Shortly after inking one of his favourite players to a three year contract extension, Pierre Dorion was on TSN1200 to talk about the deal and about his plans for what’s left of the off-season.
And while working out a deal with restricted free agent Ryan Dzingel prior to Friday’s arbitration hearing is his priority, it’s clear that the second year GM has a few other things on the go as he attempts to shape his roster for the 2017/2018 season.
Now there’s a chance the Senators are done.
As Dorion put it, “I wouldn’t say the shopping is completely done but we might be in the checkout line”. That doesn’t sound like a guy looking to make a big splash but if you listened to some of his other comments throughout the 13 minute interview, he seemed to hint at a few different possibilities.
In fact, he went so far as to suggest that he was talking to another GM about a possible deal as early as Monday morning.
When pressed on the type of deal he might be looking at, Dorion made it clear that any move he does make would be to improve the team now rather than looking to the future. Specifically a “younger asset for something that can help us immediately”.
Makes sense for a team that fell a goal short of an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.
Upgrades at forward and on defence are both on his radar. While the Senators are happy with their depth, they do seem interested in adding at the top part of the depth chart. Easier said than done this time of year. For what it’s worth, a few people I’ve talked to continue to hint that they think Dorion still has a move of some kind up his sleeve.
The Derick Brassard trade happened a year ago today.
In the interview, Dorion also touches on new contracts with Anderson, Turris and Stone and the looming Erik Karlsson negotiations.
