If you’re waiting for the Senators to make a blockbuster move to get Matt Duchene before the NHL trade deadline, don’t hold your breath.

The asking price, at this juncture, is closer to fantasy than reality.

Yes, it could all change as the Colorado Avalanche continue to fall further out of the playoff race with the trade deadline set for March 1 at 3 p.m., but more than a few league executive’s told Postmedia this week GM Joe Sakic is asking for a boatload in return for the club’s 26-year-old centre.

The Senators are among the teams that have kicked tires on the likes of Duchene, his teammate Gabriel Landeskog and Arizona Coyotes rental centre Martin Hanzal, but GM Pierre Dorion isn’t desperate to make a move with the club sitting in a playoff spot heading into the all-star break.

Coming off a 3-2 OT loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday as the four-day break gets underway, the Senators are only seven points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the top spot in the Atlantic Division with three games in hand and 35 games left to play when the Sens return Tuesday in Sunrise, Fla.

If the Avalanche are going to deal Duchene — and multiple teams have called — not only will Sakic want a top-four defenceman, a top prospect and a No. 1 pick in return, the asking price doesn’t stop there because the indications are there has to be more in the deal for Colorado than those elements.

Nobody is saying exactly what the asking price is from the Senators, but you’d have to think studying the roster if Colorado wants a top-four blueliner, then Cody Ceci is likely being requested along with Boston College centre Colin White or Saint John defenceman Thomas Chabot, who are coming off strong showings at the world junior.

The Senators have no interest in dealing Ceci, who has seen his minutes increased in the past month or so.

If you’re going to give up a first-round pick, the word is this is the year to do it because the draft isn’t that deep, but the Senators have to build through the annual crapshoot and, for the most part, this scouting staff has done a solid job of finding good prospects no matter where the club has selected.

It’s what the Avalanche want after those three elements that’s going to make it difficult for any team to make a deal. There might be more roster players involved or possibly more prospects. That’s why these kinds of deals are hard to make, especially during the season.

With a cap hit of $6 million through the next two seasons, Duchene, who grew up in Haliburton, Ont., probably wouldn’t mind being closer to home. He’d help to make the Senators better, but 15 goals and 29 points in 41 games plus a startling minus-15 rating, you wonder if he’d be a good fit with coach Guy Boucher.

A big part of Dorion’s job is to make sure he’s aware of who’s available, what the asking price is and if that player isn’t going to come to Ottawa where he might possibly land. The Senators showed interest in Duchene last year but when push came to shove, Sakic wasn’t ready to make the move.

Dorion has been aggressive on the trade market. After ruling out winger Clarke MacArthur, the Senators acquired Tommy Wingels from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a couple of minor-leaguers and a seventh-round draft pick Tuesday.

That took a lot of work and it’s one of the few deals that has actually happened this season, which shows you how difficult a trade is to make.

When Dorion told reporters after making the Wingels deal Tuesday, he “likes his team,” he wasn’t just paying the fanbase a lip service. The way Boucher has the Senators performing is the right way and it might not be the most exciting some nights but how can you argue with the success?

Making a deal for Duchene would be popular, but it would it be right if the club has to give up more than it’s worth? The best-case scenario for the Senators is for the answers to come from within. Centre Derick Brassard and winger Bobby Ryan can improve the situation by playing better.

By the time the Senators return from a three-game trip to face the St. Louis Blues at home on Feb. 7, they could add a player without making a trade because goaltender Craig Anderson may be prepared to start and that’s like making a trade without giving up an asset.

The Senators may still add some skill before the deadline and, make no mistake, Dorion is always looking. If Duchene is going to be moved, Ottawa will keep its nose to the grindstone in the discussions but the deal has to make sense and, at this particular moment, it doesn’t.

BENCHING NEIL 'VERY DIFFICULT'

Chris Neil’s leadership role with the Senators may be about to change.

He is recognized as one of the club’s most important players by the alternate captain ‘A’ that’s sewn on his sweater above his heart, but when the Senators closed out the schedule before the all-star break Thursday night with a 3-2 OT loss to the Calgary Flames, the 37-year-old Neil was a healthy scratch.

It looks like with arrival of Tommy Wingels from the San Jose Sharks that this could happen more often to Neil, who has suited up for 1,018 games in his career with the Senators. Coach Guy Boucher said after the club’s 3-2 OT loss Thursday he didn’t take this decision lightly.

“It was very difficult. I’m paid to make the tough decisions and I was paid to make the easy decisions then everybody could do this job and that’s not what it’s about,” Boucher said. “There’s days where you’ve got to make decisions and they’re tough especially a player like Chris that you love and that you respect but that’s what this is about.

“Every team has to make those decisions and we’ll have to make more tough decisions as we move along here. That’s one guy (Wingels) coming in and there could be other guys coming in with trades, so there’ll be competition.”

The Senators have explained the situation to Neil. His ice time has slipped this season and his role has changed on the fourth line.

“I had a talk with Chris. It wasn’t a (situation) where you look at the board and your names not on it,” Boucher said. “It’s obviously a man-to-man talk and a respectful one. That’s what he deserves.”

Scratching Neil is a whole lot different than leaving defenceman Fredrik Claesson out of the lineup for consecutive games because of where the veteran is in the team’s pecking order.

How can he assert himself as a leader?

“By having a great attitude, which he’s had today, he had an unbelievable attitude today. He was in the gym after and before the game. That’s the type of player that he is. He’s had a great influence on our players today,” Boucher said.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com