An omen for Brian Lee?

My take? The last thing in the world BM is shopping for is another forward. He has 15 NHL quality forwards and some teams (like the Laffs) don't even have half as many. Cheechoo will never turn into a consistent scorer again, post-surgery it's just too much to ask. Just give him a spot on the 3rd line and ask him to be responsible until he can be bought out over the summer. The book on Kovalev was that he was like a great MLB starting pitcher. Dazzles you one night, then disappears for 4 games. Well, we haven't see the dazzle game yet, I sure hope he's saving them up. No-one has figured him out yet and no-one is about to.

The Sens don't need a #1 D-Man...it's like saying "We need an Ovechkin" or "Let's trade for Lidstrom." Elite guys are rare. For D-Men, we had one, and Muckler let him go for nothing. Trying to get another guy like that, while also fitting him into the salary cap, well....dare to dream.
The Sens need a "middle pairing" (3-4) defenceman. Even if crooked crotched Kuba comes back and plays most of the year, it's obvious he's the only one worthy of being in the top 4 with Philchenkov. Kubie plays kinda soft, but he's steady and put up a ton of points in a crappy year for the Sens...and he is great on the PP point.
Affordable top 4 D-Men aren't readily available. What sane GM would give one up at this point? The hope has to be that as we approach the deadline, some team (likely in the west) is motivated to move someone that is a pending UFA or is desperate for a fresh start.
I think Murray knows too that no team is going to be interested in 3 or 4 "bottom of the roster" guys in return, either. It's going to be somebody good, a prospect, some picks....something like that.
In the mean time, it's the D-Man shuffle!

Go Sens Go! (And try not to piss away 3 points to division rivals too often, eh?)

You say the Sens need a number 1 d-man. You say that Picard and Campoli have been bad this year. Kuba is our number 1 d-man. Campoli is playing out of position. And Picard has played well for a 5th d-man. When Kuba returns, people will see we have a strong defense and and that our vets will teach and protect our young d-man.

Trading Lee for a number one d-man, sorry, just not going to happen. If he played good enough to be on the team, he would. It didn't matter what his contract status is, just look at Karlsson who is on a two way and he took over Picards spot at the beginning of the year.

And plus, our contract structure makes it hard to afford a #1 d-man that will most likely be paid 5 million plus.

Here's a question for people:

I think the Sens need more scoring and should try and trade for it. There are two guys I would like the Sens to go after.

Nathan Horton and Kris Versteeg

What do you guys think?

I don't understand how you can say this:

"Both Alexandre Picard and Chris Campoli haven’t lived up to expectations so far in this young season. Picard has played well except for the Nashville game while Camps is having trouble staying alert on the ice."

I agree that Picard did not have a great game against Nashville, but he has played well in every other game thus far and has shown great chemistry with Carkner. It just seems horribly one-sided and ignorant to suggest he hasn't "lived up to expectations" and then say he has played well except for one game.

I do feel the same way as you about Campoli, but you're ignoring the fact that he has been paired with Karlsson; Ottawa's worst defenseman so far this season. He has a ton of potential for sure, and I'm okay with having him stick around to learn, but it's sort of shortsighted to blame Campoli before blaming Karlsson.

I can't wait until Kuba comes back and the team can sit Campoli. Karlsson will learn a lot more paired with Kuba.