NHL Rumors: Ottawa Senators Linked To Free Agent Depth Playmaker

At the age of 33, the days of the $5M AAV have come and gone for Josh Bailey. The 15-year veteran was bought out by the Chicago Blackhawks after taking him from the New York Islanders in a trade after the season, thus making him a free agent. To this point, he remains unsigned. 

But as per hockey insider Greg Wyshynski of ESPN, the Ottawa Senators are a team to watch for the depth forward, for a number of reasons. 

To start with, Bailey played for Sens assistant coach Jack Capuano on Long Island for seven of his 15 seasons there. In addition, current Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith was an assistant with the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, when Bailey played his junior hockey there from 2006 through 2008. 

After some solid, productive seasons on the Island, Bailey's offensive output has tailed off in recent years, but he can still be a nice depth piece in the bottom six, something which the Senators are currently lacking. 

After finally dealing Alex DeBrincat and freeing up some extra cap space, the Sens are certainly a team looking to make some additions, from big names like Vladimir Tarasenko, who they've also been linked to, down to a complementary piece like Bailey. 

He tallied 580 points in 1,057 games with the Islanders, playing an average of about 16 minutes per contest. 

Photo: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports