SENS, BLUE JACKETS FACE FREE-AGENT DILEMMAS
With the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets tied 1-1 late in the second period Monday night, Mark Stone found himself alone in front of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky following an odd-man rush.
Stone made a nifty deke before flipping a backhand that appeared targeted for the top of the net. Bobrovsky, however, flipped out his blocker to make a superb stop, a key play in what eventually became a 6-3 win by the Blue Jackets.
It was also an intriguing moment for another bigger-picture reason.
Stone and Bobrovsky are both pending unrestricted free agents. They’re poster boys for their franchises, with the ability to change games by themselves.
By the same token, their futures are up in the air. And it doesn’t stop there for the Blue Jackets and Senators.
As has been well-documented, with time ticking toward the NHL trade deadline of Feb. 25, fellow Senators forwards Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel — who broke out of an extended slump with two goals Monday — are also pending unrestricted free agents.
Over on the other side, Bobrovsky is joined by star winger Artemi Panarin as a pending unrestricted free agent. Panarin registered a pair of assists in the Blue Jackets win Monday, giving him 43 points — the same number as Stone.
All the players have kept largely silent on where they’re going from here, leaving negotiations in the hands of their agents.
Stone did, however, address the issue following practice Tuesday. Due to the fact he’s playing on a one-year contract, he couldn’t officially negotiate an extension with the Senators until the New Year.
He said he expects contract discussions to begin within the next two weeks and wants to stay because he loves the organization and the city.
Three weeks ago, Duchene talked about his status.
“I’ve said before, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything — or much of anything — so far, but it’s obviously a great situation if it works out. I’ve said that all the way along. The message is the same.”
Duchene’s agent, Pat Brisson, has had discussions with Senators general manager Pierre Dorion. Representatives of Newport Sports Management, who represent Stone and Dzingel, were in Ottawa last month.
Perhaps Dorion and Blue Jackets counterpart Jarmo Kekalainen, who had a cup of coffee as a player with the Senators in 1993-94, should compare notes on where to go from here.
If Bobrovsky, Panarin, Stone, Duchene and Dzingel remain with their teams beyond the trade deadline, they risk being lost for nothing next summer, as was the case last summer when John Tavares skated to Toronto after spending the first nine seasons of his career with the New York Islanders.
If the players make it clear they aren’t planning on re-signing with their existing clubs, Dorion and Kekalainen will be forced into making the best possible trade deals before the trade deadline.
Could, for instance, the Senators recoup a package that includes a first-round choice at the 2019 draft? The Senators are without a first-round selection, having traded that pick to the Colorado Avalanche as part of the deal that brought Duchene to the Senators early in the 2017-18 season.
At this point, the biggest difference between the Blue Jackets and the Senators is the fact Columbus is in the heat of the playoff race, while the Senators’ hopes of the post-season have faded. They are now dead last in the NHL standings, eight teams and 12 points out of a playoff spot before Tuesday’s games.
While most of the talks have been done outside of the media, Panarin’s agent, Dan Milstein, opened up slightly last week.
Milstein plans on having a “serious conversation” with Panarin during the club’s all-star break from Jan. 20-29.
“He’s genuinely happy in Columbus,” Milstein told TSN 1050. “Things are going well for him and the team. He’s having a good time. Obviously, he loves the organization and there is great coaching.”
Together, Panarin and Bobrovsky have considerable leverage in talks with the Blue Jackets, considering they are pivotal players in the stretch run toward the post-season, providing hope that Columbus could finally win a playoff round for the first time in franchise history.
While Milstein says the two are friends, he dismissed suggestions that they would work “as a package” in discussions with the organization.
Maybe it doesn’t serve as much consolation for Dorion as he heads toward potentially franchise-altering decisions with Stone, Duchene and Dzingel, but at least he’s not alone in the dilemma he faces.