Senators Sign Curtis Lazar to ELC

Look at Randy Lee!

Compared to previous photographs that capture either Tim Murray or Bryan Murray inking a prospect or player, Randy Lee will actually crack a smile.

He can smile for good reason too. Not only is Charles James Robinson III producing at a ridiculously sustainable rate through the team's first two exhibition games, in Curtis Lazar, the Senators organization feels like it has a mid-first round gem rich in intangibles who can contribute in every facet of the game (see our earlier Lazar player profile). As the Senators noted on their website, "Lazar becomes the first member of the Sens 2013 draft class to be signed to a contract." The signing also suggests we'll shortly be seeing Lazar make his preseason debut, which seemed a little in doubt after hearing over the weekend he was being held out of practices with an "upper-body injury".

Without acknowledging that it was a mere formality, Bryan Murray did throw in his two cents on the signing…  

"Well Curtis is a first round pick and obviously a player and prospect that we think has a good upside. We're trying to get our best players tied up and he is certainly one of the guys of the future in this organization so we're very, very happy to get him signed at this point."

Waivers Ctd

After posting yesterday's piece on the waiver exemption status (or lack thereof) for prospects like Eric Gryba, Mike Hoffman and Stephane Da Costa, I neglected to mention that players who contributed on the parent roster last season (like Cory Conacher and David Dziurzynski) are also not waiver exempt. I know in Don Brennan's column this morning, he mentioned offhand that the need to pass Hoffman through waivers could give him an edge on a roster spot over someone like Conacher, isn't the case. Although it could give the Senators pause to return Hoffman to Binghamton and risk losing him rather than starting someone like Pageau in the NHL.

Juniors Returned

Camp was cut down just slightly today as the Senators sent Vincent Dunn, Chris Driedger, Francois Brassard and Ben Harpur back to their respective CHL teams.