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A check with league executives Tuesday indicated the chance of Smith being picked up isn’t good —especially with the teams in the final stages of getting down to their rosters — but as a league executive noted to me “it only takes one team to make a waiver claim.”

Roy said he hadn’t spoken to any teams interested but added “it was still early in the process” and the phones may be active Wednesday morning.

It feels like a long shot Smith will get picked up because of the term left on his deal and the fact he’s coming off a season where he had only five goals and 19 points while suiting up for only 68 games due to various ailments.

The Senators spent part of last season trying to move Smith and were within a phone call of dealing him in February when it’s believed a team in the West pulled the plug on the trade.

The indications are Dorion revisited talks regarding Smith in the summer, but the interest was limited and the ask, in most cases, was the Senators take a contract back and the belief is they didn’t want to make that kind of move.

The timing of this decision is difficult because at this time of year teams feel like the answers will come from within. They’ve gotten this far with players under contract and they want to give them the chance to start the season to see if they can at least get the job done in the early going.

Sometimes putting a player on waivers can help re-ignite trade discussions and that might be what’s happening here.

Smith is an NHL player and, perhaps, there’s a team out there that feels he can be part of the solution and if they pass on him on waivers they may reach out to Ottawa to discuss a trade. If that’s the case, though, you can expect a team would ask the Senators to pick up part of the contract.

If Smith returns, Roy said his attitude won’t change and he’ll give the same effort every night.

“Absolutely, he’s a good pro and he’s a guy that plays hard,” Roy said. “People that have seen him there last few years know that. Yes, he’s had some good years offensively, but he plays hard, he finishes his checks and he’s always willing to protect his teammates.

“Honestly, I think he’s a good role model for a lot of these young guys that are there.”

We’ll find out soon enough if Smith will have role in Ottawa or elsewhere.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter: @sungarrioch