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Matt Murray Will Play Again For Ottawa

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The Matt Murray era has been an unmitigated disaster in Ottawa. Since the Senators gave up a second-round pick and prospect Jonathan Gruden to acquire the up-and-down netminder from the Pittsburgh Penguins before the 2020-21 season and signed him to an unsubstantiated four-year, $25MM contract, they have seen almost all down and no up. Murray has a 10-18-1 record with an .892 save percentage and 3.35 GAA, easily the worst numbers of his career.  The Senators ran out of patience with their overpriced and underperforming starter last week, placing Murray on waivers and, after he unsurprisingly cleared, reassigned him to the AHL’s Belleville Senators. It seemed like it could be the beginning of the end of a troubled relationship between team and player.

Yet, Pierre Dorion feels otherwise. The Ottawa GM made it clear when speaking with the media on Saturday that that Senators are not done with Murray. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that Dorion stated definitively that Murray will play for the Senators again and Dorion expects that to come at some point this season. “He’s just got to find his game, not be under the NHL microscope,” Dorion said. “At some point in time he’ll be back with Ottawa.” Dorion added that Murray has had factors working against him during his time in Ottawa, including injuries and a change in goaltending coach, but that the team remains confident that he can return to form and re-gain a role on the NHL roster.

Seeing as the Senators don’t need the cap savings afforded by having Murray in the minors nor will they part ways with trade capital to move Murray, it does seem likely that the veteran netminder will play out his contract in Ottawa barring a buyout or mutual termination or a major shift in the status quo of his trade value. However, that does not mean that Murray’s welfare needs to take precedence for the rebuilding Senators. Murray’s replacement on the NHL roster is Filip Gustavsson and the well-regarded 23-year-old is much more important to Ottawa’s future than is Murray, as evidenced by the club’s decision to protect the former over the latter in the Seattle Expansion Draft this past summer. With Anton Forsberg playing well and NHL experience of vital importance to potential future starter Gustavsson, why rush Murray back this season? What is more is that Ottawa also has several other impressive prospects pushing their way through the system, such as Mads Sogaard and Kevin Mandolese, who could also come into play next season and beyond and would seemingly be of greater importance than trying to force Murray to perform in the NHL. Unless Murray, at one point a budding star with an incredible postseason resume, can greatly improve his play – first in the AHL and then consistently in the NHL – Dorion and company should be careful not to confuse the priorities of a rebuilding team.

Carson Latimer Traded To WHL Prince Albert

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  • A notable trade occurred in the WHL today when Canadiens prospect blueliner Kaiden Guhle was dealt to Edmonton. The 2020 first-round was acquired for a package of four draft picks including two first-rounders plus two players, headlined by 2021 Senators fourth-round selection Carson Latimer.

Nashville Predators Acquire Kole Sherwood

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The Nashville Predators have acquired minor league forward Kole Sherwood from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for future considerations. The move will give the young forward a new opportunity as he plays out his one-year, two-way contract.

Sherwood, 24, signed that deal in July with the Senators after failing to receive a qualifying offer from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The undrafted forward has played in 13 games for the Belleville Senators so far and has four points. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been in the lineup the last four games for the minor league club (all wins), leading to this change of scenery.

There’s actually some NHL experience in the 6’1″ forward too. Sherwood played 11 games for the Blue Jackets spread over three seasons and registered nine penalty minutes and an assist. The brother of Colorado Avalanche forward Kiefer Sherwood, the younger Kole was once a scoring machine in the OHL for three different clubs. In 2017-18 he put up 44 goals and 86 points in 76 games for the Kitchener Rangers, but wasn’t really ever able to bring that level of production to the professional level.

In this case, future considerations likely mean not much of anything, as Sherwood was already not being used by the B-Sens. It is possible that an AHL trade will follow, but mostly Ottawa will just receive the benefit of an extra NHL contract slot. The team now sits at 46 of their 50 allotted contracts.

Drake Batherson Removed From COVID Protocol

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Finally, the Ottawa Senators have no one left in the COVID protocol. Drake Batherson was officially activated this morning, giving the team their full complement of non-injured players for the first time in nearly a month.

Batherson in particular hasn’t played since November 13, a game in which he scored four points to lift the Senators over the Pittsburgh Penguins. In fact, the 23-year-old forward has been one of the few bright spots in Ottawa this season and still leads the team in scoring (by three points) despite missing the last two weeks.

His return should help the team right away, but things are rolling right off the tracks in Ottawa lately. The team has lost five in a row, allowing at least four goals in each game and being outscored 25-10 overall. They’ll get a chance to right the ship tomorrow night against the reeling Vancouver Canucks, who have been battling for the label of worst circus in Canada over the past few weeks as well.

