If you're the kind of passionate Senators fan who's looking for some form of clarity into Ottawa's hot-button Jason Spezza issue, you're going to have to keep waiting. In a media scrum this afternoon, Bryan Murray was asked to address the speculated Spezza trade request and had this to say...

"He said he wouldn't object to it. He didn't come out and say, "I have to be traded." He didn't object to the fact that maybe it's time "with the way I've been received and maybe it's time I look around."

Considering how sensitive Spezza is, he can't be too pleased that the fans know that it was he who raised the question of whether or not it'd be best for him to move on. Especially after you consider that Spezza wasn't appreciative with the GM's candor when Murray originally confirmed that Jason wasn't pleased with the treatment that he received from the fans and media during and after the team's first round playoff exit.

The timing itself is bizarre and it gives Spezza a legitimate reason to be irked. However, if he's really upset, at least his new sponsorship agreement with Ben & Jerry's should allow for him to spend the next few nights curled up with a bucket of Caramel Hat Trick on the company's dime. (Ed. note: If Spezza shows up into camp out of shape in the fall, it's not going to take a genius to realize what his favorite offseason coping mechanism was.)

Although it's still early in the offseason and there will be a natural optimism that will come with the onset of Friday night's NHL Entry Draft and the lead in to start of unrestricted free agency, today's news that Spezza thought it might be in both parties' interests to move on and that Anton Volchenkov will test the unrestricted free agent waters should leave fans disheartened. If anything, today's events will have fans doubting whether or not Spezza actually has his heart set on playing out the rest of his contract in Ottawa. As a polarizing player in this community, it's the last thing that he needs.

It's also the latest in a line of events that has me questioning how competitive this Senators team can be next season if they move their first line center.

Consider the following:

• The Jason Spezza trade market is allegedly non-existent. (Although if you're one who doesn't take Doug MacLean's words seriously, I can't blame you for that.) Getting fair value that's NHL ready talent might be impossible.
• Anton Volchenkov's departure at this point seems like a foregone conclusion.
• Two of Ottawa's predominant secondary scorers, Milan Michalek and Alexei Kovalev, are both trying to successfully come back from reconstructive ACL surgeries.
• It's a mediocre free agent class.
• Last season, Mike Fisher and the third line trio of Chris Kelly/Jarkko Ruutu/Chris Neil all enjoyed career seasons last year. Any drop off in offensive production from these players could put substantial pressure on the primary scorers.
• If Spezza leaves... where's the primary scoring? Daniel Alfredsson? The iconic superstar is 37 and has seen his goal totals drop for the second consecutive year to 20 goals. His lowest total since the 1998/99 season.

For what it's worth, Murray has repeatedly reiterated that he will not move Spezza if the right deal cannot be made...

"Look, unfortunately that just doesn't happen. You signed a long-term contract. We have committed to you and you have committed to us. We will look at everything that will help us, but we're not going to make a bad trade."

However the question of what the right hockey deal is, is up for discussion. Do the Senators move Spezza for a consortium of ready talent or do they roll the dice and try to acquire as many prospects as possible?

It's no secret that Ottawa has a some financial flexibility coming next summer when Leclaire, Kovalev, Phillips, Cheechoo and Ruutu reach unrestricted free agency.  For years the Senators have tried to cut and paste a lineup that can reach the playoffs and have some success. Now with Spezza possibly on the outs, maybe we've reached that point wherein Ottawa builds toward the 2011/12 season. If Ottawa can augment their blueline (Cowen, Wiercioch, Gryba, Karlsson) and goaltending (Lehner) with some decent forward prospects, any rebuild could be a short one.

Then again, like tonight's Spezza for Columbus' 4th overall, Derick Brassard and Kristian Huselius rumour, maybe all this trade talk is bunk and Spezza inevitably stays. (Ed. note: Bruce Garrioch's recent articling how Spezza is owed a Heatley'esque $4-million front-loaded contract payment surely won't help.)

Until July 1st passes, we're just going to have to sit back and abstain from judging Bryan Murray until something actually happens.

