“Ship Has Sailed” on Senators Trying to Sign Former 40-Goal Sniper

Don’t expect the Ottawa Senators to sign Patrik Laine to a contract this offseason. In fact, it might even be surprising at this point if they offer the former 44-goal scorer a professional tryout (PTO). According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, that ship has sailed.

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During a recent article about where everyone fits on the roster, Garrioch asked the rhetorical question, “Did the Senators look at Laine?” He responded, “The answer is yes. Staios and the Senators did discuss the possibility of signing unrestricted free agent Patrik Laine, but it’s highly doubtful he’ll end up in Ottawa. In fact, that ship has likely sailed.”

He went on to add that the Senators could use a pure scorer, but he doesn’t believe Laine is it for Ottawa, even though he’s consistently put up 20-goal seasons.

Garrioch explained:

“There is reportedly interest from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning. If other Eastern teams are interested in Laine, why aren’t the Senators? …We’re led to believe that the Senators don’t feel that Laine is the right fit for their roster. Yes, he can sign a bonus-laden contract, so there isn’t much risk involved, but the Senators are relying on the fact that Burakovsky can find his game in Ottawa.”

Laine has scored 224 goals and 422 points in 537 career games. He scored 30 goals in his first three years and has scored 20 goals four times.

Who Is Left To Show Interest in Laine?

With that kind of production, you would think that someone would take a look. However, if Ottawa is out, and seeing as Toronto signed Brendan Brisson (putting them at 50 contracts), they’re out too. That leaves Florida, Tampa, and Dallas, unless another team that wasn’t listed pops up out of nowhere.

Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman recently said in an interview that he wasn’t planning to add a PTO player, but with so many good names still available, he admitted it might not be “the worst idea.” He added, “We’re in that mode where, yeah, we probably could try to bring a guy in on a tryout…” Then again, even though Laine is still out there, so are players like Michael Bunting, Vladimir Tarasenko, and others.

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