A handful of injuries up front are forcing the Ottawa Senators to seek out external reinforcements.
The Senators are "trying hard to add a forward," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman wrote in his "31 Thoughts" column Wednesday.
Two of the club's top three centers recently went down with injuries: Colin White will miss three-to-five weeks with a hip flexor and Artem Anisimov is out one-to-two weeks with a lower-body ailment.
Senators general manager Pierre Dorion has already shown a willingness to make moves early in the season, acquiring forward Vladislav Namestnikov from the New York Rangers earlier in October in exchange for a fourth-round pick and defenseman Nick Ebert. The move has paid off brilliantly thus far; Namestnikov is currently tied for the team lead with six points in six games in a Sens uniform.
It's rare that teams look to trade away players so early in the season, but Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nic Petan is one individual reportedly on the trade block. It's worth noting Dorion and Leafs GM Kyle Dubas appear to have a strong working relationship, as the two teams pulled off a six-player trade this past summer.
In the meantime, the Senators have recalled 2016 first-round pick Logan Brown from the AHL and penciled him in on the top line. That will surely please his agent, who complained about the team's handling of Brown's development in early October.
The rebuilding Senators entered Wednesday with the NHL's worst record at 1-6-1.
Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.