Enjoy the NHL's silly season everybody.

This afternoon, the Philadelphia Flyers acquired the negotiation rights to Dan Hamhuis from the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenceman Ryan Parent and a conditional draft pick. Obviously the conditional draft pick is completely dependent upon whether or not the Flyers can sign Hamhuis to an extension.

Regardless, as a Senators fan, this story's important to follow for two reasons:

1. The trade sets a precedent for the value of an impending unrestricted free agent defenceman.
   
2. With the completion of the deal, it's become imperative from a public relations standpoint for the Flyers GM, Paul Holmgren, to sign Hamhuis to a contract.
   

In other words, from a fiscal and trade value perspective, the bar for a player of Anton Volchenkov's ilk has or will be set within the forthcoming days. Now that the bar has been set, it's going to be interesting to see what Bryan Murray can do with it.

UPDATE: 4:35pm

Apparently I bungled the link due to a poorly executed cut and paste job. The link has been corrected below, so now you can download it properly.

With the 2010 NHL Entry Draft quickly approaching, it's an exciting time for Senators fans who anticipate and look forward to watching their team add some young assets to its coffer. In the spirit of the upcoming draft -- which takes place Friday, June 25th at 7pm Eastern Time -- we had the fortune to have the Senators Director of Player Personnel, Pierre Dorion, join us on the latest edition of the podcast.

As always, you can subscribe/download/stream the episode or entire catalogue of episodes from Itunes. Or you can download the file by right-clicking and saving this file. Or you can simply stream the episode below. We hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please leave us some feedback in the comment thread below. Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoy the show.

Here's the tracklisting for the podcast: Dr. Dog Heart It Races; Eddie Cochran Summertime Blues; Arcade Fire Month of May; and Death From Above 1979 Sexy Result.

*** Note: During the Dorion interview, about halfway through, you will notice that my microphone volume becomes very low. That's because for whatever reason, my microphone cut out on me and my voice was getting picked up by Francois' microphone. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Regardless of how you feel about Jason Spezza -- love him or hate him -- it's been difficult for the past few weeks as Sens fans have been told at every turn that Ottawa's first line center has no trade market.

Whether it was Doug MacLean's informed opinion or an article by Greg Wyshynski that ran on Puck Daddy, Spezza's value is going the way of British Petroleum. (Ed. note: It's too bad the parallels there couldn't be drawn further. I wish Spezza did a number on some Ducks in '07.)

Granted, there are a number of legitimate reasons as to why Jason could be difficult to move -- a history of back problems; a $7.0 million annual cap hit; a laugh that Wilfred Brimley would be ashamed of; and a reputation that Greg Wyshynski describes as not made of stern stuff, or at least the stern stuff you'd expect from a top-line center with his salary.

Ian Mendes was a little bit more descript in assessing Spezza's reputation. In his Scaring Off Spezza article for Sportsnet, he wrote...

Because from Day 1, we've been conditioned to label Jason Spezza as an underachiever in our city. It started with the comment from Jacques Martin when he was cut in training camp in 2001, "This is a man's league and he's still a boy." It intensified when he was made a healthy scratch in the 2004 playoffs. And the feeling that Spezza is never quite giving enough has never gone away.

Although Ian's correct, the perception of Spezza as a chronic underachiever didn't start when he arrived Ottawa. It's a stigma that's been attached to him since his junior days and one that he's had a hard time shedding. (Ed. note: In his article, Mendes contrasts the postseason success of other number two picks who have put up similar numbers to Spezza in Ilya Kovalchuk and Rick Nash. Mendes notes that most fans would prefer to have either player over Spezza if they had their choice while mentioning that Kovalchuk and Nash have combined to win only one playoff game. It's an interesting point but by the same token, neither of the aforementioned two players have enjoyed the supporting cast that Spezza has enjoyed during his tenure here in Ottawa. It's a example that's often alluded to by those in the anti-Spezza "He's Not a Winner" camp.)

