Armed with a new contract, Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray is ready to make some moves to improve the Sens in hopes of bringing them back to the postseason, and the GM would love to get some veteran players--even if it's at the cost of some of his young and talented prospects.
While the trade deadline in the NHL isn't until March 5, with the Winter Olympic break rapidly approaching, Murray implied that the team could be prepared to strike some deals in the near future, according to CBS Sports. With the Olympics shutting down the league for two weeks in mid-February, there will only be one week in between the NHL restarting and the deadline, meaning deals may come early this season.
Murray told the Canadian Press in a conference call on Monday following the news that he signed a two-year extension to stay on with the Senators, that he plans to be one of the more active general managers in the league before the deadline comes.
"Just watching the progress in the last month and a little bit, I think that the objective now is certainly more than it was a month before," Murray told the paper. "We are available to make a deal."
Ottawa (20-18-8, 48 points) is fifth in the Atlantic Division and 11th in the Eastern Conference but is just two points out of a playoff spot.
The Senators are no strangers to getting rid of some promising youthful players to get a high reward, as evidenced with their trade to the Anaheim Ducks on July 5 that landed Bobby Ryan in Ottawa at the expense of young forward Jakob Silfverberg and prospect Stefan Noesen.
The Ryan move was made to fill the void of Daniel Alfredsson, who was captain of the Sens and played with them for 17 years before heading to the Detroit Red Wings this offseason out of free agency. Ryan is second on the team with 37 points off of a team-best 18 goals and 19 assists.
Murray admitted the team could be prepared to trade some more youth to bring in some veterans at the deadline.
"We do have a number of players that probably are deserving of playing some games or playing in the NHL that may not get a chance because of our numbers up here that we would talk to teams about for a more veteran-type player," Murray said per the Canadian Press.
The Senators are a fairly young team but won't trade Curtis Lazar, who was their top pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, CBS Sports reports.
Ottawa, which does have some budget restrictions, has made the playoffs four out of the last six seasons, but is looking to win its first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The Senators made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals in 2007 only to fall to the Anaheim Ducks in seven games, but haven't made it back there since.
The closest the Sens came since 2007 was last year, when the team finished 25-17-6 in the 48-game lockout-shortened NHL season and defeated the Montreal Canadiens in five games in the opening round before losing the Eastern Conference semi-finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games.
Ottawa will look to get back to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 2007, but it could be at the expense of their youth.
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