Bracing for Expansion

SensChirp June 20, 2017 2,355
Bracing for Expansion

UPDATE 11:13 AM- With last night’s deadline for side deals come and gone, word this morning suggests that the Senators did not come to an agreement on a trade before McPhee’s deadline. As discussed, it sounds like Vegas was looking for a first round pick to stay away from Methot and the Senators are rightly reluctant to meet that demand to this point.

For weeks, we have all had time to play out the various expansion scenarios.

And in a little over 24 hours, we’ll finally have our answer. The Las Vegas Golden Knights will have an opportunity to take one player from all 30 NHL teams, including our Ottawa Senators.

The draft window officially closes at 10:00 AM tomorrow at which time the Knights are expected to announce a handful of trades with various teams.

And while nothing has leaked yet, Pierre Dorion could be one of those teams with a deal on the table.

It’s no secret that the Sens have been frantically trying to find a way to hang on to defenceman Marc Methot. And not surprisingly, George McPhee and the Knights are willing to help them out with thay- in exchange for Ottawa’s 1st round pick.

Tough call for the Senators, especially if it were to mean losing someone like Freddy Claesson instead.

What is making this while process especially difficult for GMs is there is no real market or precedent for this type of transaction. McPhee is in a position where he can set the market and just wait on teams to meet his asking price.

We’ll find out soon if Pierre Dorion is one of the General Managers willing to meet that price. Word is Las Vegas gave teams a deadline of midnight to decide if they were willing to work out a side deal.

If the Senators have worked something out, it’s likely we’ll hear about it today.

More coming in a little bit.