Mind you, it's not like its all Jason's fault that the market isn't exactly conducive for a trade. One of the recent trends in hockey necessitates that executives make concerted efforts to lock up their young core players before they hit unrestricted free agency. In consequence, it's not like there's a ton of teams who can make sense from a fiscal and player personnel perspective. With most competitive teams having their payroll pushing against the League's cap limit, it's tougher for teams to absorb other large contracts via trade without sending a bad contract the other way. In the new NHL, trading Spezza inevitably means that Bryan Murray will likely get a worse return on his investment than the one that Chris Neil got for investing in his brothers' excavation company. (Ed. note: For the record, I'm pretty empathatic for Chris Neil because of the way that the local media handled the coverage of this story.)

On the other hand, in a summer that features a free agent class that is being described by experts as one of the weakest that they've seen in years, a team would prefer to overpay a center like Tomas Plekanec than give up a fair package in a trade with Ottawa. It just seems a bit strange to me that some teams wouldn't be chomping at the bit to acquire a legitimate first line center who can put up points.

*** Below is a list of the NHL's centers and their respective cap hits. Take a look at how Spezza fits in in the greater scheme of things:

 

Player Name	10/11 Cap Hit	Points
Sidney Crosby	8.7 M
Evgeni Malkin	8.7 M
Eric Staal	8.25 M
Brad Richards	7.8 M
Vincent Lecavalier	7.727 M
Scott Gomez	7.357 M
Joe Thornton	7.2 M
Chris Drury	7.050 M
Jason Spezza	7.0 M
Anze Kopitar	6.8 M
Pavel Datsyuk	6.7 M
Niklas Backstrom	6.7 M
Paul Statsny	6.6 M
Daniel Briere	6.5 M
Jonathan Toews	6.3 M
Henrik Sedin	6.1 M
Mike Cammalleri	6.0 M
Mike Richards	5.75 M
Shawn Horcoff	5.5 M
Phil Kessel	5.4 M
Ryan Getzlaf	5.325 M
Jeff Carter	5.0 M
Mike Ribeiro	5.0 M
Ryan Kesler	5.0 M
Michael Nylander	4.875 M
Patrice Bergeron	4.75 M
Andy MacDonald	4.7 M
David Legwand	4.5 M
Jason Arnott	4.5 M

Apology

Finally, I just wanted to apologize for the lack of updates lately. With a lack of news, I was too lazy to devote an entire few sentences to publish some small stories that were otherwise available to most view any reputable news source. (ie. the Chris Neil story, Roman Wick signing, blah blah blah) If I can't out Associate Press the Associated Press, I'm not going to bother.

The Spezza Rally - “He’s not floating as much as he used to"

As Erin Nicks correctly points out on her website, Allen Panzeri's coverage of the Jason Spezza rally for the Canwest News Service was riddled with unintentional comedy. However, I think Erin overlooked the best part of the article -- That Sens fans feel so strongly with the anti-Spezza sentiments that they're willing to rally this Saturday on Parliament Hill... unless it rains. Nice commitment level guys.

The Next Installment of The 6th Sens Podcast

We're back in the studios to record the next episode of the podcast and it's going to feature an interview with the Senators' director of player personnel, Pierre Dorion. If you have any questions that you would like us to ask Pierre, send it to our email address.

Yahoo! Sports' Top 50 Free Agents

In what will assuredly provoke some discussion, Yahoo! Sports' Sam McCaig has assembled his list of this summer's unrestricted free agents. Of note, Anton Volchenkov drew a generous third overall ranking:

A shot-blocking, bodychecking, stay-at-home stud. No offense here, which brings his price down to $5-6 million, but few defensemen are more proficient in their own zone than Volchenkov.

Matt Cullen placed thirty-second on the list. Eight spots lower than the steaming bag of crap known as Olli Jokinen and Andy Sutton failed to crack the top 50.

Fisher/Underwood Wedding Rumours

Bruce Garrioch has successfully entered the entertainment rumour business by reporting that there's nothing to the gossip that Mike Fisher and Carrie Underwood's wedding will be postponed until late July. According to Fisher's agent, Todd Reynolds, "I think that this (meal talk) is just people looking for something to write about.”

