Training camp has arrived. It’s that special time of year when every player is in the best shape of their lives, has added 10 pounds of muscle and is ready to set career bests in every offensive category.
After a longer summer than they would have liked, players are reporting to the Canadian Tire Centre today for medicals and physical testing and tomorrow, they’ll take the ice for the first time. In just four days, the Ottawa Senators will open their preseason against the New York Islanders.
Ladies and gentleman, hockey is back.
Yet in Ottawa, the dust is still settling on what was an interesting day off the ice. With two high profile players entering the last year of their contracts, it’s hard not to focus on the ongoing negotiations with defenceman Marc Methot and forward Bobby Ryan.
We’ll keep talking about it because it will remain at the forefront during training camp and the early part of the season but the reality is the contract situations with Marc Methot and Bobby Ryan will sort themselves out. If those two guys want to be here, and they say they do, then contracts will get done.
If they don’t want to be here then the Senators will have to send them elsewhere and move forward with the guys that do want to be on this team.
It’s that simple.
Yesterday was a great example of why things like this should be kept as private as possible. Bryan Murray probably made a mistake when he said they would trade Methot if a deal couldn’t be reached and Methot’s camp responded with a mistake of their own when they leaked information to the Ottawa Sun. Neither side improved their negotiating position and both just ended up looking petty. It’s a situation where cooler heads should prevail.
The Senators want Methot here and he obviously wants to continue playing in his hometown. Keep the negotiations out of the public eye and everything should be fine. There was a lot of frustration on both sides yesterday but I really do think there’s still an opportunity to get a deal done. And the people I spoke to yesterday seemed to agree.
Meanwhile with camp now officially underway, there should thankfully be some other topics to discuss.
