"I know Filip Kuba quite well from my days way back (with the Panthers)," said Murray. "He's a real solid person. He's a good player who can play the point on the power play. In talking to him, I think he was ready for a change to a market like Ottawa."

Murray called Picard, 22, "a local, high-end prospect" with the potential to have the same impact as Brian Lee, the Senators' top selection in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, who's expected to land a full-time role in Ottawa this season. The deal also gives the Senators two first-round picks in what is believed to be a talent-rich 2009 draft.

"We're getting (another) first-round pick in a good draft year," said Murray. "We have a chance to use those two picks to move up and get a higher pick or keep them and get two good players."

More importantly for the present, Murray believes the Senators have a much deeper blue-line corps, with two key veterans brought into the fold in Kuba and Jason Smith, a former captain in Edmonton and Philadelphia who was signed as a free agent in July.

"With Filip Kuba, Jason Smith, Volchenkov and Phillips, they're all veteran guys and they're all solid with the puck," said Murray. "Picard, Lee, Schubie (Christoph Schubert) and (Lawrence) Nycholat give us the depth we didn't have before."

Egyetértek Murrayal, mégha pontszerző nhl sztárvédőnk nincs is, de van négy megbízható veteránunk, valamint öt(Bellt is idevéve) fiatal védőnk amelyikből ha kettő kinövi magát stabil top4 védővé már jól jártunk.
(Btw. Murray valóban Meszarost képzelte el a legponterősebb dnek, és nem tartja tisztességesnek amit csinált. Illene sok szerencsét kívánni neki....viszont elégedjen meg annyival, hogy nem szidom és nem is érdekel...)