In other words, it completely parallels the Jason Spezza trade request.

2010 Draft Preview

Over at Hockey's Future, there's a glossed over 2010 draft preview that includes a review of the Senators' prospects. There's not too much to be learned here if you're an ardent prospect follower. However, if you're not too familiar with the Senators' prospects, it's worth a glance. While I'd love to see the Senators select a highly skilled center, the online magazine seems to think that Ottawa needs to address their lack of high-impact scoring wingers.

Now that the Stanley Cup Finals now over, it will be interesting to see whether the Jason Spezza speculation dies down over the course of the next few weeks. Regardless, Tim and I had the opportunity to talk at length with Sportnet's Ian Mendes about Spezza and the very level-headed article that Ian penned earlier in the week.

As always, you can subscribe/download/stream the episode or entire catalogue of episodes from Itunes. Or you can download the file by right-clicking and saving this file. Or you can simply stream the episode below. We hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please leave us some feedback in the comment thread below. Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoy the show.

In homage to the Ted Leo & The Pharmacists show that's scheduled for Zaphod's later in the month, we've overdosed with all Ted Leo songs for this edition of the show. Here's the tracklisting: Where Was My Brain; The Ballad of the Sin Eater; Who Do You Love?; and Better Dead Than Lead.

With the majority of the Sens Army bickering amongst themselves as to whom is to blame for this whole Jason Spezza situation, we at The 6th Sens have developed our own summary of what may or may not have been said during the first Bryan Murray and Jason Spezza exit interview.

1. Jason, history has shown us that the only person who gains anything from a publicly announced trade request is the Gene Florcyk Award winning Bruce Garrioch.  ~ Bryan Murray
   
2. Dany believes I've already said too much. ~ Jason Spezza
   
3. Look at the players in the Stanley Cup Finals. I told you that players need to age before they can have success these days. ~ Jason Spezza
   
4. Jason, the only turnovers that the mainstream media enjoys are the ones you can order from Arby's. ~ Bryan Murray
   
5. I want to go to Tampa so that Yzerman can mentor me himself. ~ Jason Spezza
   
6. As you know, I recently got married and I'm not mature enough to be able to commit to more than one thing at a time. ~ Jason Spezza
   
7. Who cares if my best hockey friends were Ray Emery, Brian McGrattan and Dany Heatley? I'm not guilty by association, am I? ~ Jason Spezza
   
8. I don't know when/where to pass it. When my right-winger isn't incessantly tapping or waving his stick for a pass, how am I supposed to know when he's going backdoor? ~ Jason Spezza
   
9. You saw how bad my numbers get when I focus on my defensive play. ~ Jason Spezza
   
10. Those weren't boos Jason, they were saying "Lou". Ottawa fans just really appreciated the Olympics. ~ Bryan Murray
11. Speaking of Olympics... we're going to need another excuse if you get off to a slow start next season. Positioning yourself for a spot on the Canadian World Championship team just doesn't have the same ring to it. ~ Bryan Murray
    
12. If your trade value is really drowning, maybe Ron MacLean can save it? ~ Bryan Murray
    
13. It's not me. It's my wife. She wants to get out from underneath Carrie Underwood's shadow in the players wives' suite. ~ Jason Spezza
    
14. Is there any way we can get my Ben & Jerry's Caramel Hat Trick added to my playoff stats? ~ Jason Spezza
    
15. I'm pleased you only giggled once throughout this exit interview Jason, although it was when I said I would like to extend to you an olive branch. ~ Bryan Murray
    
16. The biggest problem in the locker room right is the Alfie/Erik living arrangement. It makes me uncomfortable to be honest with you. ~ Jason Spezza
    
17. This number was brought to you by www.prosportsblogging.com
18. No. When my NTC kicks in on July 1st, I won't publicly announce that I want to be dealt... I swear. ~ Jason Spezza
    
19. What do you mean you want to be traded? What? No. I'm not crying...it just been raining... on my face. ~ Bryan Murray
    
20. Fine. You want out? I'll trade you to a city with a professional baseball team. Then you can't wear your Blue Jays hat around anymore. Happy? ~ Bryan Murray

2005 Draft Class Evaluation

Recently, Nathan White from Hockey's Future reviewed Ottawa's 2005 draft class for their website. As White mentioned that Ottawa could have skipped this draft, and their farm system would have barely been affected. I feel the same way after reading his review.

