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What else can Pierre Dorion do?

July 9, 2018, 11:31 PM ET [85 Comments]
Trevor Shackles
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
You can follow me on Twitter @ShackTS

As I’ve said before, it’s strange to write about anything but the Karlsson trade situation. It’s clear that talks have been ongoing since at least July 1st, and it must be difficult for Pierre Dorion to get anything else done, especially since there’s essentially nobody else in the front office…

But it seems like at some point, Karlsson will be traded. And when that happens, what else can Dorion do? Well, the Senators are rarely ever busy in the off-season, but here are some possible options for the team.

Forwards:

Here are what the lines could look like as of now:

Dzingel-Duchene-Stone

Boedker-Pageau-Ryan

Smith-Brown-Gaborik

Pyatt-White-Paajarvi

Other prospects like Brady Tkachuk, Filip Chlapik, Drake Batherson, and Alex Formenton will be vying for spots on the team, but I feel like Brown and White are the best bets to make it as of now. There will certainly be lots of competition amongst this group, because I think at least a few of their forward prospects are NHL ready. And oh, how could I forget Max McCormick who is somehow on a one-way deal for next season...

The “problem” is that there aren’t enough spots, although there could be a few more transactions made. Zack Smith’s name has been in the rumour mill since the winter, and with his $3.25M cap hit on the books for three more seasons, I could see Ottawa trying to move him elsewhere. In addition, although it’s unlikely, there’s still a chance that Marian Gaborik can be bought out due to Cody Ceci and Mark Stone filing for arbitration.

He would be be paid for five more seasons instead of three, but Ottawa would save over $3.6M over the course of that time. If they want to give that spot to a prospect instead, then that’s an easy way to do it, plus you know that Eugene Melnyk would be happy with those savings.

Besides Smith and Gaborik, there’s always the possibility that something massive could happen with either Matt Duchene or Mark Stone, as they are both one year away from unrestricted free agency. I don’t know if a trade with either of them is likely, but it’s at least a possibility. Plus Bobby Ryan could also be attached to Karlsson in a trade, but I hope not.

In terms of additions to the roster, any players coming back in a trade won’t be better than the ones that they would be giving up, and there are hardly any worthy free agent forwards left.
I can see Smith getting moved, but not much else happening up front.

Defense:

Here is what the defense would look like without Karlsson:

Chabot-Ceci

Wolanin-Wideman

Borowiecki-Harpur

Then players like Christian Jaros, Andreas Englund, and Max Lajoie would be the first to get called up. It is a horrendous defense corps, even though I do like Chabot, Wolanin, and Wideman. Ceci is of course an obvious trade candidate due to his trade value being way higher than it should be, but I can’t imagine the Senators ever trading him.

Besides that, none of their defensemen will be getting moved. Dorion might add a veteran defenseman again like he did with Johnny Oduya last year, and some names out there in free agency include Dan Hamhuis, Tobias Enstrom, Alexei Emelin, Brooks Orpik, and Paul Martin. None of them are good options, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them add someone in this group just to add a veteran presence in the room.

Dorion still has to re-sign Ceci, and that will be another big test for him. Besides that, I don’t think much will be happening with the defense.

Goalies:

With Robin Lehner, Petr Mrazek, and Carter Hutton getting signed, Ottawa won’t be getting a good free agent goaltender, unless they are banking on Steve Mason. Nobody’s been talking about it, but Craig Anderson still presumably does not want to be on this team, and I can’t blame him if that is true.

Winnipeg and the New York Rangers are the only two teams that would make some sense for Anderson, but Ottawa would still have to eat some of his salary in order to facilitate a trade. Furthermore, I’m unaware of those team’s true interest in him as a backup anyway. I just don’t know what the Senators would do to replace him though, because realistically the only free agent option is Mason, so I guess an Anderson trade would have to involve a goalie coming back the other way.

Are Laurent Brossoit or Alexandar Georgiev good enough for the Senators? Goaltender is a tough position to make many changes at, and even if Anderson wants out, I’m not sure there’s much that Ottawa can do.

Considering the Senators haven’t done anything with their roster so far besides trading Mike Hoffman, I wouldn’t expect too much to happen at all. There aren’t many free agents out there, and they won’t be trading for good players. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple more pieces get shipped out after Karlsson goes.
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