Pierre Dorion has been doing a lot of talking, but he hasn’t been able to find anybody willing to take action.

First, he has to find right dance partner.

The Senators GM is spending the mandated five-day break scouting at the world junior championship at the Bell Centre in Montreal and he’s been spending a lot of time talking to teams about the possibility of acquiring a forward.

Speaking on TSN 1200 Wednesday afternoon from Montreal before attending the two semi-final games, Dorion said a lot of his counterparts are at the tourney and he’s also been working the phones.

“There’s many guys here,” said Dorion, who spoke with six or seven GMs when he was last in Montreal on Dec. 28. “I’ve been on the phone all day pretty much with my other counterparts. As quiet as it was before Christmas, I think talks are heating up but it’s very difficult to make trades.

“Sometimes budget comes into it for other teams, sometimes it’s the number of contracts ... So, working hard at it, I’m always looking to improve our team but there’s nothing imminent or at the forefront right now.”

Dorion said he doesn’t have any concerns about the depth on defence.

“Coming into camp I was a bit worried about our defence and that’s part of our game under (coach) Guy (Boucher, where the) structure has really improved,” he said. “Up front, I always feel like we need more depth. I know a lot of teams think you need nine or 10 defencemen.

“For me, the way our guys have fallen this year, we’ve had more injuries up front. If we could add a forward, it’s something I would definitely look at. It doesn’t have to specifically be a front-line guy, it might be a fourth-line guy, but adding a forward is something I’m more looking at than a defenceman right now.”

The Senators have been hit hard by injuries to their forwards. Winger Clarke MacArthur suffered his fourth concussion in 18 months in training camp and has yet to suit up for a game this year while centre Curtis Lazar started the year in Binghamton after missing most of camp with mono.

Lazar has struggled mightily since being brought back to Ottawa.

“I’ve seen a lot of good things (with Lazar), and I know sometimes we emphasize the bad things, but I see a lot of good things as far as speed, work ethic, being in the right spots (and) giving us energy,” said Dorion.

“Ideally, we probably could have left Curtis a few more weeks down in the minors, but we were getting injuries and we felt it was time to call him up. On that fourth line with (Chris) Kelly and (Chris) Neil I think they’ve been a pretty productive line. Curtis is finding his way on the (penalty kill).

“I think we see someone who’s still going to be a good player for us. A lot of it’s confidence with him as far as being able to produce. Hopefully we can help him get back on track to start producing but away from the puck he’s been tremendous.”

Dorion said there’s a good chance winger Zack Smith, who has been out with an abdominal injury, will play either Saturday vs. Washington or Sunday when Connor McDavid visits with the Edmonton Oilers. If not, he’ll most certainly return on Jan. 12 vs. Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

However, Dorion doesn’t want to put a timetable on when MacArthur will get clearance to play again. Ideally, the Senators are hopeful he’ll be able to suit up later this month or in early February.

“I don’t want to put a date on it,” said Dorion, who noted MacArthur’s return would be a bonus. “The best-case scenario is I show up at the rink, he does a morning skate and he plays that night. With Clarke, it’s a situation where he’s vacationing with Dion (Phaneuf) and Erik Karlsson and we kmow they’re taking good care of him.

“Once he comes back, we’re going to keep going through what he’s going through. As I’ve said before he’s going to play for us this year, there’s no doubt about that. I knew that a week or two after the injury. Once he plays for us, I think he’ll be all right. The doctors have to give him clearance and we’re going to wait for them to make sure he’s 100%.

“As I’ve said before, life is more important than hockey.”

DORION HAPPY ABOUT PLAY OF PROSPECTS

Pierre Dorion has liked what he’s seen from the Senators prospects at the world junior championship.

While Canadian defenceman Thomas Chabot and American forward Colin White have been at the forefront, the Senators GM has also had the chance to see Swedish prospects Jonathan Dahlen and Filip Ahl along with Czech forward Filip Chlapik, who was eliminated by Canada on Monday.

“Since I’ve been with the organization, this is the best group of prospects we’ve had at the world junior,” said Dorion. “Especially when you look at the blue-chip prospects, the guys who’ve been leading their teams and are arguably are the best players.

“In Chabot and White, we’ve got two blue-chip prospects that hopefully will be able contribute at some point in the near future for our team but these guys are pretty special players.”