Senators’ Drake Batherson getting attention before deadline

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The trade talk surrounding the Ottawa Senators was picking up as they arrived in the Windy City in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

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League executives told Postmedia that Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, has been busy working the phones, and he’s studying different options on the market with the trade deadline set for Friday at 3 p.m. ET.

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The Senators will face the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night at the United Center in their final game before the deadline.

Sitting a point outside a playoff spot heading into Tuesday’s action, after a 5-4 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday, the belief is Staios would prefer it if the answers came from within because he’d rather not touch the club’s roster.

That hasn’t stopped teams from trying to make a deal with Ottawa.

We’re told one significant name teams have been kicking the tires on is Senators winger Drake Batherson as the club weighs its options on the trade front.

It’s doubtful that Batherson will be dealt, but it is interesting to hear NHL general managers have called because the forward who has most often been mentioned to be moved throughout much of this season has been centre Josh Norris.

But Norris has four years left on a deal that carries a cap hit of $7.95 million U.S. this season, including $9.5 million in real cash this season. He has struggled to stay healthy and recently returned after being out for a month with an undisclosed mid-body ailment.

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Making that kind of move at the deadline can be difficult and is more palatable in the off-season.

League executives insist that Staios isn’t in any hurry to trade the 26-year-old Batherson, but he’s an attractive option for teams looking to get younger at the deadline.

Batherson is on a reasonable contract with a cap hit of $4.975 million through the 2026-27 campaign. He also doesn’t have any trade protection, which would also make him an attractive option.

One of the reasons teams are looking at Batherson is because he’s struggled this season to play with consistency, and maybe he’d be helped by a change of scenery.

Yes, he has 16 goals and 47 points in 60 games, but he’s going through a difficult stretch. In 369 career games, Batherson has 106 goals, 166 assists and 272 points.

Batherson has just three goals in his last 30 games and hasn’t scored in six straight. He is minus-11 in the club’s last seven games, and if this team is going to make the playoffs, he has to be more consistent in the final 22 games.

Coach Travis Green stated last Friday that Batherson’s game had been “a little sporadic lately” but the Senators consider him part of the solution.

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“Drake is a hell of a player,” Green said. “He’s taken big steps in his game, he evaluates his game and he’s a mature person. He always tries to do the right thing and gives you an honest effort. He’s been a little snake-bitten.

“I’m not worried about Drake. We haven’t scored as much as we want and there has been a lot of talk about it. Guys know when they’re scoring and know when they’re not. I don’t think I need to magnify it any more with (Batherson).”

Staios opted not to make this road trip with the club and is huddled with his closest advisers — including senior vice-president Dave Poulin — and the club’s pro scouting staff in a boardroom in the bowels of the Canadian Tire Centre.

The belief is Staios is confident, even if he doesn’t make any additions to the roster before the deadline, this group has what it takes to make the playoffs, led by goaltender Linus Ullmark.

The Senators have only $850,000 U.S. in cap space, according to PuckPedia, and have no desire to trade their first-round pick in the National Hockey League draft.

That hasn’t stopped the Senators from showing some level of interest in Hawks forward Ryan Donato and Brandon Tanev of the Seattle Kraken. Chicago and Seattle both had professional scouts on hand at the Capital One Arena in Washington on Monday.

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League executives believe if Staios could find a way to bring in a rugged forward to play in the bottom six, he would. That would take some of the heat off Brady Tkachuk to drop the gloves.

He went toe-to-toe with Washington’s Tom Wilson in the first period on Monday night, and that seemed to give the Senators’ bench some life with the club trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes.

Postmedia reported last month that the Senators had been shopping defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker, who hasn’t played a game since he suffered a high-ankle sprain in early January.

But the loss of Tyler Kleven “week-to-week” with an undisclosed injury has already chipped away at the club’s depth on the blueline and the Senators could easily need Bernard-Docker down the stretch.

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