Like a steaming locomotive, the Ottawa Senators are barreling towards what feels like the most important trade deadline in franchise history.
Two of their best players are set to be unrestricted free agents this summer. Mark Stone and Matt Duchene are both without contracts and it’s hard to imagine a scenario where either guy sticks around without a new contract in place before deadline day.
On top of that, you have a handful of other guys smack dab in the middle of the rumour mill. Ryan Dzingel and Cody Ceci are the two mentioned most often but it’s safe to assume that almost anyone on the roster over the age of 23 is available.
If player movement doesn’t tickle your fancy, there are also high-stakes mediation meetings happening this week that could determine the future home and future Owner of the franchise.
These next few weeks will define this team. Define this rebuild. And quite frankly, define this franchise as we know it.
Other than that, not much going on. Monday News and Notes, comin’ at ya!
-We’ll start with LeBreton. This morning, Bruce Garrioch reported that mediation talks involving the Honourable Willy Winkler are expected to heat up in the Big Smoke this week. Considering they got their extension like three weeks ago, it’s a little bit surprising they are just rolling up their sleeves now but there’s nothing quite like a deadline to get people moving. It’s sort of amazing that even with all the attention this project is getting, so little is known about exactly what they are going to be discussing this week. But with DCDLS at the table, it’s pretty clear that they are looking at some creative and drastic measures to save the bid. Nobody will say it directly but you have to think those talks will include some serious conversation about Ownership options. DCDLS has made it clear in the past that they’d be willing to take the team off of Eugene’s hands.
-Some awful news on the injury front this past weekend as Christian Wolanin suffered what looked like a devastating knee injury on a completely unnecessary hit by Hershey Bears forward Nathan Walker. You can see the hit in question here. There was no update on his condition available after the game but the way he went down and stayed down made it look pretty bad. Wolanin was up in Ottawa prior to the All Star Break but with seven healthy defenceman on the roster, didn’t get the recall when games resumed last week. Would be a damn shame to see him miss an extended period of time because it really looked like he was close to becoming a full time NHLer last time we saw him here in Ottawa.
-Today at noon, we’ll find out if some other NHL team is willing to give Nick Paul the chance the Senators haven’t. Yesterday, the Senators placed Nick Paul on waivers with the intention of returning him to Belleville should he clear. The 23 year old has appeared in 20 games with the Sens this season, putting up just two points. While there have been flashes in his game, he hasn’t really been given much of a look. Almost all of his time has been in a fourth line role averaging well-under 10 minutes a night. Would be a shame to see his time in Ottawa end with a waiver-wire claim.
-Bob McKenzie made waves over the weekend when he suggested that it’s more likely than not that both Mark Stone and Matt Duchene get traded. And when an article or interview comes with that kind of quote, it’s easy to see why people might get a little riled up. When Bob speaks, people listen. Although in this case, it’s probably worth actually listening to what McKenzie had to say. Recognizing that McKenzie is pretty careful with his words on this sort of thing, it’s hard to get too worked up about anything in that particular interview. He spoke for a few minutes on the topic and all I really got out of it was that McKenzie isn’t really sure what is going to happen. Which makes sense because I don’t think the Senators or the players involved know definitely either.
-The language on Cody Ceci seems to be a little more definitive. On a couple occasions last week, Darren Dreger let it be known that the wheels were in motion on a Cody Ceci deal. Seeing what the LA Kings got in exchange for Jake Muzzin has apparently motivated Dorion to do something he probably should have done years ago. There hasn’t been a lot of talk about who might be looking at Cody Ceci but there is some talk the Tampa Bay Lightning might be a fit. They are willing to move their first round pick for a deadline upgrade and they’ve had interest in Ceci in the past. Which means we should probably start preparing ourselves for “Cody Ceci- Stanley Cup Champion”.
