Murray Stays In Charge

So it would appear Bryan Murray has emerged victorious in the ongoing power struggle in the nation's capital. Murray learned some tough lessons earlier in his career about in-house politics while with Washington and Detroit, and as John Muckler found out, he knows how to put those lessons to good use at this stage of his career.

Senators observers suggested Murray was locked in a battle with Ottawa team president Cyril Leeder over the future of the team, and the announcement today that Murray has received a new three-year contract extension seems to confirm that he has cemented his power base with owner Eugene Melnyk.

There have been so many conflicting moves by the Sens over the past few months that reports of the power struggle made sense. On one hand, the club was trading away veterans like Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, Chris Campoli and Jarko Ruutu; on the other hand, veteran defenceman Chris Phillips signed a new contract and veteran goalie Craig Anderson was acquired from Colorado, then signed.

It was hard to figure out whether this was a rebuild, or something else. The fact that the Sens were at the bottom of the Eastern Conference after making the playoffs last year made it unclear exactly how the club saw itself.

We'll now find out where Murray wants to go. He'll surely draft high in June, and the Sens have a decent crop of prospects coming. Anderson better be the answer in net.

But more important, he has to solve three problems.

First, he has to find a head coach he can live with. Since leaving the Ottawa head coaching postion in 2007, he has hired John Paddock, Craig Hartsburg and Cory Clouston, and quickly found all three wanting. It's expected Clouston will be fired shortly.

Second, he's got to find a way to move centre Jason Spezza, whose time has run out in Ottawa.  Murray tried to do this last summer and couldn't. With four more years left at a cap hit of $7 million per, moving Spezza is no easy task.

Third, resolve the future of Daniel Alfredsson. Alfredsson will be 39 in December and managed only 54 games this season. His productivity has dropped off, but he's still the team captain. Problem is, with two more years at $4.875 million, it will be tough to move Alfredsson even if Ottawa wants to try and get something for him.

In sum, congratulation on the extension. Now back to the headaches.

Comments

[Matt B]

The Sens will get everything they deserve with Murray. Very good coach, a mediocre GM at best.

What Leafs fans should take from this situation: having an involved and caring owner does not always translate into a winning formula. Melnyk is waaaaaay too meddlesome at the hockey-decision-making level. I'm happy Melnyk saved the Sens from bankruptcy, but I'm less convinced that he is an ideal owner (I'm even less convinced that he is not a criminal, with all those insider trading allegations).

[Guelphdad]

The Maple Leafs have money to burn and need a centre. Spezza fits that role and he isn't that old.

[stickhandle]

let Spezza to Toronto talk begin ...

[Paul]

Agree completely on #1.

#2 couldn't be more off-base. Ever since being thrust into a leadership role Spezza seems to have become a complete a player. He's a regular on a powerplay that has operated at 95% efficiency since the trade deadline. He's also scored at 1.5PPG clip since coming back from injury. At 27 he's still got great years ahead of him and fans were giving him a standing-o after yesterday's game. So how, exactly has his time run out? I'm confused.

#3 Agree that we need resolution here, but it's out of Murray's hands. Eugene has already declared Alfie is a Senator for life so he's not getting traded. That means we'll have to proceed with the uncertainty around his health right now. I expect we'll see him stay on the first powerplay unit but he could be moved to the 3rd or 4th line (a la Stevie Y) to decrease his minutes over the course of a game.

In sum, Murray really has one headache... finding a coach.

[simon]

Damian your article is so Toronto centric and out to lunch it is hilarious. Anyone who actually covers the Sens on a regualr basis knows that Jason Spezza is going no where. He is a great centre, ottawa is not a cap team so who care how much he makes. He is a 27 year old first line centre. Daniel Alfredsson is a great mentor to players, so why trade him for nothing now when is contract is up in 2 years, the team will be in a different place. Next time you write a column about the Sens please do so with more insight. The team is not as bad as you think. We had two goaltender that won't be playing in the league next year, taht is what the main problem has been all season.

[Jeff]

Spezza will NEVER play for a Brian Burke team.

[Conor A]

Spezza's time has run out? Actually it's the exact opposite Damien if you bothered to watch the Senators during the second half. His era is only about to begin. The Sens won only one game out 16 or 17 when he went down to injury after that awful hit by Letang on Boxing Day. Since his return and a few of the trades the team has turned it around playing well over .500. Moreover, he's been above a PPG pace since the trade deadline playing with AHLers. He has become a two-way player, becoming one the team's most important penalty killers. The PK has had a 95% success rate since the trade deadline. Yes there is very little pressure but anyone who watched the Senators more than a handful of times would know otherwise. He single handidly beat the Flyers the other night and nearly did the same against the Leafs on Saturday.

The fans, for once, are finally excited about his future as a Senator and have pegged him as the Captain once Alfie retires. He has received rave reviews from the coaching staff in how he's treated and played with the new, young players. He's sticking around.

And Clouston will not be fired as his contract expires at the end of June. They can simply walk away.

[Derek]

He hardly has to move Spezza. Sure Spezza has had a rocky tenure in Ottawa but Spezza has been the team's best player in the last half of the season and is emerging as the next captain with Alfredsson's career winding down. Everybody is raving about his play here in Ottawa. I'm not a Sens fan but you don't deal a #1 centre if you don't have to.

[This just In]

Murray is a terrible GM and all you have to do is look at his track record. I guess Melnyk's goal was to finish last in the East? Good news for the Leafs though, while Ottawa continues with bumbling Murray and suffer on the ice, the Leafs seem to be heading in the opposite direction.

