Report: Senators Looking to Add Top 9 Forward

When having conversations about the risks associated with Marc Methot and Bobby Ryan entering the season without contract, one of the talking points that is often mentioned is the state of the trade market. As teams prepare to open training camp in a few weeks, it’s safe to presume that the majority of teams are at a stage in which they believe, for the most part, that their roster is settled or that they have a collective group of players that they would prefer to get a look at and evaluate before having to make a subsequent move to add a player.

In the past, I’ve kind of looked at it from the perspective that it could negatively limit the market value of a player of a Ryan or a Methot, but I’ve never really dwelled too much on whether the Senators would take advantage of the market and add a player of their own.

In the wake of the Jason Spezza trade, Bryan Murray had an availability at the conclusion of the first day of free agency in which he acknowledged that he was in separate talks to bring in another player via trade – leading to speculation that this mystery deal was imminent.

“The other thing that happens with this however is that there’s a $3 million difference in money paid out that allows me to try to make another deal which I’m in the process of trying to do now to get an NHL-ready player that when, if it happens, we think we’ll be very satisfied with the overall package.”

…

“I don’t think so. I just talked to the team and it looks like they’re stalling to pick one of our prospects that I’ve included in the package.”

By now everyone knows that the difference in salary created by the Spezza trade was reallocated towards signing David Legwand as an unrestricted free agent and subsequently, it has shelved rumours that the Senators are still looking to engaged in negotiations to make a mystery deal.

Well, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, the Senators are reportedly in the market to add another top nine forward.

Considering that the Senators have acquired the aforementioned Legwand to insulate Mika Zibanejad in the event that he’s unprepared to step in and produce in a second line center role, any prospective trade would involve bringing in a winger.

Garrioch never explicitly mentions a player who interests the Senators or one that they would actually pursue, but he did indicate that his league sources have indicated that “Carolina’s Alexander Semin, New Jersey’s Damien Brunner along with Buffalo’s Drew Stafford and Chris Stewart” are available in a trade.

Here’s a breakdown of their money situation and how they performed last season:

Those are three shitbags (and impending 2014/15 UFAs to boot) and one player whose excellent puck possession metrics and history of past production doesn’t make up for the fact that he’s signed to the kind of unpalatable contract that a budget conscious team like the Senators would retch at.

Ottawa’s alleged interest in Chris Stewart has been well documented at this site since rumours surfaced that the Senators were interested in acquiring the forward from the St. Louis Blues near the NHL trade deadline in March. Stewart would eventually be moved in the deal for Buffalo’s Ryan Miller, but given the relationship and familiarity between Bryan and Tim Murray, many figured it was only a matter of time before these two managers came to some kind of agreement on a deal to bring Stewart into the fold here in Ottawa.

Thankfully that hasn’t happened yet because Stewart is simply not that good of a player. Yes he’s a two-time 28-goal scorer and he would have assuredly scored more than 20 had the lockout not shortened the 2012/13 season, and yes, he has the quick hands and physical tools that scouts and managers dream over – believing they or their organization can be the ones to properly harness them.

My criticisms of Stewart’s game remain the same:

“Advanced analytics have never really favored Stewart. He’s been a negative Corsi player in five of his six NHL seasons and perhaps most alarmingly, despite a favorable offensive zone start rate and being matched up against some weak competition, Stewart’s been a puck possession killer on what’s otherwise been a pretty good puck possession team in St. Louis. (Note: In St. Louis’ last three seasons, they’ve been a top ten Corsi For % team at even strength.)”

As a team that: 1) had a negative five-on-five goals for/against ratio; 2) allowed the second highest number of shots allowed per game; and 3) was a middle of the pack team in terms of Fenwick Close; maybe it would be in the Senators’ best interests to acquire players whose skill sets and contributions could positively affect change in these aspects of the game.

Again, there’s no reason to believe that Ottawa’s actually interested in the names that Garrioch put out there, but if they are, holy shit it’s hard to imagine, with the exception of Semin, that they’re much of an upgrade – even if these assets can be acquired cheaply.

Maybe there’s some deal out there to be made that can net some positive gains for the Senators, but when the climate for a deal is centered around veteran fodder being made expendable because of their play or contract status, I’d prefer to see the Senators look internally and give legitimate opportunities to young players like Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman or even an Alex Chiasson to see what they can do before giving up assets to box them out of jobs.