Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun: The Ottawa Senators have nine weeks to either sign or trade pending unrestricted free agents Mark Stone, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel.
The Senators can’t afford to lose any of those three for nothing after the season.
The Senators have the room to hand out money and give them term, but would owner Eugene Melnyk be okay with giving them big money upfront as well as lockout protection that they could likely get elsewhere?
Dzingle might be able to get a five-year deal at $5 million per.