The Ottawa Senators will soon have to make a decision on what to do with pending unrestricted free agent Kyle Turris.
According to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos, it appears “highly unlikely” that Turris will remain a member of the Senators beyond this season.
“Everybody, for the most part, agrees that the marketplace for Kyle Turris is in the vicinity of $6.5 million [per season], ballpark, and he wants a minimum of seven or eight years,” Kypreos said Saturday during the Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada. “Even if [Ottawa general manager Pierre] Dorion liked those numbers it appears that he does not have the support of his ownership. Eugene Melnyk doesn’t appear in any hurry to sign him to this type of contract.”
The Senators currently have approximately $3.7 million in salary cap space with Mark Stone and Cody Ceci among the pending restricted free agents they’ll have to ink to new deals.
Kypreos added that there is some talk out there that other teams would have to negotiate a contract extension prior to pulling off a potential trade with Ottawa involving Turris.
“I’m told those type of numbers (a seven- or eight-year deal at approximately $6.5 million per season) wouldn’t scare off many other teams but it scares off Ottawa,” Kypreos said.
Turris, whose name was recently brought up in trade rumours, is coming off a career-high 27-goal campaign and has nine points in 11 games so far this season.
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