Bryan Murray gives a prospect a dose of reality

[sureLoss]

Apparently Murray lost his cool trying to convince a prospect to stay.

Sylvain St-Laurent @Syl_St_Laurent
#Sens QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I told him (Wikstrand) he can go home and be a grocery clerk and play in a beer league." - Bryan Murray

http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/09/24/...lts-for-sweden

There could be one less player at Senators' camp when they hit the ice Friday morning.

Sources confirmed to the Sun reports out of Sweden Thursday night that prospect defenceman Mikael Wikstrand is likely headed back to Farjestad to try to rejoin his club team there. The club could either move to suspend the 21-year-old defenceman because they'd rather have him in the AHL this season or decide if they'll grant him permission to play overseas if he doesn't report Friday morning.

The Senators have spent a lot of time in camp trying to convince Wikstrand to stay -- even newly-appointed senior adviser to scouting Daniel Alfredsson has held talks with the young man to try to keep him here.

Signed to an entry-level deal last year, the hope was the seventh-round pick in 2012 would come to camp and compete for a spot on the blueline. Instead, he only suited up for one game at the rookie tournament in London earlier this month, suffered a shoulder injury and hasn't played during camp.

The Senators believe Wikstrand has a good shot at being an NHL player but want him to make the transition to North American hockey this season by playing in Binghamton. He wouldn't confirm his return to Sweden when contacted by reporters there Thursday night and referred all calls to his agent.

[Erick Estrada]

IMO that's pretty bush league by Murray. The kid is a human being and if that's the decision he feels is best for him you don't have to like it but you should be able to accept it in a professional manner. I highly doubt you would ever hear Brad Treliving say that even if he was just as disappointed.

[neo45]

Nowhere near as bad as what Tom did to us. This kid would rather play at home in a league that is about as good as the AHL, big deal

[Hemi-Cuda]

Murray comes off like a tool, there are a lot of fringe Euro hockey players that decide to stay and play at home instead of bouncing around North America hoping to stick with an NHL club. They still make a great living playing hockey and don't need to bag groceries to make ends meet

[Benched]

They may think it's the best path for him to the NHL, but another year in Sweden, probably not the end of the world and not worth the potentially irreparable damage your comments are doing to your relationship with the player...

[sureLoss]

Some of you are misunderstanding the situation. The kid has a valid NHL contract and going back to europe without the club's permission.

Full quote.

Brent Wallace @tsn_wally
Murray on Wikstrand: "I told him he could go back and be a grocery clerk. He could play in the beer leagues but he could not play hockey...

Brent Wallace @tsn_wally
Murray con’t “... in any shape or form if he doesn’t play for the Ottawa organization and that’s the way it will be."

Basically Murray won't sign his transfer papers to allow him to play in Europe under IIHF rules. In other words, the Senators are blocking the from kid playing professional hockey.

[polak]

7th round pick with an actual shot at the NHL should probably listen to his NHL team....

But I think Murray was d-bag too.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Some of you are misunderstanding the situation. The kid has a valid NHL contract and going back to europe without the club's permission.

Full quote.

Brent Wallace @tsn_wally
Murray on Wikstrand: "I told him he could go back and be a grocery clerk. He could play in the beer leagues but he could not play hockey...

Brent Wallace @tsn_wally
Murray con’t “... in any shape or form if he doesn’t play for the Ottawa organization and that’s the way it will be."

Basically Murray won't sign his transfer papers to allow him to play in Europe under IIHF rules. In other words, the Senators are blocking the from kid playing professional hockey.

I admit I only read the initial quotes you put up and after reading Murray is doing what is within the team's rights it's not like he's a core player that has decided to bail on the team. It's a young man that maybe realized he's not comfortable living and playing in North America at this time. IMO this can be handled much more gracefully as I don't see the upside of trying to force a young player into something he's not comfortable with. I'm of the opinion if a player doesn't want to be on the team you move on to players that do.

[Locke]

Well thats one way to ruin the relationship between the team and the player.

Is this kid it? Is he the final missing piece that absolutely must stay? Because if not then this probably wasnt the hill to die on.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Sometimes you have to speak in terms people understand. At least Murray was straight with kid on what he feels his decisions means for his future NHL career. You could argue that he didn't need to quote what he said to the media, but as fans we are always clamouring for more exposure from behind closed doors so I'm ok with it.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Some of you are misunderstanding the situation. The kid has a valid NHL contract and going back to europe without the club's permission.

Full quote.

Brent Wallace @tsn_wally
Murray on Wikstrand: "I told him he could go back and be a grocery clerk. He could play in the beer leagues but he could not play hockey...

Brent Wallace @tsn_wally
Murray con’t “... in any shape or form if he doesn’t play for the Ottawa organization and that’s the way it will be."

Basically Murray won't sign his transfer papers to allow him to play in Europe under IIHF rules. In other words, the Senators are blocking the from kid playing professional hockey.

But if the kid really isn't loving life in North America, would rather play in Sweden, and wants to go home why be a dick about him and block his path.

Maybe his mental wellness isn't really great in North America, and he feels it is better for him to be in Sweden.

Don't pay him, assign him to the Swedish league, and call it a day. It's not like the kid is demanding a trade or wants a new contract, he just wants to go back home.

[Komskies]

Surprised Alfie couldn't convince his fellow Swede to stay in North America.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I admit I only read the initial quotes you put up and after reading Murray is doing what is within the team's rights it's not like he's a core player that has decided to bail on the team. It's a young man that maybe realized he's not comfortable living and playing in North America at this time. IMO this can be handled much more gracefully as I don't see the upside of trying to force a young player into something he's not comfortable with. I'm of the opinion if a player doesn't want to be on the team you move on to players that do.

Maybe a bit coming from Melnyk.

The senators paid a $80k signing bonus to the kid on July 1st.

Remember there were stories about how pissed Melnyk was that Heatley forced a trade after Heatley's signing bonus had to be paid out by the Senators. Granted $80k is a different order of magnitude than the millions Heatley got, but Melnyk could be mad that the kid is only leaving after getting his signing bonus for this upcoming season and not deciding to leave before it was paid out.

[Benched]

purse strings that tight there?

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Benched

purse strings that tight there?

Oh yeah, from what I heard about Melnyk, he'd be pissed if they paid for his taxi from the airport.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by Benched

purse strings that tight there?

Melnyk has too much money tied up in his forensic investigations.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Surprised Alfie couldn't convince his fellow Swede to stay in North America.

I'm kind of surprised Alfie didn't convince Murray to just let the kid go play at home. Would they not still hold his rights upon returning to NA?

Seems like an odd thing to lose your cool about.

[The Yen Man]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I think I side with Murray. Kid signed a contract with the Sens. He had no problem taking the signing bonus it seems. His rights belong to the Senators for the duration of the contract. If he wasn't sure, he shouldn't have signed the deal. Now he's committed to it, and wants to back out. I'd be pissed too if I were the Sens.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I guess I'm in the minority, but I think I side with Murray. Kid signed a contract with the Sens. He had no problem taking the signing bonus it seems. His rights belong to the Senators for the duration of the contract. If he wasn't sure, he shouldn't have signed the deal. Now he's committed to it, and wants to back out. I'd be pissed too if I were the Sens.

Sure, it's legal. But I wouldn't keep him to go and sulk in the AHL and take up a good spot on my farm team. Maybe the Sens shouldn't pay a signing bonus to a kid with an iffy attitude.

If the kid wants to play in a Euro pro league or something, probably the best thing to do would have been to cut a deal for his release (maybe the Euro team would pay part of his bonus back).

[sureLoss]