Classy move by the Ottawa Senators in rewarding one of my faves, Chris Neil, with a contract extension for next season.
The long time tough guy is a great dressing room presence and has a pretty darn good year in limited minutes.
Today is trade deadline day in the NHL and so far Ottawa has been quiet. The buzz is that they are in still on trying to acquire Tampa’s Jonathan Drouin. This is the type of pick up that Ottawa made in acquiring Kyle Turris although the price might be a bit heftier.
Drouin would slot in nicely on the left side for the Sens. The question is what would it take to acquire him?
A 1st round pick and what?
Kudos to GM Bryan Murray as the cap sensitive Sens are in great shape heading into next season with the defense especially looking dangerous. Karlsson, Phaneuf, Ceci, Methot, Wideman should make a very strong top 4 on D.
The biggest question is whether Craig Anderson has another good year in him as he’s not getting younger?
The Mike Hoffman contract will not be cheap as he’s earned a raise after another good season, and may top 30 goals.
Picking up Drouin might be insurance in case Hoffman prices himself out of Ottawa’s budget as the Lightning forward still has one more season of his entry level contract to play out.
What do you think Ottawa fans? You can post your comments below.
Drouin is reachable if Tampa Bay lowers their demands. From what I’ve been reading TB wants defenceman Cody Ceci while the names of prospects Thomas Chabot or Colin White have been mentioned. Those demands are too high a price to pay.
And they trade Shane Prince for two draft picks? What is their logic?