from Ian Mendes of TSN,

Inside a boardroom at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday morning, Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion showed select members of the media his projected lineup for the upcoming season.

Eyes inside the room quickly scanned for the position of the top, right-shot defenceman on the roster. And sure enough, Erik Karlsson’s name was right there for everyone to see — penciled in for opening night.

“He’s here. Here’s part of the team,” Dorion said.

When pressed to divulge more information about Karlsson’s status — and if there had been any concrete trade or contract negotiations — Dorion politely declined to elaborate.

“When it comes to contract negotiations, we don’t believe you can negotiate in the media,” Dorion said.

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