From Elliotte Friedman's column "30 Thoughts"

Holmgren's comments about Matt Carle stand out because there is a lot of talk the player's preference is to move closer to his western-based family, barring the Corleone offer he can't refuse. His twitter account (@mattcarle25) is the best Alaskan tourism ad in existence and brother David works for the University of Denver's hockey program. (Congratulations to David on his graduation, four years after his playing career ended due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.)

With all the speculation of Ottawa needing to sign a stop-gap for the (now confirmed) departure of Filip Kuba, Matt Carle was atop my list in terms a suitable option. TSN's Fantasy Player Rankings has him as the 12th best UFA this summer and the 7th best blueliner. He's obviously one of the bigger fish Murray could have gone after.

I feel the Sens need a relatively young (under 30), stay-at-home defenceman who would compliment Karlsson well and cover for him when he joins the rush.

Jackman and Stuart just signed 3 year contracts worth 9.5 million dollars and 10.8 million dollars. With Carle potentially out of the equation (for the same reason Stuart was never part of it), that doesn't leave as many viable options in terms of free agency. You can take a look at the list of free agents that are still available here.

Who do you guys still like on that list? Carlo Colaiacovo? Bryan Allen? Anyone else? Do you think it's better that Murray takes the trade route to find a left defenceman for Karlsson?

Let's hear it.