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Trading away the likes of Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, Mike Hoffman, and Ryan Dzingel is going to give Pierre Dorion a horrible reputation, and in all honesty, he probably won’t have a job after he is done with the Senators. All of these situations are not totally his fault, and he can
somewhat save face by at least getting good returns for Stone, Duchene, and Dzingel within the next week. It’s incredibly unlikely that will happen, but one way that prices can go up is if rival teams are battling against each other to acquire one of them.
I’m not sure how credible Shawn Simpson’s sources are, but it would make a lot of sense for both Winnipeg and Nashville to be connected to Matt Duchene:
Furthermore, we know that the Jets have been looking at all three of their top forwards, plus Stone (and to a lesser extent, Dzingel) would easily be a fit with the Predators as well. Other teams out there such as Calgary, Vegas, and New York (I) could be interested, but having the top two central teams involved makes things compelling.
Firstly, both the Jets and Predators are in “going for it” mode. The Jets have only been good for two seasons, but they might as well take advantage while their core is still young, so making a splash would make sense to lengthen their competitive window. The Predators have been good for a while, but expectations are also sky-high, with fans clamouring for a Stanley Cup, meaning GM David Poile might feel the pressure to make another big move, just like he did last year by acquiring Kyle Turris. They might not
desperate per se, but I doubt they will be sitting on their hands as the deadline approaches.
Secondly, they both have intriguing young assets that the Senators would love. The Jets could offer up players such as Jack Roslovic, Kristian Vesalainen, Sami Niku, Mason Appleton, Eric Comrie, and Nic Petan, while the Predators lack depth but have two high-ceiling prospects in Eeli Tolvanen and Dante Fabbro. Other teams have good options as well, but at least with these two there are a few different ways they could go with a trade and still get a good return.
Thirdly and most importantly, they are rivals who are battling against each other for the top spot in the Central division. Winnipeg sits three points up with two games in hand, so they are favoured to win at this point, but there’s a very real possibility that they will be facing off against each other in the second round. Every little upgrade could make the difference between winning and losing in a series against each other, plus by acquiring someone like Stone or Duchene, they would also be depriving the other team of getting one of them. There is a strong chance that this rivalry could create a robust market for the Senators forwards, especially Duchene.
As good as these impending UFAs are, not every playoff team is going to be interested, and there will be no perfect deal out there. However, it is imperative that the Jets and Predators continue to show interest because they are the most obvious trade partners, and losing one of them would most likely diminish Ottawa’s return by a bit.
Hopefully Dorion can use this rivalry to his advantage.
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