-Details of Stephane Da Costa‘s contract are finally available and the expected two-way deal represents a slight raise for the Frenchmen (825k/90k for this upcoming season).
–Eugene Melnyk confirmed my contention that Daniel Alfredsson left the team due to financial issues that would prevent the team from becoming a better Cup contender (by adding talent), debunking the theory of Elliotte Friedman and others than it was related to pride. Melnyk also discussed the kind of handcuffs he’s imposed on Bryan Murray:
If Bryan Murray came to me and he said, ‘You know, Eugene, if we can just get one more goal-scorer, or somebody that can play on our power play, if I can only get one guy and it’s going to cost us X for the balance of the year, because he’s becoming a UFA anyway,’ we absolutely would.
So anyone dreaming of Murray doing more than he has in free agency or via trade should throw those hopes away–short-term help is all the team can add (likely at the deadline). Travis Yost continues to look into Eugene’s financial workings where the evidence that the Sens are propping up his other businesses seems to be mounting.
-Speaking of Travis, he looks at Jared Cowen comparable’s and believes Karl Alzner and Marco Scandella are the appropriate ones (I think Alzner is right on target). I believe the contract will be signed in the near future and given the Sens budget I’d have to guess it will be a short-term deal.
–Jared Crozier speculates on how many roster spots are available for prospects to push for and concludes there aren’t many. There’s nothing new here and Jared doesn’t speculate on who will fill those spots (to my mind the only real competition is on the blueline between Eric Gryba and Mark Borowiecki, with Gryba having a substantial edge). The real competition remains in the AHL where Binghamton is glutted with forwards (as I addressed earlier this week).
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
eyeonthesens 