Dorion walks the media through his game plan for DeBrincat and the rest of the club's 2023 restricted free agents.

Ahead of Wednesday's NHL Draft in Nashville, Senators GM Pierre Dorion held a conference call with the media and outlined, among other things, which of Ottawa's restricted free agents won't be returning next season and which ones are still in their plans.

Dorion confirmed that pending RFA Alex DeBrincat has not asked to be traded. 

Earlier this month, The Hockey News Ottawa quoted a source close to the DeBrincat family that refuted rumours that he wanted out of Ottawa or didn't want to play in Canada: "Alex loves the team and likes the coach a lot."

However, according to our source, DeBrincat is deferring entirely to his agents, who aren't willing to go long-term right now or forego the open auction of unrestricted free agency next year – not unless the Sens (or wherever he plays next season) make it worth their while to do so.

So, armed with a list of DeBrincat's preferred trade destinations, Dorion continues exploring a possible deal that may or may not get done before the draft. With no picks in the first three rounds, Dorion says he's also not expecting to make the kind of deal that might get the Sens a first round pick.

Of the remaining RFAs, Dorion announced that forwards Dylan Gambrell and Julien Gauthier will not receive qualifying offers. Gambrell played 123 games for Ottawa over the past two seasons. Gauthier appeared in 17 games for the Senators after being traded from the New York Rangers in February for Tyler Motte. This sends a loud message that Dorion wants to make improvements to his bottom six this fall. 

AHL players Viktor Lodin, Dylan Ferguson, Jacob Larsson and Jonathan Aspirot also won't be receiving qualifying offers.

Not surprisingly, Dorion says the Sens will qualify RFAs Shane Pinto and Erik Brannstrom, both NHL full-timers. Also still in the team's plans are Egor Sokolov, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Kevin Mandolese.