Montreal Gazette

Trade deadline talks may not lead to action

Senators could have defencemen for sale, but money tight for teams across league

- BRUCE GARRIOCH bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Pierre Dorion spent Sunday huddled in his Canadian Tire Centre office, working the phones with the NHL trade deadline fast approachin­g Monday at 3 p.m.

The Ottawa Senators general manager has been the centre of attention the past three years by making big deals before the trading came to a halt. This time around, he's holding no shortage of talks, but there may not be the flurry of activity we've seen in the past.

The Senators are in a group of sellers in the North Division that includes the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames.

One of the biggest names disappeare­d off the board Sunday when the Toronto Maple Leafs made a deal to acquire former Senators winger Nick Foligno from the Columbus Blue Jackets, along with former Ottawa first-rounder Stefan Noesen from the San Jose Sharks in a three-team trade. That may shake up the market a bit and force contenders in the Eastern Conference to make deals.

Maybe, just maybe, they'll turn to the Senators to see if they have pieces that can help.

If Dorion is to make any moves before the deadline, it may go right down to the wire because the talks that took place on Sunday set the table for what will happen on the final day. Teams tend to state their interest in several players, target them on a list from highest to lowest, then make moves as names come off the list.

With nine unrestrict­ed free agents on the roster, the Senators have some pieces that might be able to help a contender that wants to bulk up for the post-season. However, there are so many sellers the market is almost overloaded with teams trying to move contracts.

Money is tight in all 31 of the NHL'S markets and owners aren't in the mood to spend with league revenues taking a huge hit because of the pandemic. Instead of just adding, some teams may also have to subtract because contenders have to make money-in and money-out deals, especially those that are up against the salary cap.

The biggest area where Dorion can offer teams help is those looking for depth on defence with veterans Braydon Coburn, Erik Gudbranson and Mike Reilly. There are several teams looking for help on defence, including the New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and Winnipeg Jets. The issue is there's a lot of teams offering up blueliners at this deadline. Heading into Sunday night, the likes of Dallas's Jamie Oleksiak, Chicago's Nikita Zadorov, Nashville's Mattias Ekholm and Alex Goligoski of Arizona were among those still available.

The club is being built around young players with the likes of alternate captains Thomas Chabot and Brady Tkachuk, along with Tim Stuetzle, Drake Batherson, Colin White, Josh Norris and Brannstrom. It's no coincidenc­e many of those players have led the way for this team and have been able to play big roles.

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Pierre Dorion

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