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That’s good news for the Senators.

They already have a lot of prospects on defence, including Belleville’s Christian Wolanin, Erik Brannstrom, Andreas Englund and Max Lajoie. Elsewhere, they have the rights to Finnish blueliner Lassi Thomson, both Jacob Bernard-Docker and Johnny Tychonick at the University of North Dakota and Olie Alsing in Sweden.

It’s expected they’ll re-sign veteran defenceman Mark Borowiecki, a pending unrestricted free agent, and Ron Hainsey may also return. Wolanin had shoulder surgery that forced him to miss most of the season, but will finish the year in Belleville if the American Hockey League resumes play, and both he and Brannstrom should push for NHL roster spots next season.

Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP/Getty Images

The Senators don’t need anybody fancy on the back end. They already get that kind of play from Thomas Chabot, and they expect Brannstrom to play that role eventually. Zub has been described by NHL scouts as somebody who can be a steadying influence because he doesn’t try to do anything he can’t do, and the Senators need to improve in their own end.

Mike Reilly and Nikita Zaitsev are also under contract. Zaitsev and Zub share the same agent, so that should help with the latter’s move to North America. Zub had 13 goals and nine assists in 57 games with St. Petersburg this season.

“I feel like he’s going to slide in as a good partner for somebody to fill that hole left by DeMelo. If he signs with Ottawa, he’s going to get the opportunity to play a lot,” a league executive said last week. “He’s an NHL-ready player. He can come in and play NHL games. You’re not signing a college kid that needs to come in and get stronger or get experience.

“This guy has played at world championships, he’s played for the national team (in Russia). He’s never going to wow anybody, but he’s a right-shot defenceman and he’s an upgrade for a team like Ottawa. He’d bump ahead of some guys on the depth chart. I would think (Ottawa) would stand a good chance because I know that they’ve been on him for a while.”

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/sungarrioch