Sad But True

I presume that Bryan Murray is waking up in someone's rec room right now, wearing one of those Canada Day-themed umbrella hats. He, like many Senators GMs over the past 16 years, has taken the cautious route in both trades and free agency. Murray sat back and enjoyed his Canada Day.

Murray made one roster move of note yesterday between buck-a-beers and singing 15-second renditions of Tommy Tutone's classic "Jenny". That would be signing career backup goaltender Alex Auld to a two-year contract.

This leaves the Sens with a fierce tandem of backup goalies and no hope of consistency in the crease this upcoming season. No one really expected the Sens to be big players in the high-priced goaltender market, but I'm not sure what this move signals to Martin Gerber and the Senators future #1 goaltender (if such a savior exists outside of my wildest dreams).

The fact that it's a two-year contract means that Auld will likely be the transition goaltender should one of the Bingo goalies (Likely Brian Elliot; less likely, Jeff Glass) be given a shot at the Big League next season. (And yes, I am presuming Gerber will not re-sign with the Sens - and don't pretend like anyone has thought differently since the end of Year 1 of this three-year curse of a contract).

But long-term thinking aside, I would have preferred Olaf Kolzig. In 2002-03, this goaltender had 2 playoff wins - unheard of on the current Sens roster.

But give credit to Auld, he will likely challenge Gerber for starts this season. In fact, Don Brennan peered into his crystal ball and stated the depression reality of the situation:

"I'm predicting he'll be the team's No. 1 goalie by Christmas."

Sad but true.