The Expansion and Entry Draft have both come and gone.
A busy off-season is already in full swing with a handful of key dates still looming on the horizon.
The window to meet with this year’s crop of unrestricted free agents officially opened yesterday and players can sign with their new teams as early as Saturday afternoon.
Busy days ahead around the NHL and here in Ottawa too. As we get set for the week ahead, a quick round up of some news and notes related to our Senators.
-Daniel Alfredsson could be headed to the Hockey Hall of Fame as early as this afternoon. The best Ottawa Senator of all time is on the ballot and he’ll find out if he gets the call later today. Alfie requires 75% of the vote or more to make it in which could be tough the first time around. The long-time Senators Captain has a strong case but getting in on the first ballot would be somewhat surprising.
-While they only ended up picking four times, the Senators front office seems pleased with the collection of players they came away with at the draft this weekend. Two skilled two way centres in Bower and Batherton, a speedy winger in Formerton and a goalie in Tollett. Head Scout Trent Mann talked about how important it was that they land a goalie with one of their picks so it’s interesting that they waited until their final pick to make it happen.
-With so few picks and some free time on his hands, Pierre Dorion was apparently quite active trying to make a trade. There were rumours early in the day on Saturday that the Senators were looking to acquire a centre and a defenceman and by the end of the day, the Dion Phaneuf rumour mill was in full swing. Dorion didn’t end up getting anything done but he’ll keep trying this week.
-That the Senators would be interested in moving Phaneuf’s contract doesn’t come as a huge surprise but the timing is strange and the explanation from Dorion on why he’s willing to trade another one of his top four defenceman doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Some of his quotes on the situation are downright baffling. While I’m sure there’s a method to the madness here I haven’t figured it out just yet.
-Marc Methot is gone to Las Vegas and the Senators seem very interested in moving Dion Phaneuf. With two top four guys gone the thinking is the Senators could be active in free agency, to fill one and maybe two holes. While they are obviously confident in their defensive depth within the organization, they’re expected to look free agency for a little help. The full list of available free agents is here. Karl Alzner is a name that has come up as a possibility.
– This could also be a busy week on the contract front as the Sens talk to their own UFAs to be. Dorion has made it clear they have interest in bringing back Pyatt, Stalberg and Wingels and he’ll connect with all of their agents this week. They also want to bring back Mike Condon but that could be tough as it sounds like he already has plenty of interest from other teams.
-Some action on the ice this week too as the Senators get set to host their annual Development Camp. It all gets started tomorrow morning and the full roster should be available later today.
