With an extra day off between games, perhaps this is a good time to take a closer look at some comments made by Senators General Manager Pierre Dorion in the last couple days.
Dorion met with the media in Carolina on Wednesday and then later made an appearance on TSN 1200 and as you’d expect with the NHL Trade Deadline less than a week away, there were plenty of interesting topics covered by the GM. The NHL Trade Deadline is just a week away now and there are plenty of story-lines surrounding this team.
A quick round-up of what the General Manager had to say and a couple other topics that have come up in the last 48 hours.
On Curtis Lazar– As expected, Pierre Dorion met with Curtis Lazar’s agent JP Barry last weekend to talk about Lazar’s future with the organization. While it appears as though Lazar didn’t formally ask for a trade, there was a discussion about his role with the team going forward. The Senators are going to listen to offers on Lazar leading up to the deadline, and teams have called already, but they are in no hurry to trade him. Basically that means that nobody is offering more than a 3rd round pick at this point. In the meantime, Lazar has an opportunity to play an increased role with injuries to some key players.
On Stone and Hoffman– We know Bobby Ryan is out until at least April but it sounds like there’s a chance Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman could both be back when the team hits the ice in Florida on Sunday night. Neither is expected to be available on Friday in Carolina but we should know more when the Senators practice in Carolina later on this afternoon (12:30 PM).
On Condon and Pyatt– While the Senators have an interest in bringing back the UFAs to be in Tom Pyatt and Mike Condon, there’s no rush to get a deal done. As Dorion confirmed, both players are “replaceable” and there’s no urgency to get them signed. Dorion says talks with those two players likely won’t resume until after the deadline.
On Andrew Hammond– Perhaps this is a fitting end to Andrew Hammond’s season. While nobody knows exactly when it happened, Hammond was injured in Binghamton over the weekend. The organization was holding out hope that he might be able to go down to Binghamton and grab the attention of an NHL team but that’s tough to do if he can’t stay healthy.
On Nick Paul- This was sort of a strange one but clearly there’s some frustration building up for the organization when it comes to the play of Nick Paul. He was singled out as a player (“He was average”) that has disappointed this year and Dorion made it clear that he’s a player that needs to do more if he wants a chance to be an NHL player. To me this sounds a little bit like they really wanted to call him up at some point this year and expected to call him up, but his inconsistent play is making it pretty difficult.
On Colin White- I’ve been leading the charge in talking people off the “Colin White isn’t going to sign here!!!” story-line and will continue to do that. Speaking with someone in the know last night, it’s still expected that he’ll sign here. With that said, there is an undeniable dialing back of the language and hype around Colin White in the words of Pierre Dorion. Earlier in the season it was a guarantee he’d be in the lineup and now it’s more of a wait and see. Whether that’s because they aren’t sure what White’s plans are or because they’re worried about putting him right in the line up during the most competitive time of the season, remains to be seen. Either way, he’s going to be an Ottawa Senator…I hope.
On Jonathan Dahlen- Not sure if you’ve noticed but Jonathan Dahlen is havin’ himself a season over in Sweden. In 42 games, he’s racked up 24 goals and 16 assists and that includes a ridiculous stretch recently where he’s picked up a point on 11 consecutive goals for his team. We’ve talked about this a few times over the course of the season but it really looks like the Senators stole one here. If we did a re-draft of the 2016 class today, there’s no doubt that Dahlen is a first round pick. You can get an update on all of the organization’s prospects in the latest edition of the Prospect Report. You can also hear Craig Button talking about Ottawa’s prospects here.
On the Trade Deadline- He’s said it a few times now but Dorion again confirmed that they’re looking at forward options leading up to the March 1st deadline. The prices are still high but it’s clear that Dorion isn’t interested in giving up a top prospect. In speaking with a couple people close to the organization, the priority is definitely to add another forward that can play on the top three lines. As he said, he’s talked to 12 different GMs in the last couple days. We’ll find out if they can get something done over the next week or so. Obviously there are a few options out there but Patrick Eaves would make a lot of sense for Ottawa.
On the Budget- This has become a bit of a Pierre Dorion staple but the few times he was asked about the team’s ability to spend at the deadline, he got a little bit defensive, basically suggesting that from Day 1, he’s always had the flexibility to add salary. We’ve heard something similar in the past so it’s understandable if fans are a little bit skeptical about the so-called “green light”. With that said, if Dorion can sell it as a move that will help them get to the playoffs and do some damage when they get there (more home games!), I would hope that Melnyk would let it happen.
On the Blues rumours- If you were hanging around the comment section last night, you’ll know that there were some serious Twitter rumours making the rounds. It’s based on a series of tweets from a relatively unknown Blues site who suggests he’s been speaking with a writer here in Ottawa. The rumour suggests that the Senators have interest in Patrick Berglund and/or Jori Lehtera. Berglund makes a ton of sense and is a player Ottawa has looked at in the past. He’s a UFA at the end of the season. Lehtera on the other hand has a pretty bad contract and only really makes sense in a deal where money would be going the other way. The two teams have been scouting each other a lot in the last month or so.
You can see the full Pierre Dorion scrum below or listen to his TSN 1200 appearance here.
