YOUNG AND AVAILABLE
Acquiring disgruntled Columbus star would give Sens a true first-line centre
If only the Ottawa Senators' centre-ice problems could be resolved so easily.
His name is Pierre-Luc Dubois. Down in Columbus, Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella is kicking off the season by seemingly trying to kick the 22-yearold star centre to the curb.
It's a crisis, with the colourful and controversial coach saying he hasn't been told why the third-overall pick from the 2016 draft — a player who helped carry the underdog Blue Jackets past the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs last summer — wants out.
Hint: It might have something to do with being publicly lambasted on the bench in the middle of a playoff game.
Which brings us to the Senators, who haven't had a legitimate first-line centre since Jason Spezza was traded away in 2014. They should be pushing hard to deal for an already well-established pivot with his peak years ahead of him.
The Senators have made some shrewd moves in their rebuilding plan, but acquiring Dubois would speed things up. Auston Matthews and Elias Pettersson are the only two 22-or-under centres who registered more points than Dubois last season.
For the Senators, it would be like finding the missing link. They've been in search of their own homegrown, dominant middle-of-the-ice presence since, well, moving up in the draft to select Logan Brown eight selections after Dubois in 2016.
But here we are, five training camps later, back in Groundhog Day territory. We heard that Brown had again committed himself to a rigorous off-season training program, desperate to finally win a spot.
Now, he's once again back in the AHL, having been left off both the 23-man roster and the six-player taxi squad, as the COVID-19 shortened 2021 season opens Friday against Toronto.
Senators general manager Pierre Dorion talked during a Zoom call Thursday about Brown being one of the club's most talented power-play performers, but that others were more deserving because of their play in even-strength situations.
Brown would likely disagree with the second part, but that's not going to change the decision.
The season-opening Kid Line on Friday will feature 21-year-old Josh Norris at centre between 21-year-old Brady Tkachuk and 22-year-old Drake Batherson. Norris, the big piece in the
Erik Karlsson trade, has had an impressive climb up the charts, moving past Brown, but still must prove he can go head-tohead against NHL centres.
As for Brown and the Sens, it's time for them to part ways.
Brown has played a grand total of 29 NHL games dating all the way back to the start of the 201718 season.
Something didn't click with Guy Boucher, and something hasn't yet connected with D.J. Smith, who was familiar with Brown when both were in the OHL.
Dare we suggest that if Columbus has any interest in Brown whatsoever, he could be part of a package — oh, yes, it would be a mighty package, including multiple top draft picks and prospects — for Dubois?
Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen will have countless offers in front of him, and anyone in the Senators organization not named Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot or Tim Stuetzle should be in play.
Perhaps, somewhere down the road, Stuetzle moves from the wing to centre and puts himself into consideration for a top centre spot, but Smith says he'll be careful before giving him too much, too soon.
As for what game the Senators are playing with centre Colin White, it's a bit of a mystery.
The way practice lines looked on Thursday — he was with Alex Galchenyuk and Michael Haley — it would appear he won't be in the lineup on Friday.
Smith, however, says there could be changes, and final decisions won't be made until Friday morning. If he doesn't play on Friday, White could very well be in the lineup on Saturday for the second of the two back-to-back games against the Maple Leafs.
White has been around the organization even longer than Brown, a first-round pick back in 2015.
The hope was that he could eventually become a solid two-way centre, and he showed enough promise that he was signed to a six-year, US$28.5-million deal before the 2019-20 season. That contract, with four years and more than US$23 million remaining, isn't moving anywhere.
After starting last season on a line with Tkachuk, he gradually lost his confidence and his ice time, flip-flopping between centre and wing.
Like Brown, he says he was committed to training in the off-season. Throughout training camp, Smith repeatedly said that White was among the standouts, and again Thursday the coach said White had a strong practice.
White was holding his head up high following Thursday's practice, trying to stay optimistic about somehow squeezing his way into the logjam at centre that includes Norris, Derek Stepan, Chris Tierney and Artem Anisimov. Or maybe, just maybe, he makes his way back somewhere on the wing.
Whatever happens from here with White, it's clear there's some tough love going on.
In Columbus, meanwhile, Tortorella has delivered a different type of tough love to a centre.
Those words and actions could help speed up a trade, and the Senators should be all ears.
The Senators have made some shrewd moves in their rebuilding plan, but acquiring Dubois would speed things up.