The 6th Sens floats a Trade Heatley trial balloon, one better argued than I did a month ago.In the same post, he also talks about the Senators' recent run as being very admirable:
[...] I'll use this opportunity to say that I was impressed with the team's recent run because I think that they're a very average team. They're neither elite nor bad and I'm concerned that they're destined to nothing more than average for the next couple of seasons.I think he's right.
One of the problems that everyone in the league is facing these days is how the salary cap is affecting a GM's ability to make changes and plan for the future. Where once a GM could spend his way out of a hole, they now appear to be stuck with the beds they make for themselves, and it will probably take a few years for the league in general to figure out a way to make a good-looking and functional bed to lie in while still leaving some room to maneuver. Personally I don't know what this solution will look like, but there has to be an answer somewhere.
While I am pleased, in a short-term way, with what Murray did this year up to the trade deadline, I'm still not sure that he and Melnyk really have a plan to improve this team in the next few years. I fear that we'll be battling the Maple Leafs for the title of Best Ontario Team Not In The Playoffs for some time to come.
