The Ottawa Senators sign Roman Wick, Jason Spezza on the trade market?

The Senators have signed Swiss forward Roman Wick to a one-year two-way contract earlier today. The 25-year-old homegrown Klotener, who played for the Swiss hockey team at the 2010 Olympic Games, has used his NHL-out clause in his contract and leaves the Kloten Flyers of the Switzerland elite league immediately.

Wick will be the second Swiss player to try his luck with the Senators. From 2006 to 2009 goalie Martin Gerber played in Ottawa and he reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2007.

Wick played his entire professional career in Switzerland in Kloten. Ottawa selected Wick 156th overall in the 2004 NHL entry draft. Wick also played in the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 2004 to 2006 for the Red Deer Rebels and the Lethbridge Hurricanes during which he dressed for 127 games recording 118 points.

Source: Roman in die NHL (in German)

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Also rumors are swirling around Ottawa and the entire NHL that centre Jason Spezza is not happy with the Senators. The 26-year-old Spezza, who drew the ire of the fans because of his poor performance in the post-season, has a no-trade clause that kicks in on July 1st, 2010. Spezza, who signed a seven-year $49M contract extension in 2007, has already held at least one meeting with Senators GM Bryan Murray since Ottawa was eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the 2010 playoffs.

Even though the team can’t afford to trade another all-star caliber forward like they did with Dany Heatley last season, when they traded the disgruntled winger to San Jose for Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek, many teams in dire need of offensive help would probably come knock on Bryan Murray’s door to inquire Spezza’s price.

Struggling franchises will plenty of cap space such as the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers are rumored to be interested in acquiring Jason Spezza. However, the chance of seeing the Mississauga, Ont. native traded before July 1st is relatively improbable, but keep an eye open as the Senators will have to make important decisions as they have plenty of players to re-sign to complete their line-up for next season.

Key UFAs: Matt Cullen, Anton Volchenkov, Andy Sutton, Shean Donovan
Key RFAs: Chris Campoli, Nick Foligno, Peter Regin, Jesse Winchester

Finally, Ottawa will probably buy-out the last season of Jonathan Cheechoo’s contract worth $3M annually.
Cheechoo, who had a miserable campaign in the Canadian capital, was demoted to the AHL back in February.