FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-These last two years of Sens hockey have just been so emotionally draining. Last year, the Erik Karlsson cloud hung over the team for a good three months during the season and we spent most of the time hoping the Senators would lose games to improve their draft pick. And now this year, we have three players in Mark Stone, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel that have been scoring at a torrid pace for most of the year and again, it just feels like we can’t enjoy it. Each time one of them scores you just have that lingering feeling that it might be their last with the Senators. And that’s just no way to watch a hockey game. Hell of a goal by Matt Duchene last night though.
-Seriously though- can we find a job for Keith Tkachuk in the organization? It’s pretty clear that having his old man in attendance always seems to bring the best out of Brady Tkachuk. He got himself into the game with an early fight and followed that up with his 13th goal of the season later in the first period. And in both instances, the TSN camera did the quick pan to his proud father looking on. Feels like we’ve seen that a bunch of times this year. I mean, Keith did work as an amateur scout in the St. Blues organization but surely we can find a spot for him in the Front Office?
-Darren Dreger doubled down on the Cody Ceci trade talk prior to and during last night’s broadcast. While his name has faded a little bit in the rumour mill the last month or so, Dreger still seems fairly confident that he is traded at some point. Unlike the situation with Stone, Duchene and Dzingel, Ceci is a restricted free agent meaning they have a little more time but you would to think the market is a little stronger leading up to the deadline. The Tampa Bay Lightning are the only specific team that has been mentioned in the last month or so.
-Bob McKenzie and the TSN crew did the unthinkable last night and did some good ol’ fashion speculating when it comes to the future of Mark Stone and Matt Duchene. Wait, no, that’s pretty much all anybody has done for the last month now. The Senators have obviously put themselves in this spot by letting the situation linger with three key players but the more I hear these insiders talk, the more it becomes clear that nobody knows exactly how this will play out. And sure, given that it’s this late in the game, it makes sense to lean towards the “they walk” side of the equation but nobody knows for sure. It does sound like Pierre Dorion made one last pitch this week though and is now waiting to hear back.
-What is also evident at this stage in the process is Dorion is no longer just waiting by the phone. The agents for both Mark Stone and Matt Duchene have obviously left the Ottawa door open at least a crack but as the deadline nears, Dorion has to start doing his homework on a potential trade. Which explains the Dorion and Peter MacTavish road show. The two of them were in Belleville for the game against the Syracuse Crunch Wednesday night and they were in town for the Avs/Jets game last night. It’s worth pointing out that both Winnipeg and Tampa Bay had two scouts at the Sens/Red Wings game last night.
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