The Senators haven't closed the door on Erik Condra.

Not by any stretch of the imagination. They are, however, still trying to make room to bring him back next season.

While the Senators' winger was part of a formidable trio with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and rookie Curtis Lazar in the club's miraculous run to the playoffs last spring, the 28-year-old Condra is scheduled to become a UFA on July 1 but a return to Ottawa hasn't been ruled out.

Senators assistant GM Pierre Dorion, who has been doing many of the contract negotiations with GM Bryan Murray, has spoken to Condra's camp a couple of times to make sure there is still genuine interest.

"I've had just very brief conversations," Condra's Rochester-based agent Steve Bartlett told the Sun Wednesday. "I think he's still in the mix there. There's a lot of moving pieces. They basically just said they'd try to get back to me with something more concrete as to their level interest before July 1.

"I think they've just got a lot of moving pieces and I think they have time for him but whether or not they can ultimately make an offer of decent proportions is to be determined. They've been good, they've touched based and said, 'Hey, this isn't lack of respect in terms of what we feel about Erik. We've got a few things we've got shuffle around here to see where we are on our budgets and on our contracts.'"

The Senators are trying to shape their roster for next season and the next couple of weeks are pivotal to making that happen with the NHL entry draft set for June 26-27 in Sunrise, Fla. and then the free agent period.

Before the Senators can commit to Condra, they likely have to find out what's going to happen with centre David Legwand and winger Colin Greening. The former has a year left at $3 million while Greening has a cap hit of $2.65 million through the 2016-17 campaign.

It's quite possible either Legwand or Greening could be moved in a deal involving goaltender Robin Lehner or starter Craig Anderson during next week's NHL draft festivities. There is mild interest in both players. In the case of Legwand, he'd be a strong fit for a team looking to add a good veteran.

The Senators also have to sign RFA forwards Alex Chiasson, Mike Zibanejad, Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone and Pageau. Dorion has been holding talks with agents for all of those camps. In some cases offers have been made and discussions are continuing to try to get deals in place.

It would make sense for the Senators to try get Chiasson and Hoffman signed first because they both have rights to arbitration. As for Stone, he'll be at the NHL Awards next week and it should be noted the Senators did a long-term deal with defenceman Erik Karlsson when he won the Norris in 2012.

No, we're not saying that's going to happen here, but Murray will be there and some of the groundwork on a deal could be put into place for Stone, who is up for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year. His Toronto-based agent Craig Oster said last week they've had preliminary talks.

As for Condra, he had a strong finish. After playing only a limited role under Paul MacLean, Condra was one of the players who benefitted the most from the coaching change to Dave Cameron. He finished with a career-high nine goals in 68 games while also picking up 14 assists.

"I thought he was really good. It seems like Dave Cameron was much more of an Erik Condra fan in terms of his role and ice time than the previous coach. He kind of got a second life," said Bartlett. "I thought he played extremely well down the stretch."

Bartlett said if Condra gets to free agency he'll be fine but leaving Ottawa isn't his first choice.

"I don't like predicting things but I don't think he'd be lacking options," Bartlett added. "I don't think most teams see him as a top six forward or anything but what he does he does very well and has a great reputation for character.

"Right now, our focus until July 1, is to keep in touch with Ottawa and I'm sure we'll meet down at the draft. I don't think it's been front burner but they've been good about just letting us know he's not out of the plans and not out of the picture at this point and they're still working on some things in order to get back and give me an update."

As Bartlett noted Condra is comfortable here but if he's going to stay the Senators will have to clear up some room at forward.

Twitter: @sungarrioch