Once the Yuletide season has ended, the Ottawa Senators will have to get down to business.

When the Senators return from their holiday break Thursday to prepare to face the New York Islanders on Friday – followed with a visit by the Washington Capitals on Saturday – there will be no shortage of focus on the future of a couple of key players.

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Once the holiday roster freeze lifts on Friday morning the business of hockey will shift back into high gear.

With the clocking ticking towards Jan. 1, 2019, the focus will turn to what the Senators are going to do with unrestricted free agent forwards Matt Duchene and Mark Stone before the NHL trade deadline on Feb. 25.

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Yes, they also have to deal with unrestricted free agent winger Ryan Dzingel but, let’s be honest, Stone and Duchene are the focal points.

While talks are under way between Senators general manager Pierre Dorion and Duchene’s Los Angeles-based agent Pat Brisson about an extension, the organization can only formally begin discussions with Stone’s camp on New Year’s day.

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The organization intends to try to keep both players as the centre pieces of their rebuild so they can help lead the young prospects down the road towards respectability. Both players are aware of the route the Senators want to take and know what the plan is.

Now, they just have to be convinced to not test unrestricted free agency and stick around to play big roles in Ottawa. Nobody is sure where these talks are headed or what’s going to happen with one or both of these players.

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Earlier this month, Dorion told TSN’s James Duthie that he has the full support of Ottawa owner Eugene Melnyk to get both of these players signed. As for the actual discussions, the club has been tight-lipped.

“We don’t need to worry about the financial considerations of this franchise,” Dorion said on Dec. 2. “We have the full backing of Mr. Melnyk to sign both of these players. It’s our goal to sign both of these players and, hopefully, the next time we talk about it is when we’re going to announce a contract.”

That’s the hope of everybody involved.

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Before deciding to deal Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks on the first day of training camp in September, the Senators tabled an eight-year, $88 million deal, but got little or no response from his camp and determined it was time to move on to get assets in return.

There was no negotiation after the offer was made.

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Stone and Duchene have both been good soldiers and have done their job leading the young players. Stone has been a model for the team by taking Brady Tkachuk into his Ottawa home. They have great chemistry both on and off the ice.

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When the Senators settled on a one-year, $7.35 million deal just before Stone was scheduled to go to an arbitration hearing in August, the two sides were already close to an extension. They were talking about an eight-year term, likely in the $7.5 to $8 million per-season range.

What may have held up a deal in the summer was the structure of the contract.

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Since neither Stone nor the Senators had any desire to go to the hearing, both sides decided to settle on the one-year contract and try to get this figured out during the regular season. The talks will pick up where they left off and there’s confidence he will stay.

As for Duchene, the Senators paid a high price to get him from Colorado in a blockbuster three-way trade that, among other pieces, saw Kyle Turris head to the Nashville Predators.

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Dorion has now had at least two face-to-face meetings with Duchene’s agent Brisson.

It should be noted Senators’ assistant GM Peter MacTavish, who will play a role in these talks, is a former colleague of both Brisson and his partner J.P. Barry. MacTavish left the Creative Artist’s Agency that represents Duchene in order to work with Ottawa.

Dorion has a good relationship with Brisson, but every little bit helps.

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The key for Ottawa is to not allow Brisson to slow play these negotiations. Last year, the Islanders held onto John Tavares, represented by Brisson, and lost the top centre for nothing because the Isles didn’t know if Tavares was staying or leaving.

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The same thing can’t happen here with Duchene.

If he isn’t going to sign with Ottawa then that decision must be made a couple of weeks in advance of the deadline. The extra time allows the Senators to weigh the market and find the best possible deal.

Still, don’t start packing Duchene’s bags, or Stone’s, for that matter.

The Senators are confident they can find a way to keep both players and it makes sense for the organization to do so. Yes, there is work to be done but the talks are about to turn serious because the clock is ticking towards the deadline.

For now, however, it’s a waiting game and patience will have to be a virtue.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter: @sungarrioch

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