Because Ottawa wasn't able to trade Jason Spezza before the start of the unrestricted free agent period, the Senators are going into it in an awkward position. The Senators don't know exactly how much money they have to work with because there's no guarantee yet if Spezza will be traded. Even if he is, factoring in what the return might be for him into their plans is difficult until a trade is finalized. The sooner the Senators can trade Spezza, the easier the rest of their offseason is likely to be, but they don't want to trade him for less than they feel he's worth.