With the NHL trade deadline just over two months away, the Ottawa Senators are working the phones hard in hopes of improving their bottom-of-the-Eastern-Conference record.
After Steve Staios' official appointment as Ottawa's general manager and president of hockey operations on Dec. 31, the Senators have been "the most aggressive team" on the trade market, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
"They are out there, and they are letting it be known that they want to try some things," Friedman reported during the Saturday Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada. "They have been asked, 'are you interested in dealing any of your young core players?' And the answer I've heard is 'no.'
"They're not at the point they're even considering that. They think it's way too soon."
After entering the 2023-24 season with hopes of snapping a six-year playoff drought, things have not quite turned out the way the Senators had hoped.
Ottawa finished the 2022-23 season strong, missing out on the post-season by six points after buying at the trade deadline, setting the expectation for that momentum to continue into the new campaign.
However, after a tumultuous start to the season that resulted in the team firing both former general manager Pierre Dorion and former head coach D.J. Smith, the Senators are 14-20-0 and .
Led by the likes of Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle, Ottawa has the third-youngest roster by average age in the NHL. They have also augmented that young core in recent years by bringing in veterans like Claude Giroux, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jakob Chychrun.
"What they are looking for — the word is — is pros. Real professionals, players who know how to play properly, players who take good care of themselves," Friedman said. "They're just looking to add some more of that to their roster."
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