Muckler out, Murray in for Senators

Less than two weeks after losing in the Stanley Cup final, the Ottawa Senators fired general manager John Muckler and promoted coach Bryan Murray to replace him Monday.

Murray’s coaching contract was set to expire June 30 and owner Eugene Melnyk said the timing was right for a move.

“He has shown what he can do as a general manager,” Melnyk said. “We just thought if there’s going to be a crossroads it’s got to happen now and it has to happen prior to the draft.”

Murray was the GM of the Anaheim Ducks from 2002-04 and was also the executive of the year in 1996 when he was GM of the Florida Panthers.

“The assistant GM left last year and there was no successor that was obvious other than Bryan,” Melnyk said. “It just happened to be the end of his coaching contract.”

The NHL draft is Friday and Saturday.

The 73-year-old Muckler was offered another job in the organization, but declined. Muckler, a five-time Stanley Cup winner with the Edmonton Oilers, joined the Senators in 2002.

The Senators were 48-25-9 in the regular season, and advanced to the Stanley Cup final, shaking off the tag of postseason underachievers. But they seemed to run out of steam in the final, losing to the Anaheim Ducks in five games.

Melnyk said he’s looking to the future.

“You have to think in the long-term,” he said. “The one thing we didn’t want was to become a one-trick pony where we have one great year and then we starve for the next four or five.”

•The Philadelphia Flyers acquired defenseman Kimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell from the Nashville Predators, improving a team that finished last in the NHL.

The Predators get a first-round pick – the same one they sent to the Flyers to acquire Peter Forsberg – for Timonen and Hartnell, who were to become unrestricted free agents July 1.