Duchene not ready to decide just yet
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Matt Duchene‘s agent Pat Brisson was in Ottawa on Monday for a meeting with Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion. Talks have intensified and they feel they have a chance to re-sign him.
Mark Stone and his camp haven’t said much on their stance and optimism of him re-signing is slipping.
If Duchene and Stone hit the trade market, the interest and the asking price will be high.
Ryan Dzingel and Cody Ceci are also getting some interest.
Shawn Simpson: GM Dorion seems very confident that they can get a deal done with Duchene.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Duchene said that though contract talks have gone well, he’s not ready to sign just yet.
“We had a good chat (Monday) and Pierre told me to tell you guys he picked up the bill, so that was good,” Duchene said with a smile. “We’re going to keep it inside, but it was good. We had a good talk.”
There has been speculation that they’ve talked about an eight-year, $64 million deal. Duchene needs to decide if he wants to go through the rebuild with the Senators or be traded to a contender for the playoff run and hit free agency.
“Right now, if I had a gut feel, I’d probably go with it,” Duchene said. “At this point, we’re not quite at that point.”
Brent Wallace: Matt Duchene: “I haven’t even thought about the money part to be honest with you. Obviously, that’s a part of it and I’m not going to, you’re not going to be “I’ll play for free” you know what I mean? Maybe I’m showing my hand to much right now but it’s never been about that for me.”
Sounding like Anderson is staying with the Senators
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: There had been some speculation that the Senators could move goaltender Craig Anderson before the trade deadline but it doesn’t sound like he’s going anywhere.
“Craig Anderson definitely fits in here,” Dorion said. “He’s had a great year this year. Unfortunately, he got hurt and we missed him a lot. He was out during our toughest stretch, but Craig fits in our plans here. He’s our cornerstone in net and he’s one of our key players here.”
