So I took a couple of days off after the Senators were eliminated by the Penguins, and I was trying to save the topic for when I came back. But news (or rumors) wait for nobody and Eklund broached the subject on Saturday in broader terms about what Las Vegas would be willing to take on in the expansion draft, potential compensation for taking it on, and suggested one player in particular to highlight that example - Bobby Ryan.
Eight weeks ago, there would have been a long line escorting Ryan and his contract out of town, with the disappointing season he put forth.
But the playoffs have been a different story, as he was arguably the Senators' best and most consistent forward. But, has his six week wakeup call changed the perception of a contract that has five years and over $37M left on it?
By his own admission (in the recent Player's Tribune article he penned), Ryan was asked by Guy Boucher to completely alter his style of play. Boucher tasked Ryan to change from a perimeter player who floated on the outside of the action to a guy who mucked in front of and behind the net, create traffic and be a physical presence.
Ryan took a little longer to adapt to the system than a lot of the roster, and his career low numbers show.
It is a difficult decision that might not have a truly right answer.
The options the Senators have are to
1) Protect him and hope that the switch that was flipped during the playoffs remains in the "ON" position, and that he has accepted his role on the team going forward.
2) Leave him exposed in the expansion draft, and if Las Vegas takes him, they take him and the Senators wish him luck and move on from there with that contract off the books.
3) Leave him exposed in the expansion draft and offer Las Vegas enough incentive to ensure they take him off their hands.
4) Find another trade option, which would likely involve either eating some of the salary or taking on someone else's bad contract
5) Buy him out. It is listed as an option, but not really a scenario that makes any sense given the level of signing bonuses due, the minimal amount of cap space saved and the extended amount of time they would be paying him.
So it really comes down to the first three. Ryan is an extremely likeable person and is hard to cheer against considering his story, and what he went through last summer with the passing of his mom.
Eight weeks ago, I would have been among those leading the charge to find a way, almost any way, to get that contract off the books.
He changed my mind in the playoffs, but the $37M question is, can he translate that to a consistent regular season performance. Having that playoff performance is one thing, so we know what he is capable of, but he has to be consistent.
The Senators don't have as much cap space available as most people think, and we aren't sure yet where the cap will be in two or three years. Ryan's $37M+, if they can move it, can be re-distributed and would go a long way to securing the future of the remaining core of the team.
Over the next couple of seasons the Senators have a lot of key pieces that will need to be re-signed or replaced (Mark Stone, Kyle Turris, Erik Karlsson, Jean-Gabriel Pageau not to mention every goaltender in the system). All of those players named will be due raises, and most will get substantial ones.
So, what is the answer to the $37M question? Myself, I would be willing to roll the dice and hang onto him, with the expectation that he returns to a 20-25 goal (minimum) and 50-60 point level. He will probably never live up to the full expectation of a $7M+ per year player, but there are a ton of players dotted around the NHL who are overpaid for what they give, it is just the nature of the system right now.