NHL Trade Rumors: Senators Would Be Foolish to Deal Top Prospects

The Ottawa Senators would be in the playoffs if the season ended today, but the season doesn't end today. There's still a lot of hockey to be played and that means the Senators can afford to take nothing for granted.

Senators owner Eugene Melnyk told the Ottawa Citizen back in January that the team would look into making moves at the trade deadline, and the latest word around the campfire is that the Senators are indeed making some calls.

According to ESPN.com, the Senators have been poking around trying to find a forward for the stretch run. The trouble they're running into is that teams are asking for one of the team's top prospects.

"I’m not doing that, I can tell you that," said general manager Bryan Murray on Thursday. "I’m not looking for a short-term fix." 

Murray said that he is okay with acquiring a rental player, but only if he can get one at the "right price." In this case, that apparently means no top prospects, which would presumably mean a low-impact acquisition.

Seeing as how the Sens could use some help for their playoff run, that wouldn't exactly be ideal. But if giving up top prospects is the only way to make a big splash at the trade deadline, Murray would be foolish to go ahead and pull the trigger.

Murray clearly knows as well as anyone that this Sens team is developing into a winner well ahead of schedule. The future of the Ottawa franchise is very bright, and it will be even brighter if the team's top prospects continue to develop. Before long, they'll be able to join in the fun.

The Senators are already young and talented. They stand to get even younger and even more talented in the near future.

Trading away the team's top prospects wouldn't necessarily ruin Ottawa's future, but it would definitely be risky. It would be great if the Sens won the Stanley Cup this year, but it's far more realistic to expect them to compete for the Cup in the near future. That's what the Sens should be planning for. Prioritizing the present at the expense of the future would be chasing a dream that's probably not going to materialize.

Instead of going for it all now, Murray and the rest of the front office are wise to make sure the team has the assets in place to go for it all later. There's a good chance their patience will pay off.