from Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen,

--- it makes sense for general manager Pierre Dorion to take a hard look at trading for Duchene before the March 1 trade deadline.

The 26-year-old centre/left winger is heading into his peak hockey years with two more seasons remaining on his current contract. Duchene will make $6 million next season and $6.5 million in 2018-19, with a salary-cap hit of $6 million. He has topped 20 goals and 55 points in his past three seasons and is on target to hit the 25 and 50 marks this time around.

Of course, securing Duchene won’t be easy. The Colorado Avalanche would likely want a piece of the Senators current blue line and a healthy piece of their future. And even a bit more. Prospects Thomas Chabot and Colin White, fresh from their world junior tournament success, will certainly enter into the discussions.

The situation is complicated by the fact the Senators are without second-round draft picks in the next two years, having dealt those away to Toronto and the New York Rangers. There are also Las Vegas expansion draft considerations: bringing in an additional player would mean exposing another player off the current roster.

Now, let’s look at the glass-is-three-quarters full side of the equation.

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