Senators pull 2 players out of the lineup ahead of tonight's game.

We have some relatively minor news to report, but we are reporting it because it may be the precursor to something far more significant. 

According to a pair of reports, one from TSN's National Hockey League insider Darren Dreger and the other from Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman, the Ottawa Senators have just pulled a pair of players out of the lineup ahead of tonight's game against the Montreal Canadiens. Friedman was the first to report the news, revealing that veteran forward Tyler Ennis would not be playing tonight, and that report was quickly echoed by Dreger who also revealed that Namestnikov would be sitting this one out as well. 

The Senators have been the subject of rampant trade speculation over the past several weeks due to the fact that they are a lock to miss the playoffs this season and this would appear to signal their intent to trade both players. It is unclear at this time how close they are on a deal for either man but given that they feel the need to pull both men from the lineup I think it is safe to say that the organization believes that there is a strong possibility that they will be traded before Monday, the National Hockey League's trade deadline for the 2019 - 2020 NHL regular season.

Stay tuned for more details on this developing story.