from Ken Warren at the Ottawa Sun,

In the case of Mark Stone and Friday’s scheduled hearing, it’s an approach the Senators should avoid at all costs. (Stone is asking for $9 million per season, with the Senators countering at $5 million).

It’s one thing to go the distance with defenceman Cody Ceci — a ruling on Wednesday’s arbitration hearing between Ceci and the Senators will likely come down on Friday — who clearly isn’t worth the $6 million he was asking for. Ceci does have a value to the Senators as a big-minutes man on a team with limited depth on the blue line, but he’s not a franchise building block.

Stone is.

Regardless of what an arbitrator could rule — $7 million does seem about right — it’s dangerous territory for the club.

Unless the Senators can reach a pre-hearing contract with Stone, he would stand to become an unrestricted free agent following the 2018-19 season, joining Matt Duchene and Erik Karlsson in that regard.

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