Bryan Murray spoke to the Ottawa Sun yesterday and in just a couple of quotes, laid out a pretty clear game plan for the Ottawa Senators this summer.
The first and probably most interesting thing in there is that Murray is already fielding calls on his goalies.
Murray indicated that five or six teams have called about either Robin Lehner or Craig Anderson. And while you can be certain Murray is exaggerating that number a little bit to drive up demand, it’s good to know that the team has already started the process.
Buffalo, San Jose and Edmonton seem to be the teams that are coming up most often right now. In that article, Garrioch mentions contending teams in the West including St. Louis and Calgary as other options. Winnipeg seems to make some sense although they love Ondrej Pavelec for some reason. Carolina could probably use some goaltending help.
There will be no shortage of teams calling the Senators this summer and according to Murray, that process is already underway. The team has said they are willing to come into training camp with three goalies but that obviously is not the preferred option. Ideally this is a deal that gets done just before or even at the Draft.
Murray also talked again about his desire to add another significant piece up front. This is going to frustrate most of the fan base especially if such a move comes at the expense of getting help for the blueline. With that said the goal of adding a young top six forward is a good one. Every team could use more scoring so it makes sense for Murray to see what’s out there. And because we know the Senators aren’t going to be making any big splash in free agency, there’s a pretty clear link between Ottawa’s extra goalie and that hunt for a top six forward.
Prior to the deadline, a couple different contacts reached out regarding talks the Senators were having with the Edmonton Oilers. Now of course there has since been a change in management in Edmonton but at the time names like Lehner, Cowen, Lazar and Hall were being thrown around. Just rumours of course but that was the type of talk that was out there at the time.
Since then, I’ve heard that the San Jose Sharks may in fact be the team showing the most interest in Ottawa’s goalies but it’s obviously still pretty early in the off season so perhaps one of the other teams mentioned above steps up.
Either way, this figures to be one of the most interesting storylines of the summer and certainly something we’ll hear more about in the next month.
The Ottawa Sun article also includes a couple interesting notes on the restricted free agents, the health of Cowen and Borowiecki and Dave Cameron’s contract extension.
