First off, for the latest Sens updates, please follow me on Twitter at
Follow @KevinFr65525204
Give me a twitter follow, I will give you a follow too!

With the start of Ottawa Senators training camp less than three weeks away, the pressure is going to start to increase on Sens GM Pierre Dorion to get deals in place for RFA’s Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson. With the province announcing their new vaccine certification program starting Sept. 22, you have to think Ontario Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Minister Lisa Macleod will have an announcement very soon concerning gatherings at professional indoor events. Currently only 1,000 fans can attend the rookie game on Sept. 18th at the CTC, but professional teams need to be able to deliver their marketing campaigns to present and potential season ticket holders/single game ticket buyers extremely soon so they don’t miss out on maximizing their ticket revenue with the season fast approaching.

You know upper management is feeling the heat from Sens owner Eugene Melnyk because of all owners in the NHL, he depends on fan ticket revenue. I am told Anthony Leblanc, the Sens president of business operations, is being told by many prospective season ticket holders that they are waiting to see what type of team will be iced in the present and moving forward. There would be nothing like announcing a new long term extension for Tkachuk at a news conference while they name him captain at the same time! Then getting Batherson inked to a new deal as well, therefore triggering a huge spike in ticket sales.

If Tkachuk holds out for anything more than 8 years, 64 million then Ottawa needs to get him signed to a three year bridge deal immediately and see how it all plays out over the course of his contract while controlling his 7th year. You can’t pay Tkachuk a dollar over 8 million with so many young players coming along that will be due raises coming off their ELC’s. As for Batherson, as I reported last week, management is more keen on a bridge deal before committing for 5-6 years. They have learned from past mistakes with Colin White and Zack Smith to name a few. The one thing I am told management has been stating to his agent is that although Batherson had a solid season this past year he was very inconsistent at times and the team needs to see how he will respond to a regular 82 game season, not 56 games. The team isn’t budging from their 3 year 15 million contract offer. Now could they be convinced by the Batherson camp to offer a longer term deal at a lower AAV, after the flat cap ends in a few years, management definitely would be open to that if it made sense financially.

Since late July, I have written a few pieces about the team targeting different forwards at the RW and Center ice positions. Again, the name of Tomas Hertl of the SJ Sharks has come up about not wanting to return to the team for the coming season due to Evander Kane. The locker room dynamic in SJ has been an issue there for a few seasons now and when I said Ottawa had serious interest in Hertl on July 29th, many at the time felt Ottawa hadn’t looked into him as a natural fit in the Sens top six forwards. With Hertl on an expiring contract this fit the bill even more so for an Ottawa team that doesn’t want to be locked in on a veteran long term while having a solid player to fill a glaring hole on at the RW position. When one local sports writer dismissed it, it was as if nobody should dare question his opinion I was told. I didn’t know that if Bruce Garrioch said a team wasn’t interested in a certain player that everyone should automatically believe it and stop linking him to Ottawa. Again, today on Spector’s Hockey, and I quote, “Hertl’s popped up in internet speculation linking him to the Ottawa Senators but the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch was told there was nothing to that conjecture. Nevertheless, the versatile Sharks center could start appearing more frequently in this season’s rumor mill if his club is out of the playoff chase by this season’s NHL trade deadline.” So when a team source tells a local writer that there is nothing to the story and to dismiss it, it usually means management didn’t like that someone leaked that they were seriously looking at Hertl, something they continue to talk about with Sharks GM Doug Wilson as we speak. Wilson has done numerous deals in the past Ottawa and it wouldn’t surprise me if these teams pulled off another trade together. Ottawa has the draft picks to do it and would rather not trade any prospects for a one year rental player.

Ottawa has kicked the tires again on Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux who has one year remaining on his contract. Many close to Giroux have said he would waive his NMC for the Sens, plus he has a home in the area too! But at the same time, many say he wants to play for a Cup contender. He will be 34 years old when the 2021-22 season ends but he certainly would give Ottawa depth up the middle, something Ottawa has failed to address this entire off-season.

The last name that keeps coming up in Sens discussions for a suitable RW with little term left on their contract, is Brett Connelly of the Chicago Blackhawks. He has been long rumoured to be moved this summer as the Hawks have to sign a few young players next summer coming off their ELC’s like Kirby Dach, among others and Chicago will need some cap relief to get those deals done. Connelly has 2 years left with a 3.5 million AAV at 29 years of age, he would fit in nicely for a short term fix until Ottawa develops some of their youth on the right side. Again, draft picks is what many of these teams will want in return as they don’t want to take on any contracts with this flat cap for a few years.

I have had 2 other names mentioned to me that have been connected to Ottawa in trade discussions by other sources. But I am still waiting to find out further info before I write about it, more to come as I confirm info.

So Sens fans, which of these 3 names makes the most sense in an Ottawa uniform? I look forward to hearing from all of you! A big thank you to the many that jumped in for the discussion on my latest blog, both in the comment section here at HB and on twitter. I hope we can have many more of these discussions as we approach the start of the season.
Thanks for reading.
Kevin

Join the Discussion: » 105 Comments » Post New Comment

» Which player has exceeded expectations so far this season?!

» The Sens are in the playoff conversation to start 2023!!!!

» Sens set for critical back to back home games!

» Sens Gameday/More injuries/Sale of team

» Sens Gameday in Dallas/Dorion tried very hard to trade Formenton!