The bargaining power of defenseman Andrej Meszaros appears to be growing by the day.

A restricted free agent believed to be looking for a salary in the $3.5 million range, Meszaros is the only blueliner in the organization with proven offensive skills at the NHL level. And with the recent signing of rugged, defensively-oriented veteran Jason Smith to a two-year, $5.2 million deal, GM Bryan Murray is running low on budget room.

As it stands, the Senators defense will line up with Chris Phillips (18 points last season), Anton Volchenkov (15 points), Smith (10 points), Brian Lee and Lawrence Nycholat, with the latter spending almost all of 2007-08 with the farm team in Binghamton. Christoph Schubert had 24 points for the Senators, bouncing back and forth between left wing and defense. He'll likely fill the same role if the Murray re-signs Meszaros or adds another starter.

The 22-year-old Meszaros, who had 36 points, has received an offer to jump to the Continental Hockey League, according to his agent. He wants to stay in Ottawa, but Murray will almost certainly trade him rather than lose him for nothing.

It's believed Murray is trying to make a significant deal that would bring in another puck moving defenseman as well as either (or both) a No. 1 goalie and a top-six forward. There's speculation that a three-team trade involving Los Angeles and Chicago was being discussed, with Ottawa receiving veteran stopper Nikolai Khabibulin and one of defenseman Brent Seabrook or Cam Barker, the Kings landing Meszaros and goalie Martin Gerber and the Blackhawks receiving 20-year-old scoring sensation Anze Kopitar.

It's believed the Kings would have to receive additional players and/or picks to give the deal some legs.

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