Countdown to TradeCentre: Sens still set to make moves?

The National Hockey League's Trade Deadline is on Monday, Feb. 26, and teams will be making decisions on whether to buy or sell and decide which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Check out the latest trade rumours and speculation from around the NHL beat.

Sens still set to make moves?

The Ottawa Senators have been active in the trade market of late, sending Dion Phaneuf to the Los Angeles Kings in a multi-player deal and trading Chris DiDomenico to the Chicago Blackhawks for Ville Pokka.

But according to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, they may not be done making moves.

“[Pierre] Dorion has been among the busier if not the busiest. He’s certainly managed to get some big-time work done this season if you look back to the Duchene trade and now add the Phaneuf deal on top of that, but he’s got pieces that a lot of teams are after so his phone won’t stop ringing until the end of Feb. 26,” Dreger told The Drive.  

Brassard commanding hefty price

Derick Brassard of the Ottawa Senators is the top centre available on TSN’s latest Trade Bait list and continues to draw interest. As Dreger notes, Dorion is expected to be asking top dollar for the 30-year-old.

“As much as it appears that he is the top centre available, you know, if you’re paying the premium, which is what Pierre Dorion has got to be asking for – otherwise again, why trade him? You’re not moving him out for a piece that you’re going to regret after you move him unless you’re getting something that is tangible value that you can work with at the draft, that’s a prospect or something that’s going to help you in the very near future,” Dreger said.

“I can’t imagine that Dorion has any shortage of interest in Derick Brassard. I just think that understandably the price has to be high.”

In 54 games so far this season coming into play Saturday, Brassard has 16 goals and 16 assists. 

Are Maroon's days in Edmonton numbered?

Allain Roy, the agent for Edmonton Oilers forward Patrick Maroon, spoke with general manager Peter Chiarelli earlier this week according to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun. LeBrun notes that no numbers were exchanged and things are status quo without a clear indication of where things are headed.

“I have a pretty good idea where this is heading, and that’s with Patrick Maroon getting a ticket out of town. The fact that no numbers were exchanged should give you a good idea where this stands. I mentioned a few weeks ago that the last time they spoke that the Oilers and Maroon were not close to seeing eye to eye on numbers that could potentially keep him there,” TSN Senior Hockey Writer Frank Seravalli told The Lowdown.

Trading Maroon could also impact the direction of the team going forward.

“The potential really exists for the Oilers to begin to remake this team with moving Patrick Maroon out. I mean, you look at their roster and you look at the pieces they have in place, if this team wants to do some reconstructive surgery and get better for next season, if you’re not doing it with Maroon and who knows what happens with Milan Lucic in the summer, that’s been an absolute disaster. If you bring Maroon back all of a sudden you’re saying well how much change can we really make on this roster? A lot of other players are locked into spots. You really lose an opportunity there to do something moving forward if you were to bring Maroon back,” Seravalli said.

In 54 games this season, Maroon has 14 goals and 15 assists. 

Blackhawks not focused on showcasing

The Chicago Blackhawks don't appear to be worried about showcasing potential trade deadline assets. 

"No. Right now we haven’t had that discussion, and we’re trying to win games. You’re always trying to win games," head coach Joel Quenneville told Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times on if he and general manager Stan Bowman have talked about showcasing potential trade deadline assets. 

The Blackhawks sit at 24-26-8, last place in the Central Division.