Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion wants defenseman Mark Borowiecki to finish his career in the nation's capital.

"We hope to make Mark Borowiecki a Senator for life," Dorion said Thursday morning on TSN Radio 1200 Ottawa.

The 30-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and Dorion says he's begun discussing an extension with Borowiecki's agents.

The rearguard is enjoying a career-best season in 2019-20, recording seven goals and 18 points in 53 games. With the Senators in the midst of a rebuild, Dorion assured the veteran he wouldn't be moved ahead of the trade deadline.

"I told Borowiecki sometime in December he wasn’t going to be traded,” Dorion said, according to the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch. “There’s got to be a human side to how we do our business here and everyone here knows that Mark and his wife were expecting their first child.

“To get the return that we probably would have gotten wasn’t worth it," Dorion said. "We wanted Mark to be here until the end of the year and possibly talk contract negotiations moving forward because we really like what he brings to our team and how he shows our younger kids how to play and how he practices hard every day and those are key elements for us in the rebuild.”

The Senators selected Borowiecki in the fifth round in 2008. The Ottawa native is the second-longest tenured player on the club behind netminder Craig Anderson.

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In the fifth edition of theScore's Norris Trophy Power Rankings, a new defenseman enters the mix.

5. Shea Theodore

Theodore cracks this list for the first time. The 24-year-old is enjoying a breakout season in his third campaign with the Golden Knights. He's logging the most ice time of his career and has already set a new personal best in points. Unfortunately, as great of a year as he's producing, Theodore's chances of moving into the top four here by season's end are slim.

4. Alex Piertrangelo

Pietrangelo is peaking at the right time. Fresh off a Stanley Cup run with the Blues last spring - in which nobody would've balked if he took home the Conn Smythe Trophy - the 30-year-old is continuing his career year offensively, just as he's set to enter unrestricted free agency.

3. Victor Hedman

If you could create an NHL defenseman in a lab, he would look similar to Hedman. Standing 6-foot-6 and able to fly up and down the ice with ease, the Swede is as close to perfect as they come. He's put together another strong campaign, and Hedman is in line for his fourth straight top-three Norris Trophy finish.

2. Roman Josi

Josi's sensational season is getting drastically overlooked because the Predators are playing poorly, and the man in front of him in these rankings is on the verge of being included in the record books. However, the Swiss blue-liner is on pace for 70-plus points, and only 10 defensemen since 1986 have accomplished that feat.

1. John Carlson

Carlson has held the top spot in these rankings since the first edition this season. Is he flawed defensively? Sure, but a 94-point campaign (his current pace) would put him in a league of his own. To find the last D-man to record 94-plus single-season points, you have to go way back to 1992-93, when Phil Housley posted 97 points during an era when 7.26 goals per game were scored (the average now is just over six per contest).

Just missed the cut: Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, Kris Letang, Ryan Suter

(Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick)

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Edmonton Oilers forward Andreas Athanasiou is not expected to be out for long after exiting with a lower-body injury during Wednesday's contest against the Vegas Golden Knights.

"I don't think it's serious," head coach Dave Tippett said following his team's 3-0 loss, according to TSN. "I didn't see it because of any one play. He was hurt in the second (period) and tried it in the third but couldn't go."

The 25-year-old winger recorded one shot on net in 11 minutes of ice time before departing. He tallied one goal and one assist in his debut with the Oilers on Tuesday.

Edmonton acquired the native of Ontario from the Detroit Red Wings ahead of Monday's trade deadline in exchange for forward Sam Gagner and a pair of second-round draft picks.

Athanasiou contributed 10 goals and 24 points through 46 games with the Red Wings this season.

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Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom underwent a minor lower-body procedure Wednesday and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, general manager Jim Benning announced.

Markstrom was injured in Saturday's victory over the Boston Bruins. Thatcher Demko has taken over as Vancouver's starter and won his first start as the club's No. 1 on Tuesday in Montreal.

The Canucks also acquired Louis Domingue before the trade deadline for some insurance in goal.

Markstrom has been solid for the Canucks this season, posting a 23-16-4 record along with a .918 save percentage. He's an impending unrestricted free agent, although Benning has said he hopes to extend the 30-year-old netminder.

Vancouver enters Wednesday's slate of action in the second spot in the Pacific Division, tied with the third-place Edmonton Oilers at 74 points while holding a game in hand.

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St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester won't return this season, but he hasn't decided whether to call it a career.

Bouwmeester suffered a cardiac episode and collapsed on the bench during a game on Feb. 11. A few days later, he underwent a procedure that installed an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. He offered his first public comments since the incident at a press conference Wednesday.

"There's been a lot going on. I think that's something I'm going to definitely have to evaluate," Bouwmeester said to the assembled media when asked about his playing future. "I wouldn't say I've done that fully yet. There's decisions that I'm going to have to make but that will come later."

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong clarified that Bouwmeester will not play again this season or during the playoffs and any long-term decisions will be made this summer.

"Quite honestly, hockey hasn't really been at the front of my mind the last couple of weeks," Bouwmeester said. "It's surreal because right now I feel pretty good, so you can compare it to another injury or something that you've gone through where you're just not playing. But you have to remind yourself of what happened and it puts things into perspective. ... When you put everything in perspective, it's OK to just take a step back right now."

The 36-year-old blue-liner has appeared in 1,240 regular-season games during his 17-year career, tallying 424 points. He's a member of the Triple Gold Club after winning a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, an Olympic gold medal with Canada in 2014, and two World Championship gold medals in 2003 and 2004.

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