The Ottawa Senators are facing the ultimate decision of having to trade Jared Cowan before the trade deadline set for 29 February. Cowen who will turn 25 tomorrow hasn’t been to flourish in the player the Senators saw in him. He has one year left on his contract and his cap hit is at 4.5 million per season. For his caliber, it proves to be a difficult task for general manager Bryan Murray.
If they have a taker for Jared Cowan, the Senators may be forced to eat out a portion of annual salary. Buying him out at one third the salary doesn’t appear to be an option according to Ottawa Sun hockey columnist Bruce Garrioch. It appears that his size does attract some teams but so far the interest has been very modest.
The main cause of Cowen’s woes are related to the injuries he has suffered in his young career. Because of those injuries, Cowen never developed in what the Senators were hoping to acquire when they drafted him 9th overall at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. This season despite being healthy, his play never really resulted in something concrete the Senators could build on. It is known Cowen is being shopped across the league by Bryan Murray. The Senators are looking for a defenceman in exchange for Cowen.
Galchenyuk untouchable
With the Montreal Canadiens looking for a way out of their worst losing stretch in 70 years, the rumor of Alex Galchenyuk being offered to other teams in order to bolster their offence surfaced in the past two weeks.
During the weekend, Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada insider, Elliotte Friedman declared the Montreal Canadiens are not shopping Alex Galchenyuk. The story came from two team’s executives who inquired about his status. The Canadiens declared he wasn’t available. Galchenyuk has been one of the few consistent players this year for the Montreal Canadiens.
Ottawa’s price for Drouin
In another article from the Ottawa Sun, they inquired to the Tampa bay Lightning about Jonathan Drouin and the price for Drouin is Ottawa’s prospect Thomas Chabot. Chabot was the no.1 pick of the Senators in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Sources have revealed that the initial asking price for disgruntled Lightning Jonathan Drouin was defenseman Cody Ceci. The Senators walked away on that proposal and it appears that the senators are out at this point on the Jonathan Drouin sweepstake. For Yzerman, it is obvious, he is asking more from the Eastern Conference teams in fear of not trading a player that could haunt him in the future.
An Offer to Stamkos by the Lightning
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, speaking during the “Headlines” segment on Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, Steven Stamkos was offered an eight year at $8.5 million deal by the Tampa Bay Lightning, last week. This reveals the intent of the Tampa Bay Lightning in wanting to keep Stamkos in Tampa Bay for the long term. It is the first formal offer made to Stamkos by the Lightning. Nobody has heard if the Stamkos has made a counter-offer to Steve Yzerman. It is believed the offer was likely rejected by Don Meehan, Stamkos’ agent.
Stamkos is looking at a deal similar to Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in Chicago. Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings has also signed a similar deal also in the range the Stamkos clan is looking for from Tampa Bay. Relationship between head coach john Cooper and Steven Stamkos has not been always been at its best, particularly during last year’s playoff, when Stamkos ice time was reduced, when the Lightning needed his offense.
This season Stamkos has played in 47 games for the Lightning and has scored 20 goals with 17 assists for 37 points.
Shattenkirk and the Bruins?
One rumor that is coming out is the rumor saying the Bruins could be tempted in acquiring St-Louis Blues stud defenceman kevin Shattenkirk. In exchange pending unrestricted free agent Louie Ericksson could be a good trade bait to offer, but the Bruins would need to up the ante with first round pick and a prospect.
The rumor came about from Joe Haggerty when discussing with his colleague Jimmy Murphy on the Great American Hockey Show. He stated that Shattenkirk would be a good replacement for aging Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg on the blue line.
According to Haggerty, he is positive, the Bruins will trade Ericksson before the trade deadline. It only remains to be seen where he will end up. With puck moving defenceman Tory Krug on the blue line, Shattenkirk would be a great no.2 for the future.
