"No, he hasn't indicated anything along that line to us," Dorion told TSN 1200 when asked if the forward would prefer to play in the United States. "We can tell with our conversations that I've had with him that I think it's only human that ... when you only see your newborn for a day or two that it can be difficult on any type of human being."
Dorion praised Stepan for making an impact with Ottawa in the short time he's been with the team.
"He's given us great minutes, he's (proved) to be a great leader ... The best way to describe it is, when you have so many young players on your team ... young players make mistakes. The last two games ... some mistakes were made by young players, and a guy like Derek Stepan can tell these younger guys, 'Just forget it, be better.' It's almost like having an extra coach out there."
It was reported Saturday that the Senators were trying to move Stepan.
The Arizona Coyotes traded him to the Senators on Dec. 28. The 30-year-old is a U.S. citizen whose wife, Stephanie, gave birth to their third child two days after the Senators acquired him.
Stepan spent the first 10 years of his career with U.S.-based clubs, playing seven seasons with the New York Rangers before being shipped to the Coyotes in 2017.
It may feel like we're still in the infant stages of the 2021 NHL season, but most teams - those that haven't battled COVID-19 issues - are through at least 20% of the schedule.
That's more than enough of a sample size to begin separating the pretenders and contenders, with teams like the Canadiens and Canucks revealing their true worth to bettors through the opening month.
Here's a look at the current Stanley Cup oddsboard compared to what it looked like before the season:
It's hard to find any faults in the Canadiens' game right now. Despite sitting just below the Leafs in the standings, the underlying numbers - including the league's joint-best goal differential and second-best expected goals percentage at five-on-five - all support the Habs as the team to beat in the North Division. There's not a weak spot on this roster, and even with their odds being slashed in half, there's still some value here.
Minnesota Wild (+6000 to +4800)
The Kirill Kaprizov era is officially underway, but I'm not ready to buy in on the Wild yet. The underlying metrics support their strong start, but eight of their 11 games have come against the Ducks, Kings, and Sharks. They were certainly competitive against the Avalanche despite losing two of three, but I need a much bigger sample size against the West Division's true contenders before I'm ready to say the Wild have arrived - and I say that as someone who was on their bandwagon coming into the season.
Arizona Coyotes (+8000 to +6000)
Perhaps the team we really should be looking out for in the West is Arizona. The Coyotes (6-5-1) own virtually an identical record to the Wild (6-5), but have faced a much tougher schedule to date with eight games against the Blues and Knights. They've also yet to face the basement-dwelling Kings, a team the Wild have faced four times. Despite the tough schedule, Arizona ranks second in expected goals for per game and 10th in expected goal share at five-on-five. Its young forwards have all taken a step forward, and the ceiling is high with Darcy Kuemper in goal. At 60-1, there's still value on the Coyotes.
Trending down
Nashville Predators (+3000 to +4000)
It's been tough sledding for the Predators, who are 3-8 since starting 2-0. I dug to try and uncover reasons for optimism in Nashville, but it wasn't pretty. They're average at best at five-on-five, and an unrivaled disaster on special teams with the league's worst penalty kill joined by an equally feeble power play. And to top it off, both goaltenders are struggling. With a rapidly ageing core, all signs point to this being the start of a steady decline.
Vancouver Canucks (+2500 to +5000)
It's looking like a lost season for the Canucks, who appear to be much closer to Ottawa's tier in the North Division. A 6-10 record has left them in a massive hole at the quarter mark of the season, and the underlying numbers show just how miserable the team has been, sitting 28th in expected goal share and Corsi For percentage at five-on-five. That's largely down to how bad they've been defensively, ranking dead last on a per game basis in shots allowed, goals against, expected goals against, and scoring chances against at five-on-five. They've allowed at least five goals in nine of their 13 non-Ottawa games this season. Yikes.
Chicago Blackhawks (+8500 to +12500)
It's hard to make any sense of the Chicago's slide down the oddsboard which, if nothing else, presents a great buying opportunity. The Blackhawks have found something in rookie goalie Kevin Lankinen. He sits third in the NHL with a 5.30 GSAA, and they've taken points from eight of his nine starts (5-1-3). The team in front of him is also playing well after a slow start, generating offense at an above-average rate. They're proving to be undervalued, winning three in a row against the Hurricanes and Stars, while losing just once in regulation in the last 11 games. It's a wide-open race for fourth place in the Central Division, and they're forcing themselves into the conversation.
Alex Moretto is theScore's supervising editor of sports betting. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, strongly believes in the power of the jinx, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.
The 22-year-old sat for the entire third period of the club's 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. The benching was the result of Laine verbally disrespecting a member of the Blue Jackets' coaching staff, a source told The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.
It's unclear which coach Laine reportedly clashed with, as the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear.
Laine's last shift on Monday came with 6:19 remaining in the second period, and he logged a season-low 11:14 of ice time.
The 6-foot-5 winger appeared to miss his assignment leading up to the Hurricanes' second goal, but head coach John Tortorella said the benching wasn't due to the miscue, and that a "number of things" came into play.
Columbus acquired Laine from the Winnipeg Jets for the disgruntled Pierre-Luc Dubois in January. The Finnish sniper has recorded three goals in four games with the Blue Jackets.
The Edmonton Oilers escaped Tuesday's game against the Ottawa Senators with a 3-2 victory but earned the two points in an unfamiliar fashion.
It marked the first time since Nov. 28, 2017, versus the Arizona Coyotes that Edmonton won a contest when neither Connor McDavid nor Leon Draisaitl recorded a point, according to Sportsnet Stats.
The Oilers were 0-26-2 when their dynamic duo was held off the scoresheet over that span.
McDavid and Draisaitl both had three shots on goal Tuesday but saw their 10-game point streaks come to an end. The two still rank first and second in league scoring, with 27 and 25 points, respectively.
While Edmonton was victorious, Ottawa was by far the better team at five-on-five. The Senators owned 64.52% of shot attempts, 65.85% of scoring chances, and 66.41% of expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have hired Ron Hextall as the team's new general manager and have also named Brian Burke the team's new president of hockey operations, the club announced Tuesday.
The postponement comes after a Flyers player tested positive for COVID-19 late Monday night, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.
Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim was added to the NHL's COVID-19 list Sunday, and the league confirmed that a second player has now entered the protocol.
The Flyers played the Capitals on Sunday after the league announced the team underwent rapid testing prior to the game and returned all negative tests.
Philadelphia is now the fifth team in the league currently on pause due to the coronavirus. The Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres, and Colorado Avalanche are all currently dealing with outbreaks.
Last week, the league enhanced its in-arena safety protocols in an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The NHL removed the glass behind the bench and enforced more social distancing in locker rooms.
While the NHL has been testing players daily, the league has recently started investigating into expanding rapid testing on game days to identify positive cases faster.