Why didn’t Ottawa sign Tyler Toffoli 4-6 years @4.5-4.75m. I would’ve done that in a heart beat

Why didn’t Ottawa sign Tyler Toffoli 4-6 years @4.5-4.75m. I would’ve done that in a heart beat
- AlfieisKing

Why do people always assume that just because player “X” signs a deal with another team that Dorion or the team could have signed him instead. Who’s to say he didn’t try, who’s to say toffoli didn’t want to come here.

Honestly, as much as I love the Sens, if I was a UFA in the prime of my career, Ottawa would be pretty low on my list of desired destinations.

- Terrible ownership
- A few years away from even thinking of contending
- questionable fan support at the moment
- unwillingness/inability of team to favourably structure contracts to include bonuses

Ottawa is not a desirable destination for bigger name UFA

Why do people always assume that just because player “X” signs a deal with another team that Dorion or the team could have signed him instead. Who’s to say he didn’t try, who’s to say toffoli didn’t want to come here.
- sensarmy_11

Completely agree. The same is true of trades... a smart GM will play teams off of each other, especially if they know a particular team has strong interest. And when a team sees the wealth of draft picks/prospects that Ottawa currently has, they may well have a different asking price than they will of other teams. This may also be a reason that Dorion didn't trade up into the 1st round of the draft.

As for free agency, it seems pretty clear that their two major priorities are to stabilize the goaltending situation, and to add some affordable veteran size (Gudbranson/Watson). There's also a very purposeful targeting of cost/term, which is more easily achieved via trade. Plus, as noted, high-end UFA are often looking for chances to win, and Ottawa still has a year or two of rebuilding ahead. So I'd be surprised if they just went out and signed a random long-term UFA player, as opposed to waiting to find a team in cap trouble to target for another value trade.

I was expecting Dorion to sign one of Koivu or Athanasiou. But as others have pointed out, who knows who is willing to come here via free agency right now. Mikko Koivu signed short-term in Columbus. Athanasiou is still available, and is a guy we were rumoured to be trying to trade for a year or two ago. Perhaps he is no longer sought after by Pierre Dorion et al. I personally am indifferent to this type of signing. But I do believe Dorion has more more move in his agenda.