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CHICAGO — So will the answers have to come from within?

That’s the dilemma general manager Pierre Dorion faces after the Ottawa Senators lost defenceman Marc Methot in the expansion draft to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

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Though Methot could be dealt before he gets a chance to be fitted for a Knights’ uniform, National Hockey League expansion-draft bylaws prohibit dealing him back to the Senators, so that’s not an option.

Yes, the Senators could scour the free-agent market on July 1 after taking Methot’s $4.9-million salary off the books, but, even as the Senators prepared for the possibility of Methot being selected by the Golden Knights, Dorion remained steadfast that the club had the depth on defence to overcome this loss.

Top prospect Thomas Chabot, who made the Senators coming out of training camp last fall, but only suited up for one game before being sent back to junior hockey, is the most obvious candidate to take up some of the ice time that has become available with the departure of Methot.