The Ottawa Senators were the team to watch as the NHL’s trade deadline came to a halt at 3 p.m. ET. Rumors of Mike Hoffman, Zack Smith, and, most of all, two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson were much ado about nothing.

TSN Insider Bob McKenzie reported the Vegas Golden Knights were among a several suitors making a play for Karlsson, but that deal didn't pan out.

Senators GM Pierre Dorion didn’t dispel the notion calls were received on his prized defenseman dating back to last summer. “We’re not going to hide the fact Erik Karlsson is a special player. He’s our franchise player ... Multiple teams phoned about Erik. If a player of Erik Karlsson's caliber was made available on the market, I’d be phoning every day,” said Dorion at his post-deadline media availability. “Erik is a franchise player and we felt there was not a franchise deal out there.”

Karlsson is slated to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2019, and the club is eligible to make its third-leading scorer in team history an offer of extension come this summer.

“Erik and I have a great relationship. I’ve known Erik since he was 159 pounds when I drafted him. I had a good meeting this morning in my office. We talk a lot. He’s the captain of our hockey team. He loves being in Ottawa. I think Erik wants to be a Senator for life,” added the GM. “I’ll let him speak for himself. But if Erik Karlsson is here on July 1st, we’ll be making him an offer.” Dorion admitted it would take “many pieces” to satisfy a swap for Karlsson.

The GM also put to bed rumors of a rift between management and players, especially Karlsson.

“I’ve been told about a lot of stuff that was essentially nonsense," Dorion responded. "It’s almost to the point of stupidity. And I shouldn’t even comment on it. Erik and I have a great relationship. I can tell you when I spoke to the team, you could hear a pin drop in there. There’s no division. Erik and I had good meetings when the team was struggling. Erik and I had good meetings in the playoffs last year.”
Dorion hopes Karlsson remains in Ottawa for the long haul.

“Let’s face it, Erik married a girl from Ottawa," he said. "His first child will be born in Ottawa. We want to make sure Erik can be here as long as we can.”
Dorion, who dealt Derick Brassard to the Penguins on Friday and sent Ian Cole to Columbus and Nick Shore to the Flames prior to Monday's trade deadline, didn’t feel there were any more offers of significance to help his club moving forward.


“The only the direction I received from our owner, Mr. Melnyk was make the best hockey deals for this organization.” While no major moves involving the Senators were consummated at the deadline, there’s no doubt trade chatter will pick up closer to the NHL entry draft in June