The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

So ho-hum about the new coach hiring. What really caught my attention today was who wasn't returning for next season.

It was pretty much a given Ray Emery will be bought out and Wade Redden will sign elsewhere. But GM Bryan Murray oddly declared he wouldn't try to sign the Senators other unrestricted free agents as "...I can't possibly give them what they're asking for at this point in time."

So Randy Robitaille, Martin Lapointe and Mike Commodore apparently won't be back. Chris Kelly, Shean Donovan and Cory Stillman will see what types of offers they can get from other clubs when July 1st rolls around. They could potentially re-sign with Ottawa, but if the Senators don't try to do it now, it's just too likely another NHL club will overpay for their services and lose them.

That means there will be at least eight new faces in the lineup. This also assumes Ottawa can keep some of it's restricted free agents, notably Antoine Vermette and Andrej Meszaros, otherwise that number gets larger.

I have to admit, this makes me a little nervous. How many player changes are too many? Are there enough players in free agency as well as their farm system to fill the gaps? Changes had to be made, no question, but what is the right number?