Great stuff this afternoon from Le Droit’s Marc Brassard who talked to general manager Bryan Murray about a few pressing issues concerning the Ottawa Senators.
Brassard revealed some of what Murray said through a series of tweets:
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
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Murray a aussi dit que Robin Lehner est complètement rétabli de sa commotion cérébrale. S’en va passer qq jours en Suède. #ledroit
— Marc Brassard (@mbrassard) May 27, 2015
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En anglais, it means that Bryan Murray indicated in an interview that he has no intention(s) of buying out any of the Senators’ contracts. In a later tweet, Brassard acknowledged that he spitballed names Greening and Legwand for the tweet. Murray never mentioned either player by name. Robin Lehner has also completely recovered from his concussion.
What Murray did say is that he could use one of his goaltenders as bait to dump a bad contract in a trade.
It’s a bit disheartening to hear that a team that ranks amongst the lowest spending clubs in the league may use a tangible asset to rid itself of a bad contract when on paper, the Senators have essentially exhausted all of their revenue streams and theoretically have a ton of room on paper to increase their budget.
But, I guess like any team that is pressed up against the salary cap ceiling, this situation really isn’t any different when you consider the fact that the Senators have their own strict self-imposed budget. Unfortunately, if you’ve been following along and paying attention to how management and ownership has skirted the team budget issue — saying that the team will spend at some undisclosed point in the future when the team is more competitive and it gives the team a better chance to win — it’s a bit of a piss off to think that the same organization that keeps hinting at spending to improve this team’s competitive level may parlay a goalie to get rid of a shitbag.
On the plus side, maybe this will put an end to management repeatedly conveying the message to the press that it “spends smartly”.
More than anything, I think what bothers me is that the organization is a small budget team, but they don’t own it. Or at least, they don’t operate like an efficient small market team that is trying to win should. Patient rebuilds are fast-tracked. Redundant but recognizable veterans are retained to placate a fan base that lost its most recognizable and likable player.
Or maybe this is all a ruse. Maybe there’s a chance that Murray simply doesn’t want to acknowledge that he’ll buy out some roster detritus in hopes that some other organization will miraculously scoop one of these players off Ottawa’s hands.
Or maybe I’ll just be really disappointed if this kind of deal comes to fruition.
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