It is quiet times in Sensland, with the latest news being that both of the Senators players who were eligible to file for arbitration indeed did at least start the process.

Ryan Dzingel and Jean-Gabriel Pageau both filed for arbitration ahead of yesterday's deadline, meaning they will have a hearing scheduled in the next month or so.

Both will probably come to a contract agreement before the hearings, as do most such cases around the league. This just means that one way or another a contract will be awarded to both players and barring some unforeseen award, both will be there when camp opens in September.

Dzingel is coming off a 1 year, $750,000 contract and he should get a bit of a raise but it won't be backbreaking for the Senators. On a 1 or 2 year deal he will likely be in the $1-2M range.

Pageau is a more interesting case, as he is coming off a 2 year deal that paid him $1.8M, with $1.1M in the second year. It is interesting because although he took a step back numbers-wise this season (from 19G-24A-43P to 12G-21A-33P) he also finished with a team high 8 playoff goals, and ended up tied for 5th in goals in the post-season, even if half of them did come in one game.

He is essentially a third line centre whose legendary popularity stems from having two of the most memorable performances in Senators' playoff history.

It will be interesting to see how long negotiations go, and if it progresses that far, what the ask and offer end up being. He is a replaceable guy with some cache, and I am curious to see where they meet, both in term and cap hit.

Unfortunately this negotiation might turn out to be the most exciting thing on what looks to be a pretty meh summer ahead.

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