Ottawa Senators move Linus Ullmark to non-roster status to activate Lars Eller

The timetable for Linus Ullmark’s return to the Ottawa Senators is uncertain.

The Senators made one roster alteration on Thursday before facing the Colorado Avalanche by moving the top goaltender to non-roster status so that the club could activate centre Lars Eller to suit up in Denver.

Puckpedia, which tracks National Hockey League rosters daily, confirmed the move to the Ottawa Citizen on Thursday afternoon. A check of the NHL’s website confirmed that Ullmark wasn’t on the roster any longer, but the club is at the limit with Eller activated.

The decision allows the Senators to go over the roster limit, but Ullmark’s $8.25-million US cap hit still is on the books. He was granted a personal leave of absence on Dec. 27, but was at the rink for the game against the Wings and returned to the ice on Tuesday.

The Senators have no idea when Ullmark will resume playing.

With or without Ullmark, the Senators need wins now because there is no time left for moral victories. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.

Playing well and losing won’t cut it anymore. The Senators need points, not pointless strong efforts like the 3-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Sitting four points out of the final wild-card spot as the club prepared to face the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night at the Ball Arena, the Senators went into the game with a 2-4-1 record in their past seven games, which is not a pace that will get Ottawa to the playoffs in the spring.

The Senators will spend Friday flying back from Denver to Ottawa and will return to the ice for a morning skate to prepare to face Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers on Saturday night in a big Atlantic Division game.

What does coach Green think?

We fully understand coach Travis Green stating after the loss that “there was a lot to like” after the club’s second straight loss. He hasn’t been left with any other options if he’s to keep the players focused on the task at hand.

Plus, we know that if the Senators were really bad, then Green wouldn’t mince words.

For large parts of the losses to the Mammoth and the Detroit Red Wings on Monday at home, the Senators were the better team and likely deserved a better fate, but the task feels mountainous at the moment.

The issue is that close doesn’t count where it matters the most, which is in the National Hockey League standings. The Senators need to start stringing some wins together, especially with six teams sitting between them and the final playoff spot.

The fans want Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, to make a trade because they feel something has to give after 42 games of inconsistency — whether it’s for another goaltender, a top-six forward or a top-four defenceman, it doesn’t matter.

That’s easier said than done.

What’s the trade market like?

A check of the trade market by the Ottawa Citizen on Thursday brought the response you’d expect from a league insider: It’s hard to make a deal right now.

Why? There aren’t many sellers with the standings so tight and the number of teams chasing the unrestricted free agents available is high, which means there is a lot of competition for the available players.

Staios has been trying to improve this club’s roster for months. He has gathered with some of his closest advisors in hockey operations at the amateur scouting meetings in Florida this week and he can’t be happy with what he’s witnessed in the past two losses.

The Citizen has reported that the Senators have focused on either acquiring a top-four defender or a top-end forward.

We have stated that Staios has talked to the Calgary Flames about defenceman Rasmus Anderson and forward Blake Coleman.

Both would be a fit with the Senators, but Ottawa isn’t the only team that has been calling Calgary GM Craig Conroy to inquire what it would take to get them. The interest has been strong if the organization decides it wants to trade Coleman or Andersson or both of them.

Related

We’ve also been told the Senators are one of several teams that have kicked tires on Kiefer Sherwood of the Vancouver Canucks and, if Jake DeBrusk really is available to be dealt, he’s a player that would likely be of interest to Ottawa, but there would have to be someone going out the door.

The Senators are among several teams that have held talks with the St. Louis Blues because general manager Doug Armstrong is ready and willing to make moves if he can find the right dance partner.

But the best bet for the Senators is for this current group to find a way out of this and start winning more consistently. The concern is that they haven’t done it all season — and we get that — but it doesn’t mean that the Senators aren’t capable of going on a run.

A lot could be solved if the Senators just had better goaltending on a nightly basis. Leevi Merilainen was pulled on Monday and was better against the Mammoth, but he needs to improve immediately.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com