Senators GM on Alex DeBrincat, top-four D, Artem Zub and Alex Formenton
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: Ottawa Senators forward Alex DeBrincat will be owed a $9 million qualifying offer after the season. The Senators are letting him get a feel for the organization and the city before starting up extension talks. GM Pierre Dorion:
“We’re going to let him settle in and see where he’s at,” Dorion said. “You know, hopefully he likes it here. Hopefully likes the city, his teammates, how he plays, and we’ll go from there.”
Dorion has been looking at add a top-four defenseman all offseason and get the sense that there is still interest in Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun. Adding a top-four defenseman isn’t easy and so far in camp they are okay with what they have.
“Let’s not fool ourselves: Acquiring a top defenseman is probably the hardest thing to do as a general manager,” Dorion said. “For us, or for any team, when you’re trying to improve your team you’re always looking to improve your back end.
Dorion said they won’t get into public negotiations with pending UFA defenseman Artem Zub.
RFA forward Alex Formenton remains unsigned with Dorion saying (when asked) that the contract issue is one thing, and the Hockey Canada investigation is a separate issue.
Ottawa Senators news and rumors
The Canadiens don’t appear to be in a rush to extend Cole Caufield
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: The Montreal Canadiens are talking their time with regards to locking up forward Cole Caufield, who is entering the final year of his entry-level contract. Do they start talks in-season or wait. Canadiens GM Kent Hughes.
“I don’t have a hard, fast rule, and I don’t know that I have a strong opinion about having conversations during the season or not,” Hughes said. “I’ve done that with certain players and not with others, from an agent perspective. I think, for us, there were so many other things we’re trying to figure out during the offseason that it just ended up being an important thing that got tabled while we worked on other things.
“And it also is helpful for us to continue to get a picture in terms of our cap situation before we embark on the negotiation.”
The Canadiens will have $20 million coming off the books after the season, though some of that money could be moved at the deadline.
Montreal Canadiens news and rumors