from the CP at Yahoo,

"Just watching the progress in the last month and a little bit, I think that the objective now is certainly more than it was a month before," Murray said on a conference call. "We are available to make a deal."

As an example, Murray pointed to the July 5 trade with the Anaheim Ducks that landed the Senators Bobby Ryan. Ottawa gave up young forward Jakob Silfverberg and prospect Stefan Noesen to get the winger who filled a void left by Daniel Alfredsson's departure.

Again, the Senators would be willing to trade from their position of youth in the organization.

"We do have a number of players that probably are deserving of playing some games or playing in the NHL that may not get a chance because of our numbers up here that we would talk to teams about for a more veteran-type player," Murray said.

Earlier in the season, Murray expressed a desire to upgrade his team's mobility on the blue-line and talked to "a number of teams" about a puck-moving defenceman. That need has been eased by the recall of 20-year-old rookie Cody Ceci, who has been a mainstay since making his debut in mid-December.

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