The NHL news feed has been inundated in recent days with trade talk, centered mostly on San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Marleau. It's still early in the season and yet rumors of potential deals have already begun to swirl as franchise's begin to ferret out weaknesses in their lineup and scan the league for possible additions that could help them through the arduous slog of the NHL's 82-game season.
The Ottawa Senators and GM Bryan Murray though, remain quiet. And per a recent report, it seems likely to remain that way.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun revealed late Wednesday that while Murray and his fellow league GM's spent the beginning of this week rubbing elbows at meetings in Toronto, nothing is imminent on the trade front for the Senators.
As Garrioch notes and much like the Marleau situation indicates, any trade options at this point involve at least one bad contract and likely two - Marleau, now 36, has two years remaining on his contract at a value just under $6.7 million annually - making the proposition of a deal "all but impossible," as Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman put it.
Senators head coach Dave Cameron, who has watched his group stumble out of the gate, recover, and operate in something like fits and starts, believes that what the team really needs to do is bear down and focus.
"Guys have to take ownership of how they play and if they do we'll be fine," Cameron said, per Garrioch.
Cameron's guys have struggled mightily at home thus far, with three of their losses having come in games at the Canadian Tire Centre, which could prove particularly troublesome considering they're set to embark on a five-game homestand starting Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks. Sitting at third in the Atlantic and coming off two-straight losses, the Senators know they've got work to do if they're to prove last season's surprise playoff berth wasn't just a fluke.
But it sounds like whatever improvements come; they won't be in the form of an outside addition.
"I'm giving guys an opportunity to grab the bull by the horns here," Cameron said.
