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Senators, Canucks Could Be Teams To Watch On Trade Market

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Speaking on today’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman believes trade talks are beginning to heat up across the league once again, mainly incited by teams looking to clear players off their roster pre-season to alleviate roster or salary cap crunches. To that end, he identified the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks as significant players to watch over the coming days as training camps approach.

In Ottawa’s case, this is, of course, influenced by their lack of flexibility to re-sign RFA center Shane Pinto. The 22-year-old remains without a contract for this season after potting 20 goals in 2022-23, and he commands more than the paltry $895K in salary cap space Ottawa has remaining, per CapFriendly’s projection. It’s drawn out long enough that trade speculation is beginning to arise about Pinto’s signing rights, but Senators general manager Pierre Dorion would obviously rather retain their 2019 32nd overall pick.

As Friedman notes, Pinto has very little leverage in negotiations, as he carries a 10.2(c) designation and is ineligible to sign an offer sheet. That means Ottawa likely won’t need to clear massive amounts of cap space to sign Pinto to a bridge deal, but a move still needs to be made – that $895K projection already figures a bare-minimum roster of 18 skaters and two goaltenders. Evolving Hockey’s contract projection model predicts a two-year, $1.88MM AAV deal for Pinto, assuming it’s signed between August 1st and the start of the regular season. If Pinto holds out into the season, that projection drops slightly to a $1.805MM AAV on a two-year deal.

Vancouver’s potential activity spurs from the health of Tanner Pearson, who fortunately projects to be healthy for the 2023-24 campaign after a persistent (and controversially handled) hand injury nearly cost him his career last season. His availability creates both a roster and cap crunch for Vancouver, as his $3.25MM cap hit would suddenly factor into their day-to-day picture and not sit on LTIR as previously expected.

He would also likely factor into a third-line role, potentially alongside Conor Garland and Pius Suter. Pearson’s trade value will likely be minimal with other teams wary of his health, so shopping a depth player like Garland (and his $4.95MM cap hit) would likely return better value for general manager Patrik Allvin. While some have criticized Garland’s tenure in Vancouver, he’s a winger who consistently puts up between 40 and 60 points, can play a top-six role, and is cost-controlled through 2026 without trade protection. He’s the type of player a few teams looking to fill gaps in their forward group would be interested in.

Garland also seems like the most likely candidate because the Canucks’ realistic trade options are limited beyond him. They just signed Teddy Blueger in free agency, players like Dakota Joshua have shown to be reliable bottom-six presences and are on cost-effective deals, and they’d be selling low on younger prospects like Nils Höglander or Vasily Podkolzin.

At first glance, however, it seems like a tough time in the offseason to perform cap-clearing maneuvers. Most teams already have their rosters relatively set, and some teams close to contention with obvious holes don’t have the space to make maneuvers. Of teams with cap space to spare, the Chicago Blackhawks jump out as a lone destination where acquiring a veteran wouldn’t cost a spot for a younger player needing significant NHL ice time – they still could use a few more bodies to fill out their opening-night roster.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Ottawa Senators Receiving Trade Interest In Shane Pinto

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Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now has shared that the Boston Bruins are expected to be interested in Ottawa Senators youngster Shane Pinto. The 22-year-old’s contract situation is becoming a bit of a saga, with a recent report claiming that the Senators and Pinto were still far apart on a new deal.

The Senators currently sit with a projected $895,953 in cap space, per CapFriendly. Pinto is coming off of a rookie entry-level contract that carried a $925K annual salary and cap hit. He’s unlikely to step back from that dollar amount in his second NHL contract, especially considering his rookie-year successes. After appearing in 17 games between 2020 and 2022, Pinto finally played his rookie season last year, netting 35 points while playing in all 82 games. This ranked him eighth in NHL rookie scoring, tied with Buffalo Sabres defender Owen Power.

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Senators Sign Jake Sanderson To An Eight-Year Extension

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The Senators have taken care of another one of their top young talents, announcing that they’ve signed blueliner Jake Sanderson to an eight-year contract extension that kicks in for the 2024-25 campaign.  The deal carries an AAV of $8.05MM, paid in equal sums each season.  GM Pierre Dorion released the following statement about the signing:

Jake’s transition to the pro game has been flawless. He’s a very mature young man who demonstrates a routine and skillful ability to play important minutes with poise. An effortless skater who holds himself to a high standard, he has the talent to be one of the best all-around defencemen in the NHL for years to come. We’re very pleased to have another significant member of our core group of players under long-term contract.

Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reported just yesterday that Sanderson had switched agents from Bartlett Hockey to CAA’s Pat Brisson and J.P. Barry.  Clearly, it didn’t take too long for his new representatives to work out a new deal.

The 21-year-old is coming off an impressive rookie campaign that saw him put up 32 points and 147 blocks in 77 games.  He also ranked second on the Sens in ice time, logging just shy of 22 minutes per game; only Thomas Chabot averaged more.  That performance helped Sanderson finish sixth in Calder Trophy voting.

Interestingly, Chabot’s deal almost certainly stood as a comparable in discussions.  He checks in at $8MM per season and while Sanderson has less NHL experience (just one season compared to two for Chabot when he signed his contract), the cap has gone up since then.  While Sanderson has the higher cap hit, his cap hit percentage (9.62) actually comes in a bit below Chabot’s agreement (9.82%).

Ottawa’s young core is all locked in around a similar price point with this extension.  Sanderson, Chabot, Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, and Joshua Norris are all on long-term agreements ranging from an AAV of $7.95MM (Norris) on the low end to $8.35MM (Stutzle).  That gives them a strong foundation for the foreseeable future.  They now have nearly $74MM in commitments in place for the 2024-25 campaign to 14 players with Vladimir Tarasenko’s $5MM contract being the biggest one set to come off the books.

For the upcoming season, Sanderson will still be on the books at his entry-level rate of $925K plus performance bonuses of up to $1.85MM.  Cap space is at a premium for 2023-24 as they have less than $900K in room per CapFriendly with Shane Pinto (and prospect Egor Sokolov) still to re-sign.  Sanderson is likely to hit most, if not all, of his $850K of ’A’ bonuses so if the Sens can’t free up ample cap space to fit in Pinto’s new deal, they could be looking at overage penalties which would carry over to 2024-25.  That’s an extra pressure point Dorion will need to be mindful of as he crosses a key item off his to-do list with Sanderson’s deal, allowing him to focus on Pinto in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Michael Del Zotto Announces Retirement

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Longtime NHL defenseman Michael Del Zotto announced his retirement via Instagram today, ending a 13-season NHL career.

Del Zotto, 33, was drafted by the New York Rangers with the 20th overall pick out of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals in 2008. He would jump to professional hockey after one more season in juniors, recording 37 points in 80 games in 2009-10 and earning All-Rookie Team honors.

Unfortunately, while Del Zotto would turn into a serviceable NHL defenseman for over a decade, he didn’t develop into the potential bonafide top-pair player he hinted he could be at the beginning of his career. He would only beat his rookie totals once in New York, recording ten goals, 31 assists and 41 points in 77 games in 2011-12 before dropping to a bottom-pairing role in the 2013-14 campaign. Then-Rangers general manager Glen Sather dealt him to the Nashville Predators for shutdown defender Kevin Klein in a one-for-one swap in January of that season.

Things didn’t go much better for Del Zotto in a brief stint with Nashville to close out the season, which saw his ice time continue to decrease as he recorded five points in 25 games and a -4 rating. He was due a qualifying offer of $2.9MM that season with his contract expiring, which the Predators didn’t issue, and he signed a one-year, $1.3MM contract with the Philadelphia Flyers in August 2014. It turned out to be a prudent choice for Del Zotto, who, for a brief time, recaptured his former glory in Philadelphia. He notched 32 points in 64 games during his first season there while averaging nearly 22 minutes per game, but again fizzled out over the following two seasons with the Flyers.

After signing as an unrestricted free agent with the Vancouver Canucks in 2017, Del Zotto would play stints with the Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators, and St. Louis Blues in depth roles until the 2021-22 season. While he didn’t appear in any postseason contests, Del Zotto was on the Blues’ roster for their 2019 Stanley Cup championship.

2021-22 was when it became clear Del Zotto’s days of playing at the highest level were drawing to a close. Despite recording a respectable 13 points in 26 games with Ottawa and posting decent possession numbers, the Senators waived him. They assigned him to AHL Belleville, where he managed over a point per game. It was enough to land him another NHL contract for 2022-23 with the Florida Panthers, but they waived him pre-season and didn’t include him on the opening night roster. He would record two goals and 10 points in 25 games with their AHL affiliate in Charlotte before they traded him back to Anaheim in the days leading up to Christmas in a three-way swap of minor-league players, including the Detroit Red Wings. Del Zotto closed the season with a strong 31 points in 40 games for AHL San Diego.