More Garrioch

While many are seething at the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch for reporting that Spezza wasn't pleased with his treatment by the media and fans, they could have missed today's news on Off the Posts that there is no update to report on talks with free agent C Matt Cullen. The discussions are continuing and the Senators would like to keep him. The possibility exists he will return to Ottawa. The club is also in heavy discussions with restricted free agent C Peter Regin.

Much like an eastern wind that sweeps the acrid smell from the Carp dump towards ScotiaBank Place, the stench of last summer's Dany Heatley fiasco has come back to hit Sens fans in the face. So it shouldn't really come as a surprise that the city of Ottawa is in a state of flux as fans worry that Jason Spezza was so distraught over being booed in the postseason that he may or may not have asked to be dealt.

Everyone is sweating out the hypothetical details: Did Jason ask for a trade? What's his worth? Can Ottawa afford to trade their number one center? And my personal favorite, is the city of Ottawa destined to be like Edmonton - a place where no one seems to stay?

Knee jerk panic has set in and it wouldn't be the first time. I think Tim put it best in an email that he sent to me shortly after the first Bruce Garrioch article ran. Here's a snippet:

Is the whole city on acid or something and I missed drop day? I'm reading all this Spezza, well lets call it what it is, bullshit and I can't believe what I'm seeing. People are actually saying he should not be traded?

It's my understanding trades take place between a minimum of two teams, implying(save for a total fleece)that we would receive a player or two in return. It might help to know what you're getting back in return before drawing a line in the sand and insisting we not trade the guy. I mean I hate to pull the Gretzky card but this is Jason Spezza we're talking about here. At the end of the day if there's an offer you can't refuse then it shouldn't even be up for debate. Whether a trade happens through a trade request or simply kicking tires and gauging value it shouldn't matter. You would hope that Bryan Murray understands the worth of his players around the league.

This is just insanity that people are so up in arms about a theoretical trade with no determined return. The best part is that all the resurgent Spezza lovers keep pulling the high and mighty card with that Garrioch article and act like he's the hack while they shit their pants nailing themselves to the cross for this guy when there's no cause for it.

To this point, all that we know is that Jason sat down at an end of the year discussion with the general manager and discussed his frustration with being booed during the playoffs. And according to a report today, Spezza didn’t appreciate Murray going public about their player-exit chat.

Frankly, I think that the Murray/Spezza sit down likely turned out in one of following ways:

1) Spezza directly asked for a trade. If the case, both sides have learned from the Heatley situation and seem to be handling it quite well.

2) With his NTC set to kick in on July 1st and having been upset with the treatment from the fans, Bryan Murray asks Spezza if he wants to be moved. Spezza tells Murray to explore his options and Murray responds by saying that he'll perform his due diligence, but if there's not a deal to his liking, he'll keep Jason.

3) Jason never asked for a trade.

Here's a look at the pros and cons of moving Spezza:

Pros:
1) Peter Regin flourished on his wing.
2) First line centers are difficult to come by and take time to develop. Ottawa doesn't have another center in the pipeline or on their current roster who could fulfill Spezza's role within the foreseeable future.
3) Ottawa doesn't lose their most prolific offensive talent.
4) Questionable market value for him. The Edmonton Journal's Jim Matheson has already advocated an offer of Penner/Smid and one of Gagner/Cogliano for Spezza.

Cons:
1) The risk of Spezza's NTC kicking in and limiting the market in the event of a future trade request.
2) He has a history of having back problems.
3) The mainstream media would have to find a new lightning rod of criticism. (Ed. note: Pascal Leclaire, come on down!)

