PHILADELPHIA -- One quarter of the way through the schedule, the Senators are still trying to find a bona-fide Top 6 forward.

The search has been internal so far, but GM Bryan Murray is also turning over all sorts of stones outside the organization.

Apparently, he's even shown interest in a flash from the past.

According to a source, Murray has talked to the San Jose Sharks about acquiring right winger Martin Havlat. The former Senator recently returned from a pelvis injury and was playing on the team's third line until Friday, when coach Todd McLellan made him a healthy scratch.

The Sharks have also been asked about Havlat by the New York Rangers, said the source, but GM Doug Wilson is not yet ready to give up on the 32-year old Czech, who has a goal and an assist in eight games this season.

Havlat, who has one year left on a contract that carries a cap hit of $5 million, also has a no-trade clause. But it's believed he would waive it to come to Ottawa, where he was drafted 26th overall by the Senators in 1999.

Doing so could be the re-birth for Havlat, who, at one point appeared to be headed for stardom.

Havlat spent 4 1/2 season with the Senators before a horrible (for Ottawa) three-team deal with San Jose and Chicago that was agreed to by former GM John Muckler in the summer of 2006. The Senators wound up with soft defenceman Tom Preissing, who had a good plus-rating but little else, and minor leaguer Josh Hennessy.

Havlat, who has been plagued by injuries for much of his career, showed what he could do when healthy his second full season with the Hawks, when he scored 29 goals and 77 points in 81 games.

If he has anything at all still in the tank, he could be better than what the Senators presently have at right wing on what has become their second line -- or the spot formerly occupied by Daniel Alfredsson.

While Clarke MacArthur, Kyle Turris and Bobby Ryan have been a consistent force, Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek have played mostly with Cory Conacher and, very briefly, Mika Zibanejad.

Conacher, who has two goals and two assists in 20 games, currently holds the job as Zibanejad has fallen to the fourth line.

"I think it'll always be in flux,' coach Paul MacLean said Monday when asked about the Top 6 situation. "Right now we have Mika and Cory Conacher working for that other top six spot, so I think we have five. MacArthur, Turris, Ryan, Spezza and Michalek, that's five. So we're looking for our sixth guy."

In Binghamton, the Senators have Stephane DaCosta and Jean-Gabriel Pageau producing, but they're both centres. Mike Hoffman would be the obvious choice for a call up, has he has a team-leading nine goals and 19 points in 15 games. Mark Stone has recently returned form injury, and he has five points (two goals) in six games.

"Well, we certainly have to consider it," MacLean said when asked about the possibility of reaching down to the farm club. "Right now, we're not in an injury situation but I'm sure we're going to talk. If someone down there deserves the opportunity to come up, we're not against that."

A lack of offence is not the Senators most glaring weakness. Their slow starts have been killing them. They have been outshot in all but five of 20 games. And they still give up far too many odd man rushes and take too many untimely penalties.

"We believe we're a team that can skate 200 feet, can play physical, play with speed and can attack the opposition's net and be able to defend our net," said MacLean. "We haven't been able to do that because we play in our end all the time. That's still, to me, the biggest issue we have "¦ our lack of execution and we play too much in our end."

And they are tied for 10th in scoring, with 58 goals in 20 games, thanks in no small part to the output of Erik Karlsson, who once again leads all NHL defencemen with seven goals and 20 points.

"I think so," MacLean said when asked if he feels he has enough firepower. "We have offence from our blueline, we have offence from, really, three of our forward lines.

"Now, we haven't scored "¦ (in) two of our last home games we scored one goal so obviously we haven't scored enough, but in the big picture over 20 games we've scored enough to win."

But they could still use more, especially from the positions that are counted on to provide goals. As was the case from the start of training camp, they still need another Top 6 winger.

Don.brennan@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @sundonib