Elliotte Friedman Says That The Ottawa Senators Have Called The Blackhawks About Trading For Seth Jones

“We’ve talked about how the Senators have looked at every possible defenceman that you can think of. I think one of the guys that they at least asked about, and I don’t think it went anywhere, but I thought was interesting… I think one of the guys they asked about was Seth Jones. They just made the call and said, ‘Would there be (any interest in moving him)?’, and they’ve dealt with Chicago before in the DeBrincat deal. I think they just called and just felt it out. I don’t think it’s happening. I don’t think it’s going to, but I heard that on the weekend. They’re calling on everybody and they called on Seth Jones, but I don’t think it’s happening.”--Elliotte Friedman

Well this got my attention. The Senators clearly need defensive help and apparently they like the idea of Seth Jones in their top 4. Like Friedman said, probably unlikely, but my ears perked up. I do think Seth Jones actually makes some sense for the Sens. They are locked into their core and it's VERY strong. Tkachuk, Chabot, Sanderson, Stutzle, Norris, and Pinto. That's as good of a young nucleus at the NHL level as anyone in the league in my opinion. One thing they don't have is a presence on the right side of their defense. Jones would give them that. The price tag at $9.5M is steep...for now. The Salary Cap will be going up in the coming years as TV money gets realized as financial conditions post-covid normalize. The other thing the Sens have going for them is that every single guy I mentioned in that core above is already locked up long term with the exception of Sanderson and Pinto. Those RFA numbers should be manageable with money coming off the books from Matt Murray, Zaitsev, Hamonic, and Bobby Ryan. They're still paying Dion Phaneuf for shit sake. They have money. They may not have a ton of cap room in the short term, but they have it going forward. 

Maybe Seth Jones isn't a deal that gets done, but if the Sens are looking for defensive help and guys with term, well the Blackhawks have that too. Maybe Murphy or McCabe, their skill set, and their cap hit makes more sense than Jones. These rumors about players besides 19 and 88 make me think that the Blackhawks are going to be active on ALL. front. Nobody is safe. Even guys with NMC (Stan gave those to Jones, Murphy, and McCabe...shocker). I did a full thread about the future taking shape, but there's going to be more picks and prospects added Domi, Anthanesiou, Lafferty, Dickinson, Blackwell, Murphy, McCabe, etc get moved at the deadline. It's always darkest before it's completely black. We are clearly at the darkest now. After the deadline, the first bits of light will start to poke out from over the horizon.