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Turris had an idea he was going to be traded. He’d been a healthy scratch for the last three games and the Coyotes told him that something could be happening.

He was ecstatic when he got the news.

“This is just something that I’m really excited about,” he said. “A fresh start, joining the Senators, and helping the team out. It’s really exciting to move on and put the past summer behind me.

“Phoenix is a good team. I just didn’t fit.”

Whether he does in Ottawa will be the big question.

For someone who has attracted so much interest, Turris actually has a modest resume, split between the NHL and American Hockey League. He comes to the Senators as an unproven commodity.

He has appeared in six games this season since signing but doesn’t have a point to show for it.

In 65 games last season, he had only 11 goals and 14 assists. He spent all of the 2009-10 season with the AHL San Antonio Rampage, getting 24 goals and 39 assists in 76 games.

In 2008-09, he played 63 games with the Coyotes, getting eight goals and 12 assists, and eight with San Antonio, getting four goals and three assists.

So overall, Turris, a native of Burnaby, B.C., has played in 137 NHL games and scored 19 goals and 27 assists.

If this works, though, the Senators will have the second-line centre they need to line up behind Jason Spezza. If it doesn’t, fingers will be pointed at Rundblad as the one that got away.

Senators general manager Bryan Murray said there were several deals that the team looked at, including one for Derick Brassard of the Columbus Blue Jackets, but this was the one that worked.