While Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman continues to pursue a trade for disgruntled forward Jonathan Drouin, you can cross at least one name off the list of potential pieces coming back in a deal.
The Ottawa Senators will not part with 22-year-old defenceman Cody Ceci as part of a package in any deal for Drouin, according to Damien Cox in this week’s installment of “Headlines” on Hockey Night in Canada.
Senators GM Bryan Murray and Yzerman have engaged in trade discussions over what it would take to land Drouin, but Ottawa’s depleted blue-line ostensibly rules out the possibility of Ceci moving.
“What the Senators are saying is they don’t want to give up Cody Ceci as part of a package,” Cox said. “They’re 29th in team defence, they’ve got lots of issues on the back end, they now know that Mikael Wikstrand, the Swedish defenceman, he’s not going to be back, so right now Ceci is a blocking point. Also, Ottawa is at their budget limit, they can’t really add a whole lot in terms of salary.”
Defenceman Marc Methot has missed the Senators’ past two games with a lower-body injury and Chris Phillips is on injured reserve and has not played this season. Prospect Wikstrand was loaned to Swedish club Färjestad for the rest of the year on Wednesday.
Drouin was suspended without pay by the Lightning earlier this week after he failed to show up for a game with the club’s AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch. His agent, Allan Walsh, said his client was finished with the Lightning organization in a statement on Wednesday.
Ceci has four goals and 12 points in 41 games this season. The Senators selected Ceci with the 15th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft.
