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“At the same time, just come and watch some of the young players we have in our lineup right now; some of these young players taking on a bigger role and watch what Belleville is doing and look at some of the young prospects.

“We might be taking a small step backwards but, at the same time, it’s to take about three, four or five forward as the years go on.”

Right now, the Senators are selling hope. Yes, there’s been a lot of grumbling about the dealing Stone, Duchene and Dzingel, however, you haven’t found many complaints about the return the Senators received because Dorion was able to acquire pieces that will be key.

Depending on the conditional picks, the Senators could have as many as 17 selections in the first three rounds of the next three NHL drafts. The club already has good prospects and, armed with those picks, they’re hopeful the rebuild will be done the right way.

Acquiring defenceman Erik Brannstrom in the Stone deal with Vegas was big, but the Senators are also believe forward prospects Vitaly Abramov and Jonathan Davidsson from Columbus will be here down road.

“We’re really excited about all the return we got and all the pieces that we got,” Dorion said. “Now, it’s to make sure we develop them properly and put these players in positions that when they’re in the NHL they’ll have success and the organization will have success.

Photo by Fredrik Sandberg / AP

“We’re not going to rush a player because we traded for Player X, Y or Z. We’re going to put players in the NHL when we feel that ready to contribute and we’re going to put them in situations where they can help themselves be better, but the organization can also benefit from it.”