The Ottawa Senators are going to be in salary cap hell pretty soon as they don't have a ton of cap space and at least as of now, they have 3 big names (Matt Duchene, Mark Stone and Erik Karlsson) to sign in the next eighteen months if they want to keep the core together.

Big, almost untradeable contracts to Dion Phaneuf and Bobby Ryan aren't helping matters, and as such Mike Hoffman might be the sacrifice the Senators have to make.

Hoffman's name has come up in trade rumours over the past month, and although nothing has been done yet, the Senators are certainly listening to offers and exploring options.

The problem is, there will be no playoff revenue this season, which doesn't sit well with the owner, and if the past tells us anything, that usually means a cut in payroll is coming soon. Totally backwards thinking, I know, but when you try to dig yourself out of trouble quite often you make the hole deeper and tougher to get out of.

Hoffman is not breaking the bank and has two more years left at a little under $5.2M cap hit (actual salary of $5.65 in each remaining year). But for a goal-scorer, his double-digit goal-less droughts every season are a concern. Although you can point to the almost constant insistence of playing him on what amounts to the third line as a factor in that underproduction. Despite those two facts, he is still 3rd on the team in scoring, and it is not very often you trade your third best scorer and make your team better in the short or long term.

The Senators have apparently had offers for Hoffman that included mostly future assets, and the Sens have declined those offers. However, if the instructions come down from on high to cut salary, Hoffman will continue to be in the discussion because there aren't many other options to do so.

Trading Ryan or Phaneuf, if they can find a taker, would most likely mean eating a large portion of their contract and/or taking back an equally bad contract. You might get something for Cody Ceci, but it is doubtful he would net a Taylor Hall-type player now (if that rumor from earlier this week from Darren Dreger is even accurate). Karlsson and his future is the elephant in the room, and his situation will define the direction of the team going forward. But what they do now will send him a message to help him determine if he wants to stay or go in the summer of '19.

The Senators appear to be running without a defined long-term plan, and the direction of the team is like a NASCAR race - going in circles. Much like my trying (unsuccessfully) to sort out in my mind and hen translate to this article, any situation where trading Hoffman makes sense, other than to save a buck.

So if a Hoffman trade does happen in the six weeks or so leading up to the trade deadline, it is not likely to be a hockey move, but more apt to be a financial one, either for the now or the future.

Which is a tough situation from the perspective of the fan base, but really not unexpected given the man controlling the purse-strings.

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