[Dave]

Are you kidding??? Spezza has been fantastic playing with the kids from the farm team, showing leadership and filling the net down the stretch. Trading him would be foolish. He is looking more and more like a worthy successor to Alfredsson as team captain with every passing game.

[gurgle]

He's a point-per-game player who was on the PK at the end of this year and who wins more face-offs than he loses.

Why should the sens trade him? That makes no sense.

[.]

Move Spezza? Have you watched a Senators game lately?

[HaBla]

Brilliant! One of the best satire pieces I've read in quite some time! What sold it for me was how you started really straight-faced and dead-on with the coaching situation. Then you jumped right into the silly with moving Spezza. The team really needs to get rid of his 22 points in the last 14 games, 56 pts in 61 games. That near-point-per-game clip is a real problem. But the real beauty of this excellent piece of humour was when you pushed beyond absurdity and discussed the headache of moving Daniel Alfredsson. You really hit it out of the park with that one!

I'm still wiping the tears of laughter away. Damien, you have outdone yourself. Hats off!

[Dave-o]

Clouston won't be fired. Just not re-hired. No way Spezza is going anywhere..they will build around him. NTC signed 'til 2014-2015. They've pretty much said Alfy will retire a Sen.. FTFY

[DM]

2 things that you can clear up right away: the Sens have no plans to move Spezza and both parties look at him as the piece they will be building around for the next decade as he is still a very young player just coming into his own as an all-around force. Take a quick glance at the changes in his game over the past few months and how much more responsibility he's taken on (he kills penalties very effectively, is now a top 10 faceoff man in the league and plays in all important situation). He doesn't want to go anywhere and the team very much wants to build around him.

Next, it's been very clearly stated that Alfredsson will be retiring as a Sen (when he will most likely be moving into some kind of front office job with the team). He has expressed no desire to do anything but play his entire career with the team that drafted him. His family is entrenched in the community and he is lionized by the fanbase. He has earned the right to punch his own ticket and he wants to play out his career here which the Sens are only too happy to accomodate. The legacy of having a player of his stature be a lifetime Sens far outweighs any small benefit of a draft picks you could receive in exchange for him.

[crack]

trade spezza?? what are you? nuts? or just another deluded leafs fan

[Spezzza]

lol trading Spezza... He's the next capt of the Ottawa Senators..BANK ON IT!!!!

[Jason B]

Mr Cox if you are going to write articles about a hockey team, the least you could do is look into what's been going on with said team. Jason Spezza is going nowhere, he has been by far Ottawa's best player and has never looked so good and confident is his whole career, all the while playing with AHL'ers. He is a huuge part of the future of this franchise and will probably be the Senators' next Captain after Alfie retires (he is also going nowhere, kind of like these scenarios you have brought up). You may be right on the first point, but I hope Murray retains Clouston, seeing as though the team has played quite admirably ever since acquiring a skilled and competent goaltender who has injected confidence into this Ottawa team.

[Curt]

Yeah...Ottawa really needs to move a top 10 centre in the league who is only 27 years old and is entering the prime of his career. That's some good insight there bud. Do you actually get paid to do this?

[Haaa]

Spezza's the next captain in Ottawa if you haven't paid any attention Cox....hahahaha I don't even think you believe what you write. Spezza's playing the best hockey of his life these days and even at the start of the year when he wasn't producing he was still better in his own zone and skating better than he ever had before.

[Basshat]

Damian, it was only a short time ago that you seemed to be one of the few members of the Toronto media that actually looked at the Sens objectively, instead of doing so as yet another Leafs cheerleader who felt it was their duty to ignorantly mock the franchise.
Then you suddenly drank the Leaf Kool-Aid and turned into another GTA hockey fan who deludes themselves into thinking it's much worse up the 416 than it actually is. Give your head a shake and try not to go down the road of so many local hacks. (One former colleague on The Reporters immediately comes to mind who, almost 20 years later, still seems to base his "analysis" of the Sens on his bitterness over Ottawa beating out Hamilton for the new franchise.)

[JR]

What's with the Spezza love in? The guy's injured most of the time, on a loser team and has no one to play with. At a 7mil cap hit, it was the equivalent of having Kovalchuk in Atlanta. You go nowhere. Better to pull an Atlanta trade him spread the 7 mil on two, three players and rebuild. Otherwise you get Ottawa's version of Sundin non playoff Leaf years that continue on to this day. That defence is not leading to the playoffs anytime soon, especially with old Gonchar, and turnover Karlson. No one wants to play for Ottawa but geezers looking to make a quick buck. See Kovalev, Alexi for details. I'm sure Bertuzzi and Modano are free next year.

[Rob]

Spezza's great when there is no pressure. And don't forget he is well rested coming off of an injury playing against tired and banged up players. He had better of played that well. Leaf fans thank Melnyk for ensuring a mediocre team at best for the next three years. I would love to know what Murray has on Melnyk, because you don't extend a GM that took a cup finalist to the basement, it doesn't work that way

[Ken Baumgartner]

@ everyone, Where does Damien menton the Leafs anywhere in this atricle? Because he says Spezza time has come it means the Leafs will get him. You read too much into the story. I don't think Spezza is going anywhere either because evry indication I here is that Ottawa fancies themselves as a playoff team next year. I don't believ it but they do.

[Mick]

Look at all these misguided Sens fans laying their faith in Spezza. Yes, he is a great passer but is as soft as butter and can't seem to stay healthy or win anything of any substance.