Ottawa Senators Look To Move On Following Disappointing Season

The Ottawa Senators have experienced ups and downs over the past calendar year.

In June 2007, they made the finals but were ousted by a strong Anaheim Ducks team. They followed that up by winning 15 of their first 17 games at the start of the '07-'08 season.

And the rest is history.

The team fell apart before everyone's eyes. To add insult to injury, they didn't even clinch their own playoff berth. If the Carolina Hurricanes had beaten the Florida Panthers in their last game, the Sens wouldn't have made the playoffs.

Of course, if you haven't been living under a rock, you would know this.

The old saying goes, "One step forward and two steps back". Can the same be said for the Senators?

As mentioned, they made the finals in 2007, and then they were swept by Pittsburgh in 2008 after backing into the playoffs.

What does the future hold for this team? Can they turn it around in 2008-2009, or will they suffer another disappointing season?

Only time will tell.

But until then, we can't help but speculate what could happen this season. General Manager Bryan Murray needs to sign three more players in order to fill his roster. Of those players, two are RFAs Antoine Vermette and Andrej Meszaros.

I would imagine they would return to Ottawa, as neither has really established themselves as bait for a high-priced offer sheet.

Murray's next order of business would be to acquire a puck-moving defenseman. This isn't likely to be done via free agency, as there aren't any notable D-men remaining. Wade Redden signed long-term in the Big Apple, and negotiations with Ron Hainsey and Mark Streit fell through, as they went to Atlanta and Long Island, respectively.

In the Windy City, Brian Campbell signed an eight-year deal with the Blackhawks worth a grand total of $56.8 million. That's the equivalent to an annual salary-cap.

It's come to my attention that Chicago is currently over the cap. With the big signing of goaltender Cristobal Huet (can you say ridiculous), it puts the 'Hawks over the salary cap in the ballpark of $3-4 million.

Since it's the offseason, the league allows teams to put themselves over the cap by 10 percent until training camp is over.

According to TSN, and the 'Hawks' website, Chicago GM Dale Tallon says he likes the goaltending tandem of Huet and Nikolai Khabibulin, and he plans to keep them together for the season. Khabibulin, who is slated to make over $6 million this season, won't be too pleased about this.

Also, during TSN's Free-Agent Frenzy on Tuesday, Bob Mackenzie also had a source that said, with the addition of Campbell to an emerging 'Hawks' blueline, the team would be willing to part with Brent Seabrook in order to cut down the payroll.

Whether this is true or not has yet to be publicly acknowledged by the Blackhawks' management. But Mackenzie also picked the names of the first 15 draft picks for this year's draft, and he got 14 of them right.

Not bad, eh?

Seabrook's current salary with the Blackhawks is $3.5 million for the next three seasons. That would fit under Ottawa's cap without a problem. And at the end of that deal, he is still going to be a restricted free-agent.

The only problem is Chicago will want (and probably get) either a first or second-round draft pick, or a promising prospect. But the only minor-leaguer that Ottawa has that is that valuable is Brian Elliott, a goaltender.

Since Chicago has a goaltending prospect in Corey Crawford, that deal would be useless. The most realistic deal (if there were to be one) would be Seabrook to Ottawa for a second-round pick and a prospect.

If Ottawa decides to swing a deal to acquire Seabrook, it would help them in a big way. He had nine goals, 23 assists, and a plus-minus rating of +13.

However, if Chicago is asking for too much in return, the Sens won't go through with the deal. Andrej Meszaros can play as an offensive defenseman, but his bread and butter is playing as a steady two-way player.

The additions of Jarkko Ruutu and Alex Auld were smart moves by the Senators. They are adding grit and size to an already skilled team. With all distractions aside, this team can pull it together and win hockey games.

Ottawa and Pittsburgh are scheduled to meet on Oct. 4 and 5 to start the season. Playing the defending Eastern Conference champs will be a test in itself, as the team plans to make a jump back to one the elite teams in the league.