Gryba’s ‘heavy game’ coming to Edmonton

SUNRISE, FLA. —Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli said he’s always had “a soft spot” for Eric Gryba after acquiring the defenceman in a trade Saturday.

“I think he’s a good, strong (defenceman). He plays a heavy game, he hits. He’ll back up his teammates,” Chiarelli said after dealing American Hockey League winger Travis Ewanyk and a draft pick to the Ottawa Senators. “I’ve seen a lot of him over the years in Boston.”

The Senators had a cache of defencemen and deemed Gryba expendable with the emergence of Jared Cowen.

Gryba, who calls Saskatoon home, was a third-round pick of the Senators in 2006. Coincidentally, the Senators got that pick from the Boston Bruins as compensation when Chiarelli left the organization and headed to Massachusetts to fill a vacancy in the GM’s office.

Gryba will give the Oilers some size and toughness on their third pairing. While he was still grappling with the idea of uprooting from Ottawa, he was looking forward to transitioning to Edmonton.

“I will definitely be getting more calls for tickets now,” said Gryba, who has one year remaining on his $1.3-million contract. “There’s been a lot of changes there and a lot of changes for the better. There’s a new GM, a new coach and, obviously, the addition of Connor McDavid will help. He’d help any team get better.”

“We had too many defenceman,” said Senators general manager Bryan Murray. “It gets us down to seven defenceman.”

Gryba, six-foot-four, 222 pounds, went from Boston University to the Senators organization, starting with the Binghamton Senators in the AHL, then playing the last three years in Ottawa. He has four goals, 25 assists and 187 penalty minutes in 165 NHL games.

“This is definitely an opportunity for me to play, and play a lot,” Gryba said. “Plus I am coming into a situation where there’s been a lot of changes. It’s going to be a new situation for a lot of players.”