Silver Nuggets: Wanted: Scoring

NHL free agency.

Bryan Murray has been wise the last couple of seasons, stayed away from the "big fish" of July 1st. Instead, he has opted for a shrewd trade that brought in a guy like Marc Methot, who has been more valuable than any free agent signing could have been. He's opted for short, low cost deals like the ones given to Guillaume Latendresse and Mark Lundin such that in the event the fit is not right, you move on. He hasn't gone Glen Sather and given oodles of money to a guy you sit as a healthy scratch in the playoffs one year later.

He's been patient, allowed players like Jakob Silfverberg to come to the NHL and have a meaningful place in the lineup. And it has paid dividends, the Senators have made the playoffs two years running, while maintaining millions of dollars in cap space. At times, they've threatened to not make the minimum cap!

This patient approach is much appreciated by many Senators fans, including myself. The question for this coming offseason is, do we start to graduate from the purely patient plan yet? Do we make a move, whether it be moving a couple young pieces for a proven player or a signing in a very thin free agent market?

Based on this season, and this postseason for that matter, there is no question that the Senators are lacking a proven goal scorer for the top line. Colin Greening has shown he can play anywhere, Silfverberg has an incredible shot, and Cory Conacher put up solid numbers in Tampa Bay with the Lightning. However, with Daniel Alfredsson potentially ready to hang up his skates, that is asking even more of a group of young players.

So who does Murray target? One I find intriguing is Pascal Dupuis. He may be 34 years old, but he's playing the best hockey of his career. He will likely get overpaid, but he brings a Cup win and a serious two-way presence. Nathan Horton is another player that might be worth looking into. Both players are important to their teams, but both teams are near the cap and may have trouble resigning them.

Any others you may be interested in? The list of Free Agents is available at capggeek.

Sens Links:

• The last ups and downs of the season. Gonna miss these. [SSS]
• Milks gives his "who stays and who goes" list. [BA]
• No look to next year is complete without a visit to the Sens capgeek page. [CG]
• Senators take to twitter to say thank you. [CBC]
• The Senators in the end were just outmatched by the Penguins. [NP]
• Which brought out one of the best quotes of the season from Paul MacLean. [SE]
• Have we seen the end of the Alfie Era? [Warren]
• REALLY COOL info graphic of the season's highlights. [RBM]
• Lastly, a great article from Wayne Scanlan. [SE]

Lastly, I just wanted to say thanks for reading these Nuggets, as sporadic as they've been with my crazy schedule this year. I'll try to keep these flowing through the summer.

Go Sens Go.

Dave