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TORONTO — Zack Smith wants to stay and the Senators want to keep him and he’s confident they’ll find common ground to make that happen.

Senators GM Pierre Dorion confirmed Friday he sat down with Smith’s agent Allain Roy when the club made a stop in St. Louis to start this three-game road trip and the two sides are trying to get a new deal in place.

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Smith, 28, a unrestricted free agent on July 1, is hopeful a contract will get completed. You’d have to think the term the two sides are discussing would be the four-year range.

“I want to be here. My plans haven’t been to be anywhere else and we’ve made that clear,” Smith told Postmedia Saturday before facing the Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. “I want to be here. We’re pretty confident we’ll get something done here.”

Smith said judging by the tone of the talks between Dorion and Roy the plan is to keep him.

“I’ve never felt at any point during the discussions that I wasn’t part of the future which was definitely reassuring. Otherwise it would be nerve-wracking,” Smith said. “We’ve shown my plan is to 100 per cent be here and I love the way the team is going and my role with the team. This is where I want to be.”

No, there isn’t any hurry, but if Smith isn’t signed then teams are going to call at the NHL trade deadline on March 1 to see if Dorion would be willing to accept assets in return for the gritty winger.

“If you would like to use a marker it would definitely be nice to get something done by the trade deadline for peace of mind anyways,” Smith said.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter: @sungarrioch