With the Ottawa Senators’ schedule throwing a curveball today, it’s a perfect time to revisit some of your questions to Mike’s Mailbag. Here are my answers to the next set:

Brett asks: Now that Daccord is out for the season, which makes it challenging to determine his upside, who should the Senators protect in the expansion draft in goal? It really makes no logical sense to protect Murray given his very inconsistent play this season. Watching Mandolese in the AHL suggests to me that the Sens have quite a bit of depth in goal, which is a positive.

To your first point, I fully agree that there’s no logical rationale for protecting Matt Murray. His contract is likely to prevent Seattle from picking him up to begin with, so wasting a protected spot on him seems like overkill and bad asset management.

The best course of action, from my perspective, is to protect either Daccord or Gustavsson. Both of them have shown promise in limited minutes with the Senators this season, so I’m not sure there’s a “wrong” answer. My gut leans towards Gustavsson, if only because he’s younger.

Roadzy asks: Who, if anybody, should Ottawa be targeting to get either by the trade dealing or via pending free agents?

I don’t think there’s any reason for Ottawa to be targeting anyone at the trade deadline; they should be sellers – to the extent possible – rather than buyers.

In terms of free agency, I think the Senators should be looking to acquire some competent stopgap bodies to eat minutes while we wait on names like JBD and Jake Sanderson. We can’t go into next season with Erik Gudbranson and Braydon Coburn as everyday options again. The Senators don’t need to sign anyone to change the world; they just need people who won’t actively hurt them on nearly every shift.

David22 asks: Sanderson is said to be going back to UND for next season. Do you think this is the best scenario for his development?

Last night’s UND game suggests that he’s probably ready to transition to the pro game, but I don’t think another year of college hockey will make or break him in the long run. He’s an incredibly promising prospect for this team, and he will remain an incredibly promising prospect whether or not he turns pro.

J asks: With all the goalies going down, is this bad news, or a blessing in disguise given the play of Ottawa’s starters to date?

It’s certainly a blessing in disguise in the sense that we’ve had a chance to see young goalies like Gustavsson and Daccord play NHL minutes. The goaltending story for this team to start the year was basically a consistent bad news story; that’s since turned around, in large part thanks to these young players coming up and doing their thing at a high level. There’s a renewed optimism about the future in the crease.

Fran asks: Which player(s) on this team do you feel DJ Smith has misplayed the most this season?

Thomas Chabot, Erik Brannstrom, and Christian Wolanin immediately spring to mind.

Rodeo asks: Does Ottawa need any big trades or free agents, or just patience and time for prospects to steep in order to be competitive?

I’m of the belief that patience is the best path forward for the organization. Last night’s UND game proved that there’s lots of good coming on the horizon, and it’s reasonable to expect that the team will grab another top-tier prospect at this year’s draft. Waiting to see what those guys all turn into at the pro level is the best course of action. There’s no sense in spending assets before they know what they have.

Ha ha ha… YES asks: Whaddya think about them Sickos?

I think it’s great.

Sensrookie asks: Now that the majority of the Sens’ goalies are injured, should they try to find another legitimate goalie? Gustavsson and Forsberg just don’t look NHL ready yet.

I couldn’t disagree more on your last point. Nothing I’ve seen out of Gustavsson or Forsberg suggests that they are going to be any worse than the goaltending the Senators were receiving from their starting duo this season. I wouldn’t waste assets to bring in another body for such a short-term problem.

Ryedog asks: Hey Mike, what do you think the odds are Jack Eichel will be asking for a trade? What would you be willing to give up/see Buffalo asking for in return?

Everything about the Sabres suggests that a major shakeup is/should be coming. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them at least explore the possibility of starting from scratch with the boatload of assets that Eichel would bring in return.

In terms of the ask, though? The price would be so prohibitively steep for Ottawa that it doesn’t make any sense. The talk out there right now is that the Sabres are looking for the equivalent of four first-round picks for their star forward. I don’t even think it makes sense for Ottawa to give up Sanderson and their 2021 first-round pick, let alone another two picks or pick equivalents.

Jim asks: Would it matter who is in net?

Probably not. This group isn’t quite ready to compete.

Gordie asks: Will Ottawa try and trade Matt Murray?

Whether they decide that trading Murray is the best path forward or not (I highly doubt they do), his contract is basically unmovable at this point.

JD asks: With the trade deadline approaching, it appears most of the players Dorion should prefer to flip (i.e. Dadonov, Anisimov, Dzingel) will be undesirable to the competitive clubs. With deadline deals being an essential element in rebuilds, do you see any probability that the Sens can acquire a few much-needed picks and/or prospects at this year’s deadline?

I don’t think they’ll look to explore a Dadonov trade, even if he has underwhelmed in his first year as a Senator. I would agree with you about Anisimov being undesirable on the market, though I think there might be some appetite from competitive clubs on Dzingel given the resurgence he’s had since arriving in Ottawa.

But, to your point, the trade options on this roster right now are very slim compared to where things were last year. That’s what made acquiring so many picks last season so vital to the team’s future. On the flip side, it’s also what made the decision to trade away second-round picks for players like Derek Stepan so confusing.

Ian asks: Who do you think the Sens lose in the Seattle expansion draft?

My guess is that it will be either Gustavsson or Daccord (whichever one is not protected), or Chris Tierney if they have the need to fill an NHL roster spot immediately.

Danial asks: Is Logan Brown a dud of a prospect? I think he’s done a lot in the NHL and is ready for the big league. Why is Ottawa so reluctant to have him play on their roster?

The big reason right now is that he’s injured. Reports out of the AHL suggest that he’s getting closer to a return, but he’s not there yet. It sounded like the Senators were considering a call-up just prior to him getting injured, so we’ll see whether that comes to fruition once he’s healthy and re-establishes himself in the AHL. I don’t think it’s fair to call him a dud prospect yet, but we’re certainly in make it or break it territory for him with this organization now.

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Thanks to everyone who took the time to submit questions!

As always, thanks for reading.

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