Senators Trade Eric Gryba
The Ottawa Senators have traded Eric Gryba to the Edmonton Oilers
Just like the goalie trade, we've known for some time that the Ottawa Senators needed to trade a defenseman. As long as Chris Phillips is targeting a return to the NHL in October, the Sens were carrying 8 NHL defensemen under contract with the highly touted Chris Wideman waiting in the wings. Today, Eric Gryba is no longer part of that logjam as he was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers for the 107th pick in the 2015 draft (used to draft Christian Wolanin) and Oilers prospect Travis Ewanyk. Ewanyk seems like something of a throw-in to this trade as he's scored all of 20 points in 137 career AHL games. Wolanin, meanwhile, is a big defenseman who scored well in his time in the USHL. His player card is below:
As for Gryba, he leaves Ottawa after three seasons in which he scored 29 points in 165 games. Gryba, however, wasn't in the NHL for his scoring bur rather for his physical play and willingness to engage in a sound, defensive game. His most famous, or infamous depending on who you ask, moment came when he laid out Lars Eller in the 2013 first round series against Montreal. His success in his role was somewhat mixed, but ultimately he played well enough to be the guy that Bryan Murray could move.
The trade clears further salary off the books and re-stocks a previously depleted system. That said, the aforementioned logjam still somewhat remains. Stay tuned, there very well could be more moves to come.