You've got to give Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray one thing - he's certainly not shy about making his intentions known.
Murray, in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, essentially announced to the NHL at large that, as part of his efforts to obtain a "top-six or top-three forward" to pair with star Bobby Ryan, he has now made Chris Phillips, Chris Neil, Marc Methot - if the two sides can't come together on an extension - and perhaps even David Legwand available in trade.
The Senators GM has already received at least one inquiry on Neil, an alternate captain, but he won't be moved unless Murray can find a similar level of grit and toughness for his lineup elsewhere.
As for Methot, he recently returned to the lineup after dealing with injury issues for much of the season's first-half and he and the team continue to discuss a contract extension.
But should the two sides fail to reach an agreement in the near future, Methot "will be traded by the deadline," according to The Fourth Period.
The big blueliner, along with Phillips, has already drawn interest from a number of teams.
Neil, Phillips and Legwand, who has one year reaming on his current deal, all own limited no-trade clauses so they'll have some say in where they end up should Murray eventually pull the trigger.
Murray admitted that, while nothing is imminent on any potential trade front, he continues to receive calls and, more importantly, he's actively listening and looking.
"I've had a couple of calls already to see if we're going to do certain things," Murray said Wednesday, according to the Citizen.
"Maybe one or two of our guys want to go to a contender and have a chance to win a Cup."
He told the Citizen that he'd "love" to get center Ryan O'Reilly from the Colorado Avalanche, but does not see an actual deal there to be made for the Senators.
