While Senators GM Pierre Dorion is pleased with the look of his team, he is still in talks with several unrestricted free agents, including both forwards and defensemen, writes Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. It has been speculated during the summer that Ottawa would likely be looking to add to their blueline depth; Dorion had the following to say about their defense corps heading into camp:
“On the back end, I’d like it to be a healthy competition for roster spots so either we’re still looking at bring someone on a PTO or, at this point in time, maybe something more depending on what players are looking for.”
Among the defensemen still available, Garrioch reports that the Sens have ‘kicked tires’ on both Kris Russell and Dennis Seidenberg. At this stage, neither of them are interested in a tryout deal so for them to land one, they’d have to offer up a guaranteed contract.
[Related: Senators Depth Chart]
When asked about bringing in someone else via the trade route, Dorion wasn’t as optimistic that they’d get something done through that avenue:
“I can’t see us making any trades between now and training camp and even through camp. We owe it to a lot of the players that have trained hard to get ready as best as they can for camp so I can’t see us making any types of deals.
The Senators made one of the more notable trades of the offseason back in July, dealing Mika Zibanejad to the Rangers as part of a trade that yielded Derick Brassard in return. Ottawa is also hopeful that Clarke MacArthur will be able to return to action after missing all but four games with concussion trouble. Dorion noted that the team is still looking at adding a veteran up front into the mix for training camp:
“Depth forward, maybe somebody who has played games in the NHL, maybe someone looking for a PTO … That’s more the route we’re going to go as we’ve seen a lot of teams are doing lately.”
From the salary cap perspective, Ottawa has plenty of room to work with as they have just shy of $6MM according to Cap Friendly. However, the Senators have been more of a budget team than a cap spender in recent years so it’s possible that their actual budgetary space is lower than that.