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The Senators must think AHL penalty-minute king Brian McGrattan is ready for prime time.
Either that, or they're going to make a sudden pitch for former Hull Olympiques bouncer Peter Worrell and are being very secretive about it.
Surely, it's not that John Muckler and Bryan Murray have changed their minds about the need to make the team tougher.
There just had to be a good reason they didn't even bother to talk with Andre Roy.
"It would be fun, I really loved my time in Ottawa and it's not very far from my home (in St-Jerome, Que.)," Roy said earlier this week about a possible return to the Senators -- before he signed a three-year, $1-million (all terms US) a season contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"You always want to be part of a Cup contender, and if Ottawa makes a pitch for sure I'd listen.
"I've had lots of phone calls. Nine or 10 teams are interested, and there's a race between four that sound really serious. Last I heard Ottawa wasn't one of them."
By no means would Roy represent a major signing. He is what he is. A role player. A fighter. A physical presence with some offensive skills and some defensive shortcomings.
But he also now owns a Stanley Cup ring -- dressing for 21 playoff games with the championship winning Tampa Bay Lightning -- and he was a fan favourite here before Jacques Martin moved him out of town.
Landing him would have been a popular move by the Senators.
With Chris Neil still an unsigned restricted free agent, Zdeno Chara is the only Senator under contract who doesn't mind dropping the gloves and they need him on the ice.
Maybe, just maybe, with Neil in tow they might be able to get by without a third.
What they absolutely do require, however, is the grit that could have been provided by a Darren McCarty (now a Calgary Flame) or Martin Lapointe (Chicago) -- but it's no surprise they didn't vigorously pursue either.
McCarty plays the right side, where they are already deep, and Lapointe, who despite making almost $3 million a year less than he did on his last contract, is still overpriced after landing $7.2 million over three years from the Blackhawks.
Meanwhile, the Senators could also use something to excite their fans.
The unprecedented free-agent frenzy that has dominated the headlines is exactly what the NHL needed. In many a city, the good folk who were hurt most by the lockout/strike are being tantalized with signings that represent new hope.
Aside from the pre-league shutdown addition of Dominik Hasek, a 40-year-old, injury-troubled goalie who has played only 14 games in the last three-and-a-half years, and the recent re-signing of minor-leaguer Denis Hamel who may or may not crack their lineup, the Senators have done nothing.
The Senators may be focused on re-signing their own free agents -- which includes restricted free agents Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat and Mike Fisher -- as they have a mere 11 under contract.
The team could even possibly be looking into trying to lock up Chara and Wade Redden, who both become unrestricted free agents after this season, and Chris Phillips, who will be unrestricted two years from now.
But this is a team that, when last we saw it, was again losing a first-round playoff series to the Leafs. It needs some outside assistance.
Hoping that your young core will be better this time around is not enough. The Senators need to make a positive move and bring in a new face or two, either by trade or free-agent signings.
Still on the market are the likes of Andrew Cassels, Teemu Selanne and Vincent Damphousse.
Or maybe they'd be best off just to see what it would take to sign Chris Gratton, a 6-foot-3, 220-lb. centre who had his $1.9-million contract bought out by Colorado, or unrestricted free agent Eric Lindros.
He wouldn't solve all that ails the Senators, but he would help answer any toughness questions still hovering over the team.
Quick Hits with Senators draft pick Brian Lee
Q.H.: People were surprised when the Senators selected you ninth overall in the NHL entry draft. If you would have been forced into a prediction, when would you have guessed you'd be picked?
B.L.: I was thinking probably more between 12 and 15, somewhere in there. I was hoping to be a Top 10 pick, but I wasn't sure if that was reasonable or not.
Q.H.: Has it all sunk in yet?
B.L.: Yeah, I think so. It was such a great weekend, but it's not like other sports where you go straight to the team after the draft, so I'll just go back to work this week and take it from there.
Q.H.: You were given a tour of the Corel Centre after you were drafted ... what impressed you most about that?
B.L.: It's obviously a great facility. The locker room is unreal, the rink is unreal. Even the weight room, the training room is really nice. But what impressed me the most was how nice the people were. Our limo driver was such a nice guy, and the guy at the rink, "Brooksie" ... they were such nice people.
Q.H.: How did you celebrate on Saturday night?
B.L.: I celebrated with my family, we went to a little Italian place down in the market area, then right back to the hotel because we had a flight the next morning and we had to be at the airport for 4:30 a.m.
Q.H.: What was the party like when you got back to Minnesota?
B.L.: There wasn't really a party. My girlfriend picked me up at the airport and we just went back to the lake. There was a couple of my buddies waiting for me there, and it was nice to see them. Then it was back to the usual on Monday.
Q.H.: Who's the one player you look forward to meeting most on the Senators?
B.L.: They have so many good players ... Daniel Alfredsson, Zdeno Chara ... it's tough to just pick one.
Q.H.: What jersey number do you wear, and why?
B.L.: 22. Brian Leetch wears No. 2, so I wear 22. I've worn it through high school, and I'm wearing it at the University of North Dakota.
Q.H.: You're listed at 6-foot-21/2, 200 lbs.? Are you trying to add weight, or are you good at that size?
B.L.: I'm trying to get bigger, obviously. I don't know if I could play at 240, but probably 215, 220 right in there.
Q.H.: What's your training regiment like in the summer?
B.L.: I train four days a week, lift pretty hard, run a lot, skate a lot too. It's pretty busy.
Q.H.: Who's cracking the whip?
B.L.: Dominic Noonan from Moorhead. He trains our whole high school team. I've been training with him for the past five or six summers.
Q.H.: What's your favourite way to spend time that doesn't involve hockey?
B.L.: I love being at the lake. We have a cabin on Detroit Lake in Minnesota. It's really nice. I love to golf, too.
Q.H.: What kind of golfer are you?
B.L.: Average, I'd say.
Q.H.: Your handicap?
B.L.: Probably between seven and 10.
Q.H.: That's a lot better than average. What's the strongest part of your game?
B.L.: I'm a pretty good iron guy.
Q.H.: Your favourite TV show?
B.L.: I really like Boy Meets World, and Friends, too.
Q.H.: Your favourite food?
B.L.: Pizza.
Q.H.: Your specialty in the kitchen?
B.L.: I'm not much of a chef. I can hardly cook anything at all. I can make a pretty good omelette.
Q.H.: Who's your best friend?
B.L.: Spencer Deutz. He was a goalie for our team last season.
Q.H.: Do you know where you fit into U.N.D.'s plans this season?
B.L.: They lost a lot of D-men, so hopefully I'll be able to step in and play right away.
Q.H.: If you had no hope of a career in sports, what would you do?
B.L.: I'd probably be an anesthetist. That's what my mom is.
Q.H.: What does your dad do?
B.L.: He's in the process of selling his grain elevator company. So he just kind of bums around, doing odd jobs around the lake for now. He'll get a job in the fall, I'm sure.
Q.H.: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
B.L.: Playing in the NHL. Hopefully, an all-star calibre player, and hopefully playing for the same team: Ottawa.