One way or another, the Ottawa Senators need to find the answers.
They either have to come from within or Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, must make a move to help his troubled club get back on track.
As the Senators prepared to face the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night at the Canada Life Centre, Ottawa was ranked No. 14 in the Eastern Conference, five points out of the final wild-card spot.
Thirty-one games into the season, the Senators have had flashes of brilliance, but have been plagued by inconsistency. The club is 3-7-0 in its past 10 games and is on pace for 85 points, which could leave them on the outside looking in for a National Hockey League playoff spot.
League executives told the Ottawa Citizen on the weekend that Staios has been scouring the market for a forward to play in the top nine and another defenceman because the club’s depth has been tested by the injury that has kept Thomas Chabot out of 12 of the past 13 games.
The loss of centre Shane Pinto, one of the club’s best and most consistent players this season, has hurt a lot. He has a lower-body ailment and the sense is he won’t play before the NHL’s mandated holiday break from Christmas Eve until Boxing Day.
To make matters worse, veteran centre Lars Eller — who has been a solid addition for the club — is out for an extended period after blocking a shot against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
We’re led to believe that Staios has touched base with the league’s sellers. That list, which includes the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators, is short.
A lot of teams are still in the mix, so asking prices are high.
League executives say the Senators are among a group of teams likely that have kicked tires on Vancouver’s Kiefer Sherwood. The 30-year-old winger has 13 goals and 17 points in 31 games and is on the radar screen of several teams in the East.
Making $1.5 million US, Sherwood, an unrestricted free agent on July 1, reportedly has attracted interest from the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars and Philadelphia Flyers.
The issue for the Senators is that the rebuilding Canucks want a first-round pick in return for Sherwood and Ottawa will be forced to forfeit its top selection in the 2026 NHL draft as part of the punishment for the botched Evgenii Dadonov deal.
Connor Garland isn’t expected to be moved, but we’ve been told that if the Canucks were interested in dealing him, then that is a player that Ottawa coach Travis Green holds in high regard.
The issue with Garland is that it’s a big commitment. The 29-year-old will have a six-year extension kick in next season, paying him $6 million per year. His full “no move” clause also will be in place next season, so if the Canucks want to trade him without obstruction. it’ll have to be this season.
That move is unlikely. The Canucks also are trying to move centre Lukas Reichel, 23, who cleared waivers and was sent to the AHL.
We’ve mentioned the Flames before and we do not doubt that Staios has held talks with GM Craig Conroy. Is Blake Coleman, who is making $4.9 million on a contract that expires in 2027, a fit for the Senators?
Staios went to the NHL’s board of governors meeting in Colorado Springs with owner Michael Andlauer. Not all the GMs are there, but owners have to sign off on deals and in-person facetime is valuable.
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Staios was on a scouting trip on the weekend after the club scored a 6-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He spent Saturday afternoon taking in the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks.
The Penguins aren’t sellers, but they are trying to move defencemen Connor Clifton and Matt Dumba, who cleared waivers last week.
A league executive told us a team might be able to acquire Pittsburgh winger Bryan Rust, who is signed to a deal that will pay him $5.25 million a year until 2027-28. The asking price there would be high because the Penguins really don’t want to deal him.
The Predators remain an interesting option, especially winger Michael Bunting, who is making $4.5 million this season. The Senators showed interest in veteran centre Ryan O’Reilly at last year’s deadline, but they’d have to move an older player to make him a fit.
The best-case scenario is that the Senators find a way to extricate themselves from this stumble. Chabot is trending towards playing later this week, possibly against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday or the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
“Chabby is skating and is getting closer,” coach Travis Green told reporters in Winnipeg on Monday. “Pinto is still not skating, so he’s a little bit away. Eller is going to be out for a while, an extended period of time.”