The Ottawa Senators have some contracts to work on now and in the offseason
Ian Mendes of The Athletic: The Ottawa Senators still need to sign Shane Pinto to a contract. Senators GM Steve Staois said on December 31st that he is optimistic about getting a deal and dealing with the cap issues.
“It’s challenging, but I’m confident that we can get it done. It’s a situation that we’ve inherited and the situation we’re in is not ideal. But certainly, I’m confident that we’ll be fine.”
Pinto is eligible to return from suspension on January 21st.
NHL Rumors: Ottawa Senators, and the Calgary Flames
If the Senators aren’t in the playoff hunt, they could look to trade pending free agents Vladimir Tarasenko and Dominik Kubalik.
Senators defenseman Jakob Chychrun and forward Claude Giroux are eligible for contract extensions after July 1st. If Chychrun isn’t willing to commit long-term and says he wants to test free agency after next season, they should explore trading him. The Senators already have two defensemen at $8 million in Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson, so the Sens would have to figure out how to fit Chychrun in if he wants to stay.
Thomas Chabot’s 10-team no-trade list kicks in on July 1st. He’ll be owed $10 million each of the final three years of his deal.
The Maple Leafs should be looking at defensemen and depth forwards and not goaltending
Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun: Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving got the contracts done for Auston Matthews and William Nylander, but his work is far from finished. Treliving will be looking to improve their roster before the trade deadline but wants to be careful.
“I also think you have to be careful on trade deadline. We’ll continue to watch our team, but I’m not a big believer that you remake your team. You have to be careful with that. There’s tweaks you’d like to do, sure. We’ve got X amount of assets that we don’t necessarily want to be throwing out the door.”
NHL Rumors: The Toronto Maple Leafs should prioritize a defenseman over a goaltender
The blue line is one area they’ll look at and the could use a depth forward or two. Adding a goaltender shouldn’t be on the front burner for the Maple Leafs.