GM Burkholder made a summer blockbuster by trading away franchise star Bobby Ryan to his hometown team New Jersey Devils for exchange of forwards Patrik Berglund, Matt Read, and prospect Boone Jenner, and defenseman Niklas Grossman, and two draft picks.
Rumors were swirling that Bobby Ryan was going to be heading to a unknown Western Conference team right before the draft and many thought that would change the franchises make up forever. The deal ultimately died and many felt that Bobby Ryan was going to be staying in Ottawa.
“We were always considered moving Bobby (Ryan) this off-season, but we still wanted to wait and see how the offseason was going to go. Looking at the market we felt we could get a good return, and gives us a chance to be a major player in the free agency period that is coming up. We got a very good value and it was a good hockey trade they like to say.”, said Burkholder.
Ryan’s tenure in Ottawa was short after he was acquired last offseason that sent Mike Richards, Nathan Horton, and Chris Campoli to Toronto for Bobby Ryan, Ryan Strome, Beau Bennett, and Stefan Elliot. Bobby Ryan flourished in Ottawa having a career year scoring 91 points (39G-52A) in 82 games.
In exchange the Senators acquired depth and shaved a little bit of salary off. The main piece coming back to the Senators was Center Patrik Berglund who is 24 recently signed to a 4.2M dollar deal for two years scoring 49 points (21G-28A) in 82 games. He is a good young two way forward with some offensive pop, and can lay the body.
They also picked up Matt Read who many believe he will take the next step who has a very accurate shot. His rookie campaign went pretty well scoring 26 points (8G-18A) in 39 games. A solid two way center who is expecting to play a big role for the Senators this upcoming season.
The third piece coming along is 27 year old defensive defenseman in Nicklas Grossman. Grossman possess a mean streak which is much needed to go along with captain Robyn Reghner. Grossman scored 15 points (2G-13A) in 82 games with a -3 rating. He will be a solid addition to the Senators blue line.
The other known piece is centerman Boone Jenner who plays in the OHL who projects to solid checking forward who was selected in the 2nd round in last years draft. Jenner has top six potential who has solid size and skills but needs to show what he can do with pro players. In OHL sometimes he looks dominating this past season he scored 49 points (22G-27A) in 43 games with the Oshawa Generals.
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