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The Ottawa Senators’ exhaustive search for a right-shot defenceman took a left turn on Wednesday.
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With the clock ticking towards the National Hockey League trade deadline on Friday at 3 p.m., some of the blueliners whom Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, had targeted were either traded or contemplating a move to another team.
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At the top of that list was Calgary Flames defenceman MacKenzie Weegar, an Ottawa native who agreed to waive his no-move clause to be dealt to the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday night.
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The Flames were expected to receive three second-round picks in the 2026 NHL draft, defenceman Olli Maatta and prospect Jonathan Castagna, who is at Cornell University.
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The Senators’ search for a right-shot defenceman who can play in the top four has intensified in recent days, but we’re not sure if the talk will turn into action after there was a flurry of activity on Wednesday.
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Sitting six points out of the final playoff spot in the East after an ugly third-period meltdown in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night, the Senators have 22 games left to try to make the post-season for the second straight spring.
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League sources say Staios and the Senators have spoken to every team that has a right-shot defenceman available to check the asking price.
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We witnessed on Wednesday that the market is competitive. Tyler Myers was dealt to the Dallas Stars by the Vancouver Canucks early in the day, and then the Buffalo Sabres agreed to a deal to acquire Colton Parayko from the St. Louis Blues, but he was contemplating waiving his no-move clause.
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By the end of the day, Weegar, a player the Senators had coveted to help round out their top four, was trying to decide if he’d go to Utah.
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“A lot of teams are looking for a right-shot defenceman,” a league executive said Wednesday.
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If the Weegar and Parayko moves happen, it would leave Justin Faulk of the Blues as the top right-shot blueliner available. We believe the Senators have talked to St. Louis about a trade involving the 33-year-old Faulk, who has one year left on his contract at $6.5 million U.S.
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The other right-shot defencemen available include Rasmus Ristolainen of the Philadelphia Flyers, Braden Schneider of the New York Rangers and Brandon Carlo of the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with Doug Hamilton and Simon Nemec of the New Jersey Devils.
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Ottawa would rather not get into a rental situation with the club trying to make up ground in the playoff race.
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Ristolainen has a year left on his deal, but the asking price is high with the Flyers looking for a first-round pick and a top prospect in return. The Senators don’t have a first-round selection in this year’s draft.
