An excerpt from Bruce Garrioch‘s article in the Ottawa Sun:

The Senators appear close to acquiring a defenceman.

Two league executives told Sun Media yesterday that Senators GM Bryan Murray could have a trade for a blueliner worked out in the next couple of days.

The whisper among NHL executives is Murray was busy working the phones yesterday with offers on the table for Sharks defenceman Kyle McLaren and Ducks blueliner Mathieu Schneider.

Though neither team wants much more than a draft pick in return, it might make sense for the Senators to deal for McLaren because the 31-year-old blueliner is much more affordable at $2.5 million (all terms US) next season, after which he could become an unrestricted free agent. Schneider, 39, is set to make $5.75 million next season, and then could also become a UFA.

Habster:

The potential acquisition of Kyle McLaren could be just what the Senators need, another solid shutdown type defenseman to compliment the Phillips/Volchenkov duo and give the Sens another pairing.
In the “new” NHL, teams need to have two solid defense pairings as most teams have two or even three scoring lines to have to shutdown.