Senators sign NCAA player Cole Schneider

The Ottawa Senators announced today they had agreed to a two-year entry-level deal with University of Connecticut forward Cole Schneider, who has the saddest profile picture ever. Seriously, someone stole his Double Down.

Schneider went undrafted but made it onto the team's radar after setting some UConn records in his sophomore season. He'll sign an amateur tryout contract and play with Binghamton until they start the playoffs their season ends.

Though not the top college player available, this is a pretty standard move by general manager Bryan Murray. We know that Murray tends to believe that signing a college player is the equivalent of making a second-round draft selection. Ottawa doesn't have one of those this year, thanks to that jerk Kyle Turris, so we should essentially slot Schneider in when evaluating his progress going forward.

Murray has generally had good success with college signings, though the best example is playing in Anaheim (Author's note: Obviously I meant Los Angeles. Maybe YOU have a reading comprehension problem. *sob*) and not Ottawa. Bobby Butler has struggled this season after a strong finish last year, and Stephane Da Costa has shown flashes of high-end talent--though he has not completely put it together yet. It's far too early to know how Schneider fits in the picture, but we do know he will get an opportunity if he plays well enough to earn one.