Marc Methot Contract Negotiation Update

While he didn't play a game in the preseason and has yet to dress in a regular season game, Senators defenseman Marc Methot was back in the news today. ESPN's Pierre LeBrun had a update on Ottawa's most recenthe injured blueliner:

The Methot camp has used Brooks Orpik, among others, as a comparison in talks; the Capitals signed Orpik for five years and $27.5 million last summer ($5.5 million AAV).

It’s believed the last offer Ottawa made was for around $4.7 million a year, short of what Methot would likely agree to.

While the offer is closer to Methot's asking price, it's still a bit short and it remains to be seen which party (player or team) will cave. LeBrun has stated that negotiations will resume next week but a timeline has emerged:

What’s clear is this: the Senators front office does not want this to drag on all season into the trade deadline. There’s been enough drama over the past couple of years (Daniel Alfredsson's and Jason Spezza's exits) and the belief is that either Methot signs over the next month or so, or the Senators look at the trade market for him.

As it is, Ottawa has eight NHL blueliners on one-way contracts, so the belief is that the Senators were eventually going to move a body. But the preference would be keep a signed Methot and trade another defenseman. Whether that happens depends on further contract talks.

That the Senators may consider trading Methot if he does not sign isn't news, what is news is the timeline of roughly one month that LeBrun identifies. Unless Methot suits up soon, it's going to be hard to showcase his abilities before the middle of November deadline.

Should the Senators trade Methot?