Draft Day has finally arrived...

Good morning all in Sens Land!

Well, one of, if not THE, deepest and richest drafts has finally arrived right in the Sens backyard. All eyes will be on Ottawa this evening for the 1st and 2nd rounds of this years 2008 NHL Entry Draft. From a Sens fan POV, this could be a rather interesting time.

As I'm sure a lot of you know, all the teams that hold the first 6 slots in the 1st round have been approached by various teams' GM's hoping to snag that all-inportant first pick, but so far no deals have been made. Speculation is running rampant on the possibility of a flurry of deals going down within the next few hours and all along this draft weekend. Which brings me to my next point.

A quick google search or perhaps a little bit of surfing through some of the plethora of hockey sites are providing A LOT of chatter. I've seen my fair share of trade proposals from the improbable to the incredibly outlandish. One such rumor involves the Senators and the LA Kings. It's purported to be a trade that will send Jason Spezza and our 1st round pick (18th) to LA for a return of Mike Cammeleri and their 1st round pick (2nd). I must say that when I first read this, I had to scratch my head in disbelief. Why sign Spezza to a 7 yr deal only to turn around and trade him while he is still so young and has SO much more to offer?

Since having some time to digest this info, a few things have come to light. First, a friend mentioned to me that it's awfully convenient that a similar trade proposal/rumor surfaced about 48 hours ago with a the same pieces but a different team. Specifically, the rumor was the Penguins were supposedly offering Malkin to the Kings for their 1st round pick; and when that rumor was sloughed off and laughed at, not 24 hours later, a NEW rumor with Spezza comes out. Surely this is a classic case of 'consider the source;' and secondly, Murray has slammed that rumor in this morning's Ottawa Sun claiming that "you media guys make more things up(...)".

Needless to say, this coming draft weekend will surely be anything but boring and the hometown fans may or may not have anything to cheer about. Only time will tell. As one of my friends said, he can't wait to hear the loud boo's and heckling of Bettman once he takes the stage! HA!

In closing, to all Sens fans out there, do you suppose there is a chance, albeit slim, that Murray can not only trade the anchor known as Emery this weekend, but also manage to move up a spot or 10 in this draft? Are these Spezza rumors baseless? Let's hear your thoughts...
Oh, and one final thing: I consulted a friend of mine late last night as I goaded him for info or any juicy tidbits, and all he responded was this, and I quote: "Most Sens fans know what Murray is like. Anyone who has followed Murray's coaching career and his stints as GM know his MO and his style. He not only plays his cards extremely close to him, but he's also notorious for putting out false leads, and leaking misleading, if not untrue, info simply to throw off the opposition and media. So, every time Murray denies something, keep this in mind. He is a very shrewd and sneaky man, and we should ALL feel lucky he is in the Sens corner."