Ottawa Senators NHL Trade Rumors: Senators GM Pierre Dorion Gets Green Light to Make a Move
The Ottawa Senators failed to clinch a berth in the playoffs last season, but things are going to be different this time. They are now challengers for the top spot in the Atlantic Division and the Montréal Canadiens will have to watch their backs because the Senators are getting ready to make a splash in the trade market.
Hockey columnist Bruce Garrioch has reported that Senators owner, Eugene Melnyk, has given general manager Pierre Dorion "the green light" to make a move to get the team into the postseason.
In an interview with Garrioch for the Ottawa Sun, Dorion said if they were to make a move, they would look to add some depth in the forward positions. Bobby Ryan, Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman are all sidelined with injuries, so they definitely need some help up front.
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Melnyk might have given him the freedom to make moves before the deadline, but Dorion said he would have to avoid trading his top prospects while he looks to improve the team's forward depth.
"You're resisting the urge to trade someone you know that will be a really good player whether it's this year, next year or the year after or three or four years down the road (and that's) very tough," he stated during the interview with the Ottawa Sun.
Dorion also told Garrioch that they want to keep Curtis Lazar, not trade him. "Our first choice with Curtis is to keep him with this team, all the work we've done to develop him, and to be part of hopefully a playoff team and hopefully more in the upcoming years," he said in the interview. He admitted that some teams have called to ask about Lazar, but he said they didn't offer much for the center/right wing.
Dorion is ready to turn the Senators from pretenders into contenders, so expect them to make a strong playoff push.
