The Ottawa Senators are off to an interesting start this season, with only one regulation loss through nine games. That stretch has come with just four wins however, as the team has been defeated four additional times in overtime or the shootout. That trend isn’t likely to continue, and the Senators seem poised to take another run at the playoffs and perhaps even another Eastern Conference final. If they want to get there, they’ll likely need their top center to be in top form.
The question is then, who will be that top center? Kyle Turris is currently occupying that role, but is in the final year of his current contract. Last we heard the Senators had offered him a five-year, $30MM contract, but hadn’t been able to come to an agreement. Now, in Pierre Lebrun’s latest column for The Athletic, the venerable insider digs into where the two sides currently sit. Turris’ camp is apparently fixated on an eight-year deal, something the team is unwilling to offer at this point. LeBrun does write that both sides seem amiable towards an eventual contract, but then asks the question of what to do should a deal not be reached by the trade deadline.
Turris would certainly fetch an impressive package on the block, as there are usually several teams looking for help down the middle. Last year, on a similarly expiring contract, Martin Hanzal (along with the currently unsigned Ryan White and a fourth-round pick) netted the Arizona Coyotes a first, second and conditional round draft pick—the latter became a fourth-round pick after the Wild were eliminated early from the playoffs. Certainly Turris, whose offensive game far outpaces Hanzal’s could secure even more.
If they did move him though, the team hardly has an internal option for replacement. Derick Brassard and Jean-Gabriel Pageau are perfectly suited to their current roles, and would be hard-pressed to take on the extra responsibility involved with moving up a slot. Logan Brown, though impressing in his short stint is still just 19 and would need to burn both a year of his entry-level deal (10 games) and crawl a year closer to free agency (40 games) if he’s around at the deadline. For a team looking to compete this season, weakening yourself down the middle is hardly an option.
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