In a surprising move, the Ottawa Senators recalled forward Colin Greening from the Binghamton Senators after Saturday night’s 5-3 loss in Syracuse to the Crunch. Greening continues to collect his near 3 million dollar salary, and is set to take the trip with the Senators leading up to the NHL trade deadline, reports Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun.
After playing 12 games in Binghamton and recording 5 goals, he is set to return to the team that waived him in January after a disappointing early campaign. The move comes as surprising as the Senators still have recently called up player Matt Puempel on the roster and have cited Buddy Robinson as a potential call-up candidate as well.
WHY?
Let’s take a look at Greening’s case here for a second. Colin is a fringe NHL player, and after holding promise through the first few seasons of his NHL career, Greening hasn’t proven much in the two seasons since. Re-calling him gives the Senators a chance at another look, if they so decide. It also provides them some extra insurance and the ability to carry a 13th forward throughout a 4-game roadtrip.
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In looking at this as Bryan Murray, you have a troublesome contract on the books and want to get rid of it in any possible way. When talking about his contract, the call-up gives the Senators a chance to repeat the waiver process or attempt to trade Greening (presumably with salary retention) at the NHL trade deadline.
As a potential buyout candidate, the Senators would be willing to retain some salary if it did mean cap relief. As it stands, the Senators would be paying around 900k on a buyout through 2018-19. Let’s say they retained 40% to 50% right now ($1.05 – $1.325), they pay a little more but save a few seasons on the cap hit, which could be favourable for Senators management.
B-SENS
Unless some sort of move is made, it’s safe to say we might see Greening returning to Binghamton soon. In 12 games, Greening has had a noticeable impact and has been a serviceable forward for the team. Puempel remains up in Ottawa for the time being as they are now short two quality wing men that may or may not effect their slim chances of making the post-season.
Senshot Editor, Jeff has an interesting take on Greening’s impact in Binghamton;
"In his brief 12 game stint for Binghamton, Greening had a slow start shaking off early rust in the first few, but started to find his groove while gaining confidence along the way. He doesn’t belong in the AHL, he just needed to get his legs wet in his return to where his roots were at 3 years ago in Binghamton and should be fine the rest of the way."
Whether the Senators choose to buy him out in the off-season or retain salary in a transaction, this call-up acts as insurance for the Senators on their road trip and allows them to evaluate what they have in Greening heading into the trade deadline.
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