As easy as it is to say that the team's highest paid player should have the ego to absorb some of the blame, Jason's always struck me as a very public and candid individual who speaks his mind. Whether it was his highly publicized wedding or his willingness to comment on Dany Heatley's trade request, he's repeatedly put himself out there. (Ed. note: And given his infamous YouTube laugh track or how poorly his Jubillee Jeweller commercials have turned out, I can't help but imagine that he has thicker skin than people give him credit for.) By stating that he was disappointed with how he was treated by the fans and media during the playoffs, it's not helping matters that fans are freaking out and are inadvertently helping to perpetuate these rumours. That being said, Ottawa as a hockey market is just like any other Canadian city. When the team isn't successful, it can be a difficult place to play. On the free agent market, we can't fool ourselves as fans. For a Canadian city to attract premier talent, it has to do one of two things -- be a winning franchise or overpay for a player's services. When all money is equal, players are inevitably going to pursue warm weather climates, big markets and privacy. Like Wayne Scanlan mentioned in an article this morning, with friends like Emery and Heatley, they just might be telling his pal to jump into the trade pool, the water’s fine.

Unfortunately, for greater or worse, Ottawa's a hockey market right now that's starving for any kind of news that we can get our hands on. The fact that Mike Brodeur's Stanley Cup commentary on his former organization made the Ottawa Sun's front page is testament to how desperate this city is for any kind of news. And while a potential Spezza trade makes for good water cooler discussion, I can't help but feel like this situation is being completely overblown. Until Spezza makes a formal and public trade request, let's all take a deep breath and relax.

Armchair GM

Speaking of Brodeur, the man needs to spend some significant time in the NHL. And no, not because I'm one of those fans who gives him way too much credit for his 3-0 record last season and for helping to kick start Ottawa's 11-game winning streak during the middle of the season. I realize that with the success that Dustin Byfuglien has had this postseason, there will likely be a new fad to find a cheap alternative, but in comments made to Don Brennan that ran on Off the Posts, he needs to play at the NHL level to gain a little perspective.

If Senators goalie Mike Brodeur were a GM, he’d do what he could to land Graham Mink.

A 6-foot-3, 220-pound winger with the Rochester Americans, the just-turned 31-year-old winger reminds Brodeur of his good friend Dustin Byfuglien.

“I think he’s the most effective player I’ve ever played against, the way he screens the goalie on the power play and positions himself,” said Brodeur. “It’s nearly impossible to see around him.

“He’s the kind of guy I’d love to have on our team.”

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favour of anyone who takes the time to teach Don Brennan an armchair GM strategy that doesn't involve acquiring local products or former Ottawa 67's, but even this is a bit too much.

A Little Mendes Goes A Long Way

Via Twitter, Ian Mendes has let his followers know that the Senators are now gauging the market to see if any team is willing to trade for Anton Volchenkov's exclusive negotiation rights before July 1st. He also mentioned that Bryan Murray isn't interested in trading Jason Spezza.

Podcast News

For the past few weeks we haven't done the podcasts but I'm hoping to jump back into the studios next week. So keep an eye out for that.

 

It's tough being a Senators fan these days. The casual fans are all apathetic now that the Montreal Canadiens have officially been eliminated from the postseason. Anton Volchenkov has apparently put his house up for sale and is rumoured to sign with the Washington Capitals. And we also learned that the Senators wanted Cammalleri, but settled for Kovalev.

It's a good thing that management invigorated the fan base by re-signing Ryan Keller to a two-way contract otherwise it would have been tough not to join in on the untimely and inexplicable criticism of Bryan Murray's Alexei Kovalev signing ... (wait for it) ... in late May.

According to The Ottawa Citizen, Bryan Murray offered Mike Cammalleri less years and less money (4 years, $5.5 million per year) than the Canadiens. And if you want to fool yourself into thinking that he almost came to Ottawa, well, that's your prerogative.

