negotiation is quite as desperate as the Bobby Ryan one.
The Senators can afford to be a little more set in their ways in order to get the best deal for the team. Again, the most important thing to remember is Methot wants to stay in Ottawa and the Senators want to keep him.
And sort of the forgotten guy in all this- Craig Anderson. The Senators have definitely talked to his agent and seem to have legitimate interest in keep Anderson around on a short term deal. Security is important for goalie so a guaranteed two years for example, would be of interest to Anderson. With that said, Anderson may see free agency as an opportunity to cash in on a longer term, higher salary type of contract with a team desperate for goaltending.
If that’s the case, Anderson will come into this season motivate and eager to prove he’s still a legitimate number one goalie in this league. A motivated Craig Anderson could be a great thing for the Senators.
The good news is all the negotiating seems to be positive to this point and the Senators have clearly remained on good terms with the agents for each of these guys.
Erik Condra is also a UFA at the end of this season but there really hasn’t been any talk about an extension for him. Not publically anyway. Add to that RFAs in Mika Zibanejad, Mark Stone, Alex Chiasson and Mike Hoffman and it’s clear Bryan Murray and Pierre Dorion will have their hands full.
Getting Clarke MacArthur locked up long term was a great first step but there’s still lots of work to be done in the weeks and months to come.
