NHL Rumors: Ottawa Senators Considering Multiple Buy Outs

According to Shawn Simpson of TSN, the Ottawa Senators have several players who could strongly be considered to be bought out by the hockey club after this season. The names include Matt Murray, Colin White, Nikita Zaitsev and Michael Del Zotto.

Considering the state of the franchise, it's a tough look for the Senators as these players make up for roughly $18 million on the cap. When you're in a rebuild it makes things even harder to get things back on track with bad money on the books.

There's been some trade chatter out of Ottawa already as rumor has the Sens making calls, letting teams know they will retain half of Murray's salary in any deal. Some thought the Arizona Coyotes or Buffalo Sabres would make a waiver claim over the weekend, but as we saw that didn't happen. It makes sense for them to wait for a trade so they don't have to pay the full price for Murray's services.

As for the other players, Zaitsev's contract carries a $4.5 million cap hit through the 2023-24 season, White's deal is for $4.75 million until 2026 and Del Zotto's is a $2 million cap hit this season and next.

The Senators are a mess. Their team is struggling, their financials are all over the place and their goaltender of the future is now in the AHL. Expect to see several moves from the club before the trade deadline and it could all hit the fan next offseason with these buy outs.