The Ottawa Senators seem to be doing everything they can to make sure Bobby Ryan re-signs before he hits the unrestricted free agent market next summer.
Bobby Ryan to Senators: ‘Prove yourself to me before I take your money’
Bobby Ryan isn’t quite ready to commit to the Ottawa Senators and has already turned down a seven-year contract extension from the club.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
He is entering the final year of a five-year, $25.5 million contract he signed as a member of the Anaheim Ducks, who traded him to Ottawa last summer in a deal that was centered around forward Jakob Silfverberg, prospect Stefan Noesen and a 2014 first-round draft pick. But before the four-time 30-goal scorer commits to the team long-term, he seems to want to wait and see what happens with the Senators and what his role will be before signing a new deal.
Reports have already surfaced that Ryan has rejected a seven-year contract extension from the team, something that Ryan seemed to confirm on Wednesday when talking to Wayne Scanlan of the Ottawa Citizen, specifically throwing out the seven year number.
Bobby Ryan re contract talk: "You're hitching your wagon to a team for 7 years, it's ok to take some time to realize if it's what you want."
— Wayne Scanlan (@HockeyScanner) September 17, 2014 Ryan: "Everything I've said and still feel is that I'd love to be here long term, but you need some assurance, some motivating factor."
— Wayne Scanlan (@HockeyScanner) September 17, 2014 3) Ryan: "To not get it done at this early stage isn't a tragedy." #sens
— Wayne Scanlan (@HockeyScanner) September 17, 2014 4) Closing Ryan contract comment: "We've still got a year to get there and I think everyone is fairly confident that we will." #sens
— Wayne Scanlan (@HockeyScanner) September 17, 2014 When Ryan talks about needing some assurance and a motivating factor, there are a couple of different ways to take that.
Does he want to see more from the Senators when it comes to putting a winning team on the ice around him? After falling short of the playoffs, the team is once again entering the season with one of the smallest payrolls in the NHL, and they did little to improve over the summer by trading Jason Spezza and replacing him with David Legwand. That's probably not going to do much to close the gap between them and the rest of the Eastern Conference playoff teams.
It's almost the antithesis of what's happening in Columbus right now with Ryan Johansen, where the team is telling the player, "prove to us you're good before we pay you," and instead would be the player saying, "prove to me you're good before I take your money."
Or does he, as general manager Bryan Murray discussed on Monday, want to know more about his role with the team and where he stands on the roster?
In his first season with the Senators, Ryan was fifth on the team in ice-time per game among forwards even though he was one of the most productive players on the roster on a per-minute basis. All indications heading into training camp are that Ryan is going to see an increased role and play in just about every situation, including on the penalty kill, something he did for only 14 minutes last season.
Either way, until this situation gets resolved there is always the chance it kicks off another round of Bobby Ryan trade rumors and some free agent speculation. Maybe even something involving a certain team near his hometown of Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
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