If it still comes as a surprise, then you haven’t really been paying attention.
Since last summer, Sens General Manager Pierre Dorion has been on the hunt for a defenceman. After the splashy acquisitions of Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux, there seemed to be near consensus that the next move for the Senators would address the back end.
Yet here we are, on the last legs of February with the Trade Deadline coming into focus, and the search continues for the Ottawa Senators.
Although perhaps search isn’t really the right word for it.
Dorion has had no problem identifying and then calling about defenceman. Finding something that works within the budget is where the Senators have had a hard time identifying the right fit.
The latest name to be linked to the Senators- Blues defenceman Colton Parayko. The 29-year old right shot defenceman is in the first year of an 8 year/$6.5 million dollar contract and according to the rumour mill, the Senators have asked about his availability.
It’s the latest in a long line of defenceman linked to the Senators.
Makes sense that Dorion would make the call. Finding a fit financially is going to be another issue entirely.
It’s probably why Pierre Dorion has spent the better part of six months looking for, identifying and then quietly walking away from defenceman.
A move of this magnitude would be a tough sell weeks before a transfer in Ownership but if they can make it fit within this year’s budget, Dorion may be able to sell it. That’s a big reason why you continue to hear rumours about Ottawa looking to shed Nikita Zaitsev’s contract before the year is out. To give themselves a little more financial flexibility this season.
And so, the “search” continues.
One thing is pretty clear though- you can expect Dorion and the Senators to be linked to every living defenceman over the next nine days.
The Sens are on the ice at 10:30 AM today at the SensPlex in Kanata. The Carolina Hurricanes await on Friday night.