At this time of year, it's a recurring theme for the mainstream types to dedicate pieces to those players who have exhibited some recent success in the playoffs and wonder what if. It's the kind of knee-jerk water cooler discussion that's hilarious to pause and reflect upon years later. (Ed. note: I think everyone knows at least someone who once thought that signing Erik Cole to an expensive, long-term contract was a good idea.) Unfortunately, it's in vogue to use this as an opportunity to dump all over Bryan Murray for what he should have, could have, would have done. But it's not just the fans, for the second time in less than a week, the mainstream media has reminded us during these lackluster news days of how uninspired and unproductive Kovalev's play was this past season. It's almost too easy and unnecessary.

While it's become cliche to characterize Alexei Kovalev as untradeable. Apparently he's not alone. According to Bruce Garrioch's sources, there's 'no market' for Jason Spezza. With the way that the past two weeks have unfolded, I can't help but wonder if he's the latest to appear in a summer long feature series that chronicles the list of players who can't be dealt from the Senators. Next week, it will be Daniel Alfredsson. The week after, Pascal Leclaire.

I realize that the whole trade Spezza angle is of particular concern to that sect of fan who don't want to see Ottawa's number one center dealt out of town for a lesser return. Especially when a significant portion of a mainstream paper's respondents voted to move Spezza out of town. (Ed. note: Every Ottawa Sun poll should come with a skill testing question like (4-2) 5 +3 = so that we can determine how bright the respondents are.)  Anyways, that's not what really interested me from Garrioch's article. The part that had me truly concerned is the speculation that Spezza isn’t thrilled with the fans, either. He complained to Murray about being booed by the hometown faithful in the playoffs. The Senators told him that comes with the territory.

I wish I could have heard the transcript that went with that conversation. It probably would have gone something like this:

Jason: Mr. Murray, they're booing me.

Bryan: Well, if you're that concerned, I'll need to know since the window of opportunity to trade you before your NTC kicks in on July 1st. Is Ottawa a city where you'll be comfortable spending the rest of your contract playing?

Jason: <awkward nervous laughter>

Bryan: Do you remember how the Dany Heatley situation unfolded? It won't be good for either of us.

Jason: <awkward nervous laughter>

Bryan: Is this a city that you're comfortable playing in if I can't find a reasonable return for you on the trade market?

Jason: <awkward nervous laughter> ... Please don't send me to Edmonton.

There's a lesson to be learned from these NHL playoffs: With every subsequent elimination, the mainstream media has elected to pick up their torch and pitchforks in an effort to find some angle to work as the hockey news thins out faster than Steve Simmons' coif. First there were the trade rumblings that Jarome Iginla could be shipped out of town to kickstart a Calgary rebuild. (Ed. note: It would be just another feather in the cap to cement Darryl Sutter's legacy in Calgary.) Then there was Bobby Lou in Vancouver. And after months of being fed the same merde about the Pittsburgh Penguins being an elite NHL team, some scribes are now touting an Evgeni Malkin trade as the most prudent decision that general manager Ray Shero could make.

Here's a snippet from the article by The Hockey News' John Griggs...

Trading Malkin would do a number of things for the Pens. First, it would net Pittsburgh a winger to play with Crosby; God only knows what type of numbers he could put up with something more than an average player to pass the puck to.

Second, it would open up more ice time for Staal; who, although he didn’t put up great numbers, was a beast in the playoffs and looks to be on the verge of becoming a player more akin to older brother Eric than the third line checker he’s been pigeon-holed as.

Also, a Malkin trade frees up cap space; $8.7 million to be exact. That’s a lot of cake. And having Staal’s $4 million as No. 2 center money makes a lot more sense these days. The $8.7-million difference could be spent shoring up a blueline that has just three players signed to it next season.

There's no inherent risk in trading a second line center who has put up over 100 points in two of the past three seasons to open up ice-time for a player who has never posted a 50-point season.  Especially when the numbers clearly indicate that Jordan Staal played with better quality linemates than Malkin did. Nevermind that Malkin's annual cap hit -- $8.7 million -- would likely hamper or diminish any prospective trade return or that the proposed trade partner in Griggs' trade scenario, the Edmonton Oilers, would never part with the first overall pick, a prospect or two and a roster player in exchange for a quick fix solution who would only turn their team into a bubble playoff team.

