OTTAWA — If the Ottawa Senators can find room for them on an already crowded blue line, David Rundblad and Jared Cowen could make the team this fall and signal the makeover of the team’s defence.
Problem is, there’s no room right now.
The team already has six defencemen under contract: Matt Carkner, Chris Phillips, Brian Lee, Filip Kuba, Sergei Gonchar, and Erik Karlsson.
That means general manager Bryan Murray is going to have to create some openings through trades.
That could be difficult to do, since most teams are not looking to take on additional salary, barring those like the Florida Panthers that have to take on salary just to reach the salary-cap floor.
But Murray is not going to have much time, because both Rundblad, who won the Borje Salming Trophy as the top defenceman in Swedish hockey, and Cowen, the team’s first-round pick in 2009 who helped the Binghamton Senators win the Calder Cup, are within reach of a spot on the team, according to director of player personnel Pierre Dorion.
To continue reading click here.