It’s important to get Batherson back on the ice and contributing, given the long-term contract he signed this offseason. Inking a six-year, $29.85MM contract is no small feat for a team like Ottawa that works under an internal budget, and it actually made him the team’s highest-paid forward until Brady Tkachuk finally signed his own RFA deal. We’ll have to wait and see if Batherson is ready to contribute at the same high level right away, but getting him out of the protocol and back on the active roster is a positive step.

Logan Shaw Clears Waivers

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Nov 29: Shaw has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the AHL.

Nov 28: In addition to the Sharks’ Evander Kane hitting waivers today, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Ottawa Senators are waiving forward Logan Shaw as well.

With forward Drake Batherson becoming the last Senator to be activated from COVID-19 protocol, Ottawa needed an additional roster spot with waiver claim Adam Gaudette joining the team.

Shaw’s gotten into 16 games with the Sens this season, scoring a goal and two assists while averaging just 9:26 of ice time per game. He spent the entirety of the 2020-21 campaign with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, which is where he’ll be going if he clears waivers on Monday.

Shaw, a veteran of 231 NHL games with Ottawa, Winnipeg, Montreal, Anaheim, and Florida, is in the second year of a $1.45MM two-way contract.

Matt Murray Clears Waivers, Assigned To Belleville

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November 28: Murray has cleared waivers, per Bruce Garrioch of TSN and The Ottawa Sun. The team’s assigned him to the Belleville Senators.

November 27: On Friday, Senators goaltender Matt Murray was a healthy scratch against Anaheim.  One day later, he has been placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Belleville.

The 27-year-old is in his second season with Ottawa after they flipped a second-round pick and prospect Jonathan Gruden to Pittsburgh to get him back at the 2020 draft.  At the time, they felt they had their starting goalie of the foreseeable future, quickly inking him to a four-year, $25MM contract; his $6.25MM AAV is the sixth-highest in the league among goaltenders this season.

What have they received in return for that money?  Not a whole lot.  Murray struggled considerably last season, posting a 3.38 GAA with a .893 SV% in 27 games, the worst numbers of his career.  This season, those numbers aren’t any better – a 3.26 GAA and a save percentage of .890 in six games.  Those numbers are below average for a backup let alone a starter.

Ottawa’s decision to dress Anton Forsberg and Filip Gustavsson against the Ducks was a strong message from head coach D.J. Smith that he has lost faith in Murray.  At this point, getting him down to Belleville for a stint to try to give him an opportunity to find his game again against lower-level competition certainly makes some sense.

Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch suggests the Sabres and Coyotes could be teams to keep an eye on with regards to a potential claim.  Both teams have a need for a goaltender but with two years still left on his contract and both teams operating as lower budget squads, it’s hard to imagine they’d be willing to take him off waivers with how poor he has performed in Ottawa.  A trade with retention after he clears and maybe some games in the minors would be a likelier scenario.

Assuming he does indeed clear on Sunday, the Sens will get a small bit of cap relief as $1.125MM of Murray’s AAV will come off their books when he’s sent down.  Of course, with Ottawa being a team that’s closer to the Lower Limit of the cap than the Upper Limit, that relief won’t be worth a whole lot to them but they’ll be able to move forward with a Forsberg-Gustavsson tandem for at least the time being while giving Murray an opportunity to get back to form in the minors.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that Murray would be waived.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Brendan Lemieux Offered In-Person Hearing For Biting

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Los Angeles Kings forward Brendan Lemieux has been offered an in-person hearing (via Zoom) by the Department of Player Safety following the incident from last night. After engaging Brady Tkachuk, Lemieux appeared to bite the Ottawa Senators captain and was given a match penalty which brings an automatic review from the league. The in-person hearing, however, opens the door for the league to suspend Lemieux for more than five games.

Tkachuk did not mince words after the game when discussing his assailant with reporters including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia:

It was the most gutless thing somebody could ever do. This guy, you can ask anyone of his teammates, nobody ever wants to play with him. This guy is a bad guy and a bad teammate, he focuses on himsef all the time. The guy’s a just a joke. He shouldn’t be in the league. This guy’s gutless. No other team wants him, he’s going to keep begging to be in the NHL but no other team is going to want him, he’s an absolute joke. 

It’s outrageous. Kids don’t even do that anymore. Babies do that. I don’t even know what he was thinking, he’s just a complete brick head. He’s got nothing up there. Bad guy, bad player but what a joke he is. 

The time and date of the hearing have not yet been set, meaning Lemieux is currently suspended. He does not need to accept the in-person offer, but declining it does not stop the league from issuing a suspension of more than five games.  There will be an appeal process available to Lemieux after the decision is made.

Senators Claim Adam Gaudette Off Waivers From Blackhawks

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It is a busy waiver day for Ottawa today.  After officially placing Matt Murray on waivers, the Senators have claimed center Adam Gaudette off waivers from the Blackhawks, reports TSN’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link).