It all makes for wonderful logic.

Anyways, here's my point: Jason Spezza's hardly alone. Even though there's an argument to be made that Ottawa should explore trade options for their number one center -- his impending NTC; locking up a young player who already has a wonky back -- the notion that Jason Spezza be held accountable for Ottawa's playoff shortcomings is misguided. Not every city needs a scapegoat. They just need better angles for appropriate water-cooler discussion.

The NHL Entry Draft

When the Canadiens eliminated the Penguins last week, it assured that one of the Eastern Conferences' lowest seeds would be featured in this year's Stanley Cup Finals. In other words, it guarantees that Ottawa moves up to select 16th in this summer's NHL Entry Draft.

In yesterday's Ottawa Sun, Bruce Garrioch talked at length with Tim Murray in regards to this year's draft and there were some important details shared by the Senators' Assistant General Manager...

“We feel we’re going to get a good player,” Tim Murray said during a break in the meetings Friday. “We’ve looked at the lists and we feel good right up to No. 20-to-No. 21. From there, we feel like the first round drops off quite a bit. Sure, there’s still going to be some good players there, but you’re going to have to look a little bit harder.”

Murray said the club won’t prioritize by position, but admitted the Senators would like a forward.

“We’re just going to take the best player,” said Murray. “If it’s a defenceman, that’s what we’re taking. I look at our depth chart every day and it looks like we’ve got a ton of defencemen. All of sudden (Anton) Volchenkov could be gone (as a unrestricted free agent come July 1) and (Filip) Kuba got hurt last year.

“Just when you think that you have lots, you don’t. The one thing I know about defencemen, if you do have too many — and I don’t think you can ever have too many — but if you feel you do, they’re easy to move and they have high value.

“Ideally, if we could get a skilled centre, that’d be great. If we can’t, then it’s the best player available.”

Even if it is just lip service (Ed. note: if young defencemen were easy to move, why's Brian Lee still here?), it's encouraging to hear that management's not going to behave like the previous regime and make draft selections based on need.

Sunning It

According to some anonymous league executives who spoke with Bruce Garrioch, Alexei Kovalev is... wait for it ... untradeable. Like their identities, I'm pretty sure that some other adjectives that were used to describe Kovalev were kept off the record and hidden.

Buried at the bottom of Garrioch's article is fantastic news that TSN's Pierre McGuire is actually a candidate for the  vacant Tampa Bay position. With names like Yzerman and McGuire in circulation, I wonder if Tampa has actually learned anything from the Barry Melrose incident. Here's hoping that either candidate is hired and somehow the Lightning manage to piss way the inexpensive years of Stamkos and Hedman's careers.

Here's some other interesting Garrioch news from the past two days:

• Management's no closer to signing the unrestricted Andy Sutton, Matt Cullen or Anton Volchenkov.
  
• Bryan Murray wants to retain all of his restricted free agents -- Peter Regin, Nick Foligno and Chris Campoli. (Ed. note: No mention of Jesse Winchester? Ouch. Instead of signing long-term deals, I fully expect Foligno and Regin to sign inexpensive one or two year deals to cash in on playing in expanded roles.)
• Management wants to get Mike Hoffman and Corey Cowick signed to entry level deals and believes that Roman Wick will come to camp under contract.
  
• That Swedish newspaper report that indicated that Andre Petersson was close to signing was believed to have been leaked by Petersson's agent in an effort to maximize his contract with his SEL team.

With the NHL Entry Draft and the July 1st free agency period sneaking up on hockey fans like an unexpected Dany Heatley trade request, there isn't much to do as the playoffs unfold but put pen to paper and attempt to figure out what kind of offseason the Senators could foreseeably have.

So the challenge was simple and the invitations to the rest of the Ottawa blogosphere were sent out. Using Capgeek.com, some creativity and common sense, come up an offseason plan that was feasible.

I will post what some of the others came up with first before concluding with what I came up. I would like to thank those who took the time to lend their thoughts and participate. Here it goes: