Desperate times call for desperate measures
When Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray holds a press conference, it usually comes with a couple jokes, a handful of ‘wink-wink, nudge-nudge’ asides and a big helping of coyness. On Wednesday morning, there was no such joviality.
When Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray holds a press conference, it usually comes with a couple jokes, a handful of ‘wink-wink, nudge-nudge’ asides and a big helping of coyness.
On Wednesday morning, there was no such joviality. With his team sitting last in the National Hockey League standings and fans panicking left and right, this was all business.
So it was an angry, blunt Murray who stepped to the podium after coach Cory Clouston ran his squad through a breath-stealing bag skate at Scotiabank Place.
Few escaped his criticism and all heard this threat: “I’ve talked to a number of people, as I said. I talked to (Minnesota Wild general manager) Chuck Fletcher for a long time yesterday and said, ‘can I help you, you help me’ type of thing, so we’re talking to management of other teams, trying to find if there is a need and a possibility of making a move. That’s not always the solution, but I think it’s something that maybe sends a little message to our players, so we will continue to pursue something.”
If you wanted to boil it down to a sentence, it would go something like this: Get it together if you like living here.
The naming of the Wild predictably set off plenty of speculation about specific players. Brian Lee, who has fallen out of favour here (what took so long?), is a Minnesota native. “Wouldn’t he be the perfect piece to move? What could we get back?”
But that wasn’t the point. General managers talk all the time, whether it’s to chat about business or bounce ideas off each other. Chatter doesn’t imply a deal is pending or ever will be.
The point was to send a message to his players that he (and probably the owner) have noticed what’s going on and they’re not happy.
And why would he be? At the end of the day, the buck stops with Bryan Murray. After more than three years running the show in the capital, this is his team now.
The plusses? The AHL farm team in Binghamton is no longer a joke and there are some legitimately exciting prospects in the system. Jared Cowen should replace Chris Phillips as the main shut-down guy in the future, while Erik Karlsson and Patrick Wiercioch have the potential to be the solid puck-moving defencemen Ottawa has spent years looking for. The Senators might actually have a so-called ‘goalie of the future’ in Robin Lehner as well, but it’s easier to pick winning 6/49 numbers than predict how teenaged netminders will turn out.
That’s the good. Also good: hiring Cory Clouston. It doesn’t look like such a hot move now, but the coach isn’t the problem at this point. Signing Jarkko Ruutu and re-upping Chris Kelly and Chris Neil were good, but at the end of the day we’re talking about third-liners.
The bad? Murray deserves a pass on the big-money signings of Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley. When those deals occurred, it was impossible to find a single person who didn’t think: A) The nucleus at forward was set for six or seven years and B) Said nucleus took a little less money to stay here and play for a contender.
But what about the long-term deal for Ray Emery? What about Jason Smith? What about trading away decent assets to bring in the likes of Mike Commodore, Chris Campoli, Alexandre Picard and the forever-injured Filip Kuba? What about giving up on Antoine Vermette to acquire the forever-injured Pascal Leclaire?
Yet all of those deals pale in comparison to the signing of Alex Kovalev, who is among the biggest disappointments in franchise history. It’s not just the absence of any offensive production whatsoever, it’s the disadvantage his cap hit represents to the team.
I’m still not convinced Murray would have made that signing (at least not for two years) without being pushed by ownership, but we may never know what happened there.
The thing is, Murray knows how to build contenders. Look at Anaheim. Look at the Senators’ future. It’s the patch work that leaves something to be desired.
Options are limited at this point, so Murray’s doing the best he can to make this situation work. A general manager doesn’t stand behind the bench and bark orders. He doesn’t lace up skates and forecheck like crazy to set a good example. His bag of tricks is limited, and threatening a shake-up is one option.
Maybe it will work. Maybe the Senators will sweep both games this weekend (on the road against Buffalo, at home against Montreal), and carry that momentum into three crucial home games to close out the month of October.
If not? Well, it’ll be time to make good on those threats.
First, on the coyness and so on, annoying trait. Wish he just got down to business without all the pussyfooting around.
“The thing is, Murray knows how to build contenders. Look at Anaheim. Look at the Senators’ future.”
Sure, let’s look at Anaheim since this is often brought up.
Murray got Getzlaf and Perry, had Giguère as well from the ’04 (or was it ’03?) Cup run.
Now, please take a look at the defense Murray assembled. It had guys like Ozolinsh, Ruslan Salei, Olausson…heeeeey a bunch of older, slower guys.
After Murray left, the ENTIRE D-Corps changed. Bob Murray and Brian Burke traded aggressively for Beachemin and Pronger, signed Niedermayer (they traded one of Murray’s bloatrous signings in Fedorov for Beach, btw) and then, you know, changed the forward corps as well.
So…Bob Murray and Brian Burke took two key cogs, overhauled the entire roster and fit those key cogs into a new system and roster and won. Don’t know how much credit Murray can get for that.
The long-term deals to Spezza and Heatley were idiotic, even moreso because they got no-movement clauses (How’s that 4 million dollar recovery going Mr. Melnyk?) and so are most of the NTCs Murray has handed out.
The fact is, Murray has had ONE good year in the NHL, in the clutch and grab era where he led the Andreychuk/VanBiesbrouch Panthers to the finals.
It’s been mediocrity and taking credit for other people’s accomplishments ever since.
As for the Senators bright future:
Karlsson with a sense of entitlement a mile wide.
Cowan perenially injured.
Alarmingly thin at FORWARD, which is what we need, skilled forwards.
Look, it’s not all bad. He’s done some good stuff in rebuilding the farm and so on…but he’s out of his element as a GM in the cap era.
He’s just too generous, gives too many no-movement and no-trades and seems overwhelemed by events (Ray Emery fiasco, Heatley fiasco, Corvo fiasco) when he should have had a handle on these playersa from coaching them.
Not a fan at all and he gets too easy a time from the media, who should be hounding him with pointed questions any time he makes a silly joke or remark.
Basically, he’s mediocre and now we are too.
Sad.
Here’s the thing as I see it: Murray is not an idiot. He realizes, yes, the team is old, and that’s why he has been stockpiling prospects for the last couple of years. There were no “assets” that he got rid of that are desperately missed. Vermette was not panning out, Corvo demanded a trade, as did Heatley. Spezza’s contract was a similar contract handed out to players who got over 90 pts a season. ( or 60 if your Scott Gomez)
The problem is, the city of Ottawa seems very fickle with the attendance. If the very word “rebuilding” is mentioned, I guarantee season ticket sales drop next year, significantly. This is not like Toronto, where Brian Burke has the luxury of knowing the seats will be filled every night.
Of course Murray realizes the team is in transition and is approaching a rebuild. There’s just no way he can say it publicly, because that means we trade alfy, spezza ( if anyone wants him), phillips (ditto), fisher ( attractive if not for salary ), leclaire ( injury ridden ), and Kovalev ( no one dumb enough). There’s no way he can do a proper rebuild, so what he’s banking on is that by the time Alfy retires and Fisher is gone as a UFA to Nashville, that Phillips is getting older, that Cowen, Weircoch, Butler, Hoffman and Lehner will be the new core to lead this team into the future.
It’s just unfortunate that Ottawa could never accept a rebuild right now, because the team would suffer at the gate.
All Murray is doing is trying his best to appease the city, the owner, and keep his job.
Redcan, I agree with you.
Look, I rage on Murray a lot but that’s just because the media here have been so nice to him. BIG Kudos to James for being the first Ottawa reporter to actually analyze the Murray regime. HUGE props for that, it took courage (I mean it!).
My #1 problem with Murray is the number of no-trades he gives out. Surely as a GM he knows how limiting those are when it comes to make changes. Why do it then? Unless Melnyk is pulling the strings…makes no sense.
As you say, Murray isn’t an idiot. He’s just made many very odd decisions.
I’m not too confident with that core…but if we tank this year we get Adam Larsson to play with Karlsson.