Blame a difficult schedule riddled with long travel and elite opponents. Blame goaltending that's no longer superlative. Blame a number of Ottawa's players for not transitioning seamlessly back into the lineup following their respective returns from major injury.
Whatever the case, the struggles of the Ottawa Senators were visibly present to anyone watching their games during the month of October.
Having tried a number of different mechanisms, head coach Paul MacLean has taken it upon himself to really shake things up with some completely new defensive pairings and some intriguing line combinations.
Whether these changes will be enough to rally the Senators to win tonight versus the Islanders remains to be seen, but if the Sens continue to languish, everyone knows the next step or steps will be to start moving some personnel.
Soooooo, it shouldn't be a shock to hear that Bryan Murray is doing his due diligence and kicking the tires on making a deal that could shake things up or address an immediate weakness on the team's roster.
Trade winds blowing between Ottawa and Florida? Maybe young forward/scorer headed north with D and/or goaltending to Sunshine State…
— Kirk Luedeke (@kluedeke29) November 1, 2013
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@EvanHotham I don't put out sources-if I do, they cease being sources/telling me anything. Have to wait & see- has come thru for me before
— Kirk Luedeke (@kluedeke29) November 1, 2013
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Re: Trade rumors tweet. Do not make too many assumptions. Scoring forward may not mean "now" but projected. Players may not be on NHL roster
— Kirk Luedeke (@kluedeke29) November 1, 2013
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So who is Kirk Luedeke?
According to his Twitter bio, he's "Rua regional scout for Red Line Report; Boston Bruins, & NHL Prospects writer for the New England & NY Hockey Journal."
So does that mean he is credible?
I'm not entirely sure. I'm not particularly familiar with his work.
As skeptical as I am that Ottawa would be interested in moving a goaltender right now, that doesn't mean I will immediately discount the possibility or likelihood that the Sens and Panthers actually have talked.
The Panthers are rich in prospects and young roster players, some in the minors (Trocheck, Howden), some languishing or stalled in the NHL…maybe Dmitri Kulikov could be of interest?
It could be something or it could be nothing, have your say in the comments.
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