As the Senators prepare for what should be an interesting off season, one of the major talking points among fans and media is the “bad” contracts on the roster.
With the emergence of some of the team’s young players over the last couple seasons, it’s become pretty clear that there just isn’t room for everyone.
Up front, players like Colin Greening, David Legwand, Zack Smith and Chris Neil aren’t exactly locks to be among the team’s top 12 forwards. On defence, Jared Cowen and Chris Phillips both look like number 6 or 7 defenceman that could be in and out of the line up all year.
It’s a tough spot for any NHL team but especially for one that operates on an internal budget which is again expected to be well below the salary cap set by the league.
Of course when it comes to contracts, there are varying degrees of “bad”. And individually, none of the guys mentioned above are really Category 5 on the terrible contract scale.
In the case of David Legwand, Chris Neil and Chris Phillips, all three are entering the final year of their deal. The contracts aren’t great but unlike some other albatross deals around the league, the term on the contract isn’t the issue. All three can still play but whether or not they are everyday NHLers is up for debate. All three have the type of contract that if they were playing reasonably well leading up to the deadline, they could easily be moved. And in the case of Legwand or Neil, there’s even a chance a team could see a use for them this off season.
Zack Smith and Jared Cowen are in a different category. Two relatively young players, drafted by the organization and previously in the good books of management that have sort of been passed on the depth chart in the last year and a bit. Right now there’s still a place for Zack Smith on that fourth line and at $1.9 mil a season, he’s reasonably priced in that role.
Jared Cowen on the other hand is pulling in $3.1 mil for the next two seasons and his role with the team has never been more uncertain. The organization still hopes he can be that second pairing guy but after back to back sub-par seasons, time is running out. You obviously don’t want to give him away but at some point, a team with their own spending limit has to decide if they can afford to pay a 7th defenceman more than $3 million a season.
Colin Greening is sort of in a category of his own. This past season it became pretty clear there just wasn’t room for Greening. Scheduled to earn $2.65 mil over the next two seasons, this is probably the contract the Senators are most desperate to move. And to Murray’s credit, he’s tried to just about everything to do so.
The term “buy out” gets used a lot when discussing problem contracts but in the case of the Senators, it really doesn’t seem like it’s an option. Bryan Murray spoke to Marc Brassard yesterday and indicated that right now, he’s not considering a buy out for anyone and that in fact, he might try to move one of the bad contracts in the goalie deal he makes evening going so far as to say “”Maybe I give someone a bit better deal if they take one of my contracts, rather than buy somebody out.”
Bryan Murray me dit en entrevue auj. qu’il n’a pas l’intention de racheter de contrat (Colin Greening, David Legwand). 1/2 #ledroit
— Marc Brassard (@mbrassard) May 27, 2015
Murray va plutôt tenter de passer un contrat problématique dans un échange pour un G (Anderson ou Lehner). 6-7 clubs intéressés. #ledroit
— Marc Brassard (@mbrassard) May 27, 2015
Either way, something has to give this off season.
Right now Ottawa has nine forwards under contract- Ryan, MacArthur, Michalek, Turris, Legwand, Greening, Neil, Smith and Lazar. They have five RFAs that need and will get new deals in Stone, Zibanejad, Hoffman, Pageau and Chiasson. And then Erik Condra, who’s a UFA-to-be but still someone they would like to keep around. They have young guys like Shane Prince (who also needs a contract) and Matt Puempel who both showed they can play at the NHL level. And on top of all that, Murray also wants to add a top six forward.
On defence, there are eight guys under contract including five left handed defenceman. Ask most fans and they’ll say that getting help for the defence should be a priority this season. Well right now, the fact is there’s no room. With 8 bodies already back there, the Senators would almost certainly have to move someone out before bringing another defenceman in.
The Senators have close to $59 million committed to 20 players. They have five RFAs that are going to earn $12-$13 million next season. And that’s a conservative guess. They could probably fit it all in under the league salary cap but as Murray indicated in his season ending press conference, this still isn’t a “cap team”.
The so called bad contracts mentioned above add up to close to $15 mil…
It’s a tricky spot the Senators find themselves in.
There’s lot for Bryan Murray to do this off season but right near the top of that list should be finding a way to move one or two contracts out.
