On the Ottawa Senators …
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Senators GM Pierre Dorion and his scouting staff have been Fort Lauderdale going over draft prospects and preparing for the NHL trade deadline.
They’ve gone over which route they should go and what the potential returns could be for some of their players.
They will likely remain status quo for now. There isn’t a rush for them to do anything now.
The Senators have received calls on Mike Hoffman, Zack Smith, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. They’ve received mild interest in Ryan Dzingel, Tom Pyatt, and Johnny Oduya.
The Sens will listen to anyone not named Erik Karlsson and Mark Stone. It’s also believed that they don’t want to trade center Derick Brassard either.
The St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers and San Jose Sharks have shown some interest in Hoffman, Smith, and Pageau.
Mark Hoffman – Three years left a $5.1875 million cap hit. They should be able to get a significant return and cap space gained would help re-sign Mark Stone.
Zack Smith – Carries a $3.25 million cap hit through 2020-21.
Johnny Oduya – Teams are always looking for defensemen at the deadline, and he would be a good rental for someone.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Getting lots of attention but not likely that they trade him.
Alex Burrows – Has a year left on his contract at a $2.5 million cap hit.
Emily Sadler of Sportsnet: Chris Johnston on ‘Headlines’ said that GM Dorion is remaining patient as the trade deadline approaches.
“It sounds like there’s been a lot of calls coming in to the Ottawa Senators GM, but my understanding at this time is that he preferred to wait on making a move,” Johnston said on Saturday night.
Chris Nichols of Fan Rag Sports: Elliotte Friedman last week on the NHL Network said that the Senators could check out the trade market for defenseman Dion Phaneuf.
“But I think also just one thing they’ve been kind of looking at is what is the market for Dion Phaneuf. Phaneuf has a 12-team list that he can be traded to and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve checked with every team on that list, and some of the teams on that list are probably considering what it would take to get it done or are they interested in getting it done.
“But Hoffman’s name has been out there. I think Ottawa has been checking to see Dion too. And I’m sure some of the teams that have called him have also just said if you’re going to do this, what’s it going to take or what will you be willing to do for us to get such a deal done.”
The 32-year old Phaneuf carries a $7 million cap hit for another three years.
