The Ottawa Senators and general manager Pierre Dorion had a busy summer, adding to the roster for the best results possible, however, those expected outcomes haven’t come so far this season. The Senators currently sit near the basement of the entire league and it sounds like Dorion has been trying to find a solution on the trade market.
But to no avail. While Ottawa is believed to be seeking an upgrade on the blue line, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the Jeff Marek Show that Dorion has been shopping for a defenseman for much longer than anyone thought.
“It’s hard to trade for D right now, Ottawa’s been working on this for weeks, if not months”.
The trade market has been rough on several teams with still top defensive targets, like Arizona Coyotes’ Jakob Chychrun or Anaheim Ducks’ John Klingberg, still available at high prices.
Friedman also reminded fans how Canadian clubs have had it tough on the trade market. Some rumours have come up including the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs and Senators, however, not a whole lot have materialized. Last week, the insider exposed a significant issue on the trade market, explaining how it is harder for some Canadian teams to acquire players cause many who have no-trade clauses or partial clauses and don’t want to be moved to clubs in Canada.
Once again, Friedman pointed out how the Senators have come across the extra hurdle.
The Senators are feeling it and this could indeed have a significant impact on the market as several players could waive a clause to prevent a transaction if they were to be sent to Canada.
We’ve seen this more and more with American players, especially after the pandemic and restrictions that were put in place for travelling and entering the border. For example, both Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk were believed to have left Calgary in part because of the team being in Canada and far from family.
Clearly, the Senators have been facing many obstacles on the market, so much so that Dorion’s hard work has resulted in nothing. So far.
The GM might be forced to turn his attention to the bench as the name of head coach D.J. Smith has been linked to rumours hinting at a possible coaching change in Ottawa. Darren Dreger talked about it last night on Insider Trading on TSN:
“There are so many holes in the Ottawa Senators lineup, maybe too significant to overcome. The players say that they support D.J. Smith, Pierre Dorion we know is scouring the NHL, he hasn’t found the right trade fit, which is why we’re squarely now looking at the Ottawa bench one more time and I might add somewhat unfairly.”