Chicago acquired Gaudette at the trade deadline last season from Vancouver in exchange for Matthew Highmore.  He played in seven games down the stretch last season and did well, collecting four points which was good enough to earn him a qualifying offer for just under $1MM which he accepted in July.  However, things haven’t gone as well this season as he has played in just eight games – recording only two points – and spending the rest of the time as a healthy scratch.

Gaudette’s agent Matt Keator told Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription link) that GM Kyle Davidson was doing Gaudette a favor by putting him on waivers so that he could go somewhere where he could play more regularly.  He should get that opportunity in Ottawa, a team that has shuffled quite a few players in and out of their bottom six in the early going this season.

The 25-year-old will once again be a restricted free agent this summer with a $1MM qualifying offer.  Gaudette will also have salary arbitration eligibility so he will need to be more productive with the Sens than he was with the Blackhawks in order to be tendered in July.

Senators Assign Parker Kelly To Belleville

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It’s a lighter Saturday than usual around the league following a busy Friday but there are still 18 teams in action today which should result in some roster moves throughout the day.  We’ll keep track of those here.

Atlantic Division

  • Parker Kelly is on his way back to the minors as the team announced (Twitter link) that the 22-year-old has been sent back to AHL Belleville.  Kelly – who signed a two-year extension last month – has been up and down this season, getting into 11 games with Ottawa plus five more in the AHL.
  • The Panthers have brought up forward Aleksi Heponiemi from AHL Charlotte, per the AHL’s transactions log.  The 22-year-old is off to a decent start to his season with 11 points in 17 games with the Checkers.  Heponiemi played in nine games with Florida last season, collecting a goal and an assist while logging just over 12 minutes a game.  WPLG’s David Dwork notes that Aleksander Barkov was transferred to IR to open a spot for Heponiemi’s recall.
  • The Lightning have activated center Odeen Tufto from season-opening IR and assigned him to AHL Syracuse, per the AHL’s transactions log.  The 24-year-old finished second in NCAA scoring last season with 47 points in 29 games with Quinnipiac and got into his first four professional games late last season.

Metropolitan Division

  • The Devils announced (Twitter link) that they have assigned winger Fabian Zetterlund back to AHL Utica. The 22-year-old made his NHL debut last week and has played in three games in New Jersey but logged just 4:49 on Wednesday.  With Nathan Bastian returning after being claimed on waivers, Zetterlund can return to the Comets where he was off to a nice start offensively with nine points in his first ten games.
  • Forward Max Willman is back up with the Philadelphia Flyers, per a team tweet. Willman was added to the active roster in place of the injured Patrick Brown, who was moved to injured reserve today. Willman is pointless in his first six NHL games.

Central Division

 

Pacific Division

  • The Golden Knights announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned winger Jake Leschyshyn to Henderson of the AHL.  Leschyshyn has largely been a regular for Vegas this season, suiting up in 18 games while picking up a goal and three assists.  The move brings them down to just 11 forwards on their active roster which suggests they will soon be getting someone back.
  • The Kraken have recalled center Riley Sheahan from Charlotte of the AHL, per the AHL’s transactions log.  The 29-year-old cleared waivers earlier this month after recording just three points in 14 games with Seattle and got into four games with the Checkers where he picked up a goal and an assist.  He’ll take the place of defenseman Mark Giordano on the active roster after he was placed in COVID protocol on Friday.
  • The Ducks have returned centers Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Vinni Lettieri to San Diego of the AHL, per a team release. Groulx has seen regular minutes with Anaheim, playing in 16 games in his rookie season although he only has three points to show for it.  Meanwhile, Lettieri has suited up three times with the Ducks, collecting a goal and an assist.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Josh Brown Out 4-6 Weeks

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The Ottawa Senators were only just getting a semblance of an NHL roster back after a COVID outbreak forced them to play shorthanded, but they haven’t been anywhere near their expected group all season. Injuries have struck several key players, and now Josh Brown is going to be out long-term with an upper-body injury. Head coach D.J. Smith told TSN radio today that Brown will miss four to six weeks.

It’s not that Brown is a lynchpin defender or anything, but the Senators depth just continues to be depleted. He’s been moved to injured reserve alongside Colin White, Shane Pinto and Erik Brannstrom, while Drake Batherson remains in the COVID protocol. Brown played just 2:35 before exiting on Monday night.

What this really means is that Lassi Thomson will continue to get a run here as a rookie, though his play has certainly been deserving of that anyway. The 21-year-old is averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time through his first five NHL games and has three points to show for it.

Even though their defensive depth has been tested, it’s the goaltending that seems to be the target of Smith’s ire lately. The Senators are near the bottom of the league with an .888 save percentage so far this season, while expected starter Matt Murray has yet to win a game.

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