Murray GMs keep things interesting

Bryan, Tim both have big weeks

It was the kind of weekend that would make for good fly-on-thewall listening at the Murray family cottage, north of Shawville.

That is, if the busy Murray boys get a free moment to draw a breath of country air, away from the off-season chaos that has become NHL business.

Bryan Murray, the Senators’ GM, and Tim Murray, his counterpart with the Buffalo Sabres, got a lot of business done in and around the NHL draft, including a fascinating trade between their respective clubs: goaltender Robin Lehner, once considered a future cornerstone of the Senators, moving to Buffalo along with veteran centre David Legwand in exchange for a first-round draft pick. That pick was used to selected highly regarded American centre Colin White, 21st overall.

What a weekend it was for Tim, who cut his teeth working alongside his beloved uncle in Anaheim and Ottawa, and took bold steps in rebuilding the last-place Sabres, a team that now includes Jack Eichel, the second overall selection, centre Ryan O’Reilly, a twoway standout for the Colorado Avalanche, former 67’s forward Jamie McGinn, plus forwards Evander Kane (trade) and Sam Reinhart (2014 draft) from earlier transactions.

What a week it was for Bryan and the Senators, who stole the show at the NHL Awards — three nominations, Erik Karlsson winning his second Norris Trophy, and the entire organization shining brightly in the glow of Jonathan Pitre’s inspiring story, first told in the pages of the Citizen.

From the bright lights of Vegas to the beaches of Florida, Murray continued to make sensible moves to fine-tune his Ottawa roster, including the trade of Eric Gryba to Edmonton, enabling the organization to pare down to seven defencemen (plus AHL Binghamton star Chris Wideman, who was re-signed Monday to a one-year, two-way deal).

There are remaining issues, not the least of which is the burden of forward Colin Greening and his $2.75-million contract for 201516 (cap hit $2.65 million). In the final year, 2016-17, Greening’s deal jumps to $3.2 million. If Murray can get Greening moved along with relief for most of that money, he will have the freedom to do further business.

Don’t look now, but the Senators are already hovering around the $60-million mark in salaries, ahead of what are expected to be salary arbitration cases for restricted free agents Mike Hoffman and Alex Chiasson. They are no longer the small-market budget boys of yesterday. With cap space of about $11 million, according to the General Fanager site, Ottawa has less cap room than teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings among a host of others. (Keep in mind, the Senators have their roster more or less set, while many other teams have multiple players to sign.)

Tim Murray has plenty of work of his own, including getting O’Reilly signed to a contract beyond next season — “a high number,” he admits. Though just 24, O’Reilly is going to take on the role of experienced front-line centre to ease the way for the two kids down the middle — Eichel and Reinhart.

The thing about the Murrays: they make things happen. They love to do deals. They’re not afraid of taking risks. They swing and occasionally miss but are never afraid to go back up to the plate to face a high, hard pitch.

Tim, using much of the guile the he has he learned from his uncle, showed a lot of guts in dealing with more senior GMs during a pivotal moment in his franchise’s history.

It was engaging, as always, watching Tim the Younger and Murray the Elder at the draft. Tim, a former AGM with the Senators, has perfected the no-nonsense, curmudgeon role, typically dispensing with the niceties while stepping up to the microphone to blurt: “Buffalo selects Jack Eichel.”

Tim loves to act PO’d all the time. Sometimes he truly is. In private, though, he can be entertaining, fun and incredibly blunt.

That last part is much like his uncle, known for his straightforward assessments of players and situations within the league. God bless any man who doesn’t believe in “upper” or “lower body” injury descriptions.

Watching games between the Sabres and Senators is going to be a lot more interesting in the future than they it has been in recent seasons, with the Sabres in free fall until now, and Ottawa a playoff team two of the past three years.

Beginning with the Oct. 8 opener, the teams meet four times next season.

The Eastern rivals have a significant history — four playoff meetings, including the first postseason event of the modern-day Senators, a seven-game series in 1997 that the Sabres won in overtime.

The last playoff meeting came in 2007, when a Daniel Alfredsson goal in OT sent Ottawa to its first Eastern Conference title and a trip to the Stanley Cup final.

Who knows when the Sabres and Senators will meet again in the playoffs.

We do know it can’t happen soon enough.