Not really a surprising move here, but the Ottawa Senators and defenseman Eric Gryba have agreed to a two-year, $2.5MM deal that extends him through the 2015-2016 season.
Gryba is what he is -- a third-pairing guy who can, occasionally, kill penalties. There's not much upside in him as a player going forward, but I think the organization definitely wanted to reward a guy who did take a step in the right direction as a player last season.
The only negative about this deal, I think, is that there's still a bit of a numbers issue on the back-end. With Gryba and Borowiecki in the fold, that's eight NHL defensemen on the roster to start next season. And I remind you that the talent level of this group is, uh, not exactly high.
I worry about Bryan Murray maybe shopping Patrick Wiercioch this summer. I think he would be nuts to do that, but you sense the organization isn't as high on him as others (like myself) are.
And now, we return to the Jason Spezza trade watch..