Shuffling Chairs

The ottawa senators have addressed their need for a second line centre by trading Russian malcontent Alexei Kaigorodov to the Phoenix Coyotes for centreman Mike Comrie.

This trade brings snother soft centre that puts up points in the regular season. His post-season experience is limited to a couple of six-game series losses with the Oilers so that should stand him in good stead with the senators. This is definitely an improvement over the planned Petr Nedved pick-up. This move will allow Fisher to move back to a more defensive 3rd line role while Spezza will return to his spot on the top line (Injuries permitting).

The good thing about this trade from an outsider's perspective is that this will most likely make Bryan Murray try to put Alfie on the second line when he should be on the first with Heatley and Spezza. Since some people have attributed last season's playoff loss and this year's struggles to Murray's insistence on splitting up the Pizza Line anything that encourages more of the same thinking is great.

In the end it doesn’t solve any of their real problems: soft forwards, bad defence, and inconsistent goaltending. It’s just another Tyler Arnason trade. At least this time they did not lose a player that would suit up for the big squad.

Update: The Hat is reminded of Arnason too. Thanks Mirtle.