Senators Add Brad Isbister To The Mix

On Thursday afternoon the Ottawa Senators announced that they have signed free-agent forward Brad Isbister to a one-year two-way contract. The 31-year-old will be skating with his sixth team in as many seasons, and seventh altogether.

The Edmonton, Alberta native was originally drafted in the third round by the Winnipeg Jets in 1995. He is coming off a campaign in Vancouver which seen him post six goals and five assists over 55 games. Isbister spent the better part of the year playing on the Canucks' fourth-line.

Isbister has also played with the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, and Phoenix Coyotes (formerly the Jets) over his career. Standing at 6'4" and weighing around the 230-mark Isbister was drafted out of the WHL as a power-forward. During his time in the NHL he has recorded 222 points in 541 regular season contests.

This signing will bring little impact to the Ottawa Senators but will definitely help their affiliate in the AHL. The Binghamton Senators have been struggling both on and off the ice with player and personnel issues. With Isbister—and possibly others—going to Binghamton the B-Sens will hopefully become a better team this year.

For those of you who don't think Ottawa will exercise the option to send Isbister to Bingo, here's a list of forwards on their active roster:

11  Daniel Alfredsson
58  Cody Bass   
10  Shean Donovan
12  Mike Fisher
71  Nick Foligno
15  Dany Heatley
36  Joshua Hennessy
27  Brad Isbister
22  Chris Kelly
37  Dean McAmmond
25  Chris Neil
42  Jim O'Brien
 ?   Peter Regin
 ?   Jarkko Ruutu
26  Ryan Shannon
 ?   Zack Smith
19  Jason Spezza
20  Antoine Vermette
18  Jesse Winchester

Who will be the odd men out? Over half of this list have spots solidified as long as they show up to camp ready to compete. The rest of the bunch will settle for playing for the B-Sens in hopes to revive hockey in one of the smaller AHL markets.

For Isbister himself it appears that he can bring leadership to a team who either lacks it (Ottawa) or a team with a lot of young players (Binghamtom). All skills aside, this pick-up will prove to be a positive addition to the organization as a whole.