Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Senators Lose Stillman To Jacques


Florida GM and ex-Ottawa institution Jacques Martin has stuck it to his former team by snapping up Cory Stillman with a 3 year, $10.6 million contract that Bryan Murray had no chance of matching.

That leaves a conspicuous hole on Ottawa's second line that Murray will have to replace through another free-agent but also makes his trade of Joe Corvo and Patrick Eaves for Stillman and Mike Commodore look like a bust player-wise

If Murray can't get Commodore to sign on the dotted line, that trade was essentially a cap-saver deal only. But if Murray can't re-invest those savings into an offensive player, it's looking like just another disaster decision that plagued the 2007-2008 season.
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Barring a miracle move, the Senators are looking like a much weaker team than their nemesis an hour and a half down the highway, the Montreal Canadiens.
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EDIT: Commodore signs with Columbus for a whopping 5 years, $18.75 million. Murray was right to stay away from money and term like that for a fifth or sixth defenseman.
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Unfortunately, the Senators are now sorely lacking size and toughness on the blueline. What else is new?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Some moves work out better than others, that's just the way it is. I don't think it's a catastrophe if it ultimately ends up being nothing more than a salary dump.

Corvo is the sort of guy that'll win skill competitions in practice, and put up some acceptable numbers in hick markets, but he's no top 4 defender for a good team in Canada. Way too soft mentally...

Anyway, we got a backup goalie for a small sum, so we have plenty of wiggle room to play the field still.

With at least 6 goalies signing today, I haven't heard of any interest in Ray. Wonder if something is in the offing or if his reputation precedes him?