But without ever getting a callup to the NHL throughout the season despite a paper-thin defense in Anaheim, Del Zotto has opted to step away from the game. His 736 games rank 18th among players from the 2008 draft class at the time of his retirement, during which he recorded 63 goals, 199 assists, 262 points, and averaged 20:03 per game over the years. PHR congratulates Del Zotto on his lengthy career in the pros and wishes him the best in retirement.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Pinto And Senators Not Close On A Contract

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With training camps now less than two weeks away from beginning, Senators center Shane Pinto is one of the nine remaining restricted free agents across the league.  However, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays that while the sides are hopeful that a deal can be reached by the start of camp, they are not particularly close to an agreement.  The 22-year-old is coming off his first full NHL campaign and it was a productive one as he posted 20 goals and 15 assists in 82 games while logging nearly 16 minutes a night in ice time.  It’s worth noting that Ottawa’s cap situation is particularly tight as CapFriendly puts them with less than $900K in room.  Even on a one-year agreement to keep the AAV as low as possible, Pinto should be earning a fair bit more than that.  Once a deal eventually gets reached, GM Pierre Dorion will have some work to do to open up some cap space.

2009 NHL Draft Take Two: Ninth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended.  For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

The results of our redraft so far are as follows, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall:  Victor Hedman, New York Islanders (2)
2nd Overall: John Tavares, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
3rd Overall: Ryan O’Reilly, Colorado Avalanche (33)
4th Overall: Matt Duchene, Atlanta Thrashers (3)
5th Overall: Chris Kreider, Los Angeles Kings (19)
6th Overall: Nazem Kadri, Phoenix Coyotes (7)
7th Overall:  Mattias Ekholm, Toronto Maple Leafs (102)
8th Overall: Evander Kane, Dallas Stars (4)

With Dallas originally taking Scott Glennie at the eighth spot, this selection certainly represents a significant improvement in outcomes for the Stars with 31.5% of the votes from our readers going to the power forward.  That was twice as many votes as the next-highest player.

Kane was originally drafted fourth overall by Atlanta after a dominant showing with WHL Vancouver and they moved him right to the NHL.  While it took him some to adjust to playing at the top level, his third season was a breakout campaign as he picked up 57 points in the franchise’s first season with Winnipeg.  To date, that is his career-best in a single season.

However, Kane wasn’t without controversy during his time with the Jets and he later admitted that he requested a trade basically every offseason.  Eventually, that request was granted – while he was on the injured list, no less – as Winnipeg moved him to Buffalo in February of 2015 in what some would call a blockbuster move at the time.  Zach Bogosian also went to the Sabres as part of the swap with Tyler Myers, Joel Armia, Drew Stafford, Brendan Lemieux, and a first-round pick all coming to Winnipeg.

Things weren’t much better for Kane in Buffalo.  The injury struggles continued while he produced at close to the same level as he did with the Jets.  With his contract coming to an end in 2018 and the Sabres out of contention, he was moved to San Jose at the trade deadline.

This time, the change of scenery helped as Kane played well enough down the stretch and in the playoffs to earn a seven-year, $49MM contract.  In his first two full seasons with the team, he had 56 goals and it looked like he had found a long-term home.

However, he didn’t make it past the halfway point of the deal.  The relationship between Kane and the Sharks soured amid off-ice allegations that were investigated by the league and found to be unsubstantiated.  Then, Kane submitted a fake vaccination card in 2020, resulting in a 21-game suspension and an immediate assignment to the AHL upon its conclusion.  Two months later, they terminated the contract, citing a breach of contract and failure to adhere to COVID protocols.  Kane and the NHLPA filed a grievance which was settled last September.

In the meantime, Kane caught on with Edmonton in 2022 and was quite productive down the stretch with 39 points in 43 games, earning himself a new four-year deal that still has three years remaining.  Injuries limited him to just 41 regular season games in 2022-23 but he was still an important part of their top six and projects to be in that role for the foreseeable future.

Now, we move on to the ninth selection, which was held by the Ottawa Senators.  They initially took Jared Cowen out of WHL Spokane but he was only able to hold on to a depth role for a handful of years before calling it a career in 2016.  Clearly, he isn’t the best option available in our redraft.  Who is?  Make your selection for the Sens below.

If you can’t access the poll above, click here to vote.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NHL Executive Committee Approves Senators Sale To Michael Andlauer

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One more hurdle has been cleared as the sale of the Senators nears a formal conclusion.  Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Michael Andlauer met with the NHL’s Executive Committee and has been given the green light to finalize his purchase of the team for a reported $950MM.  Andlauer’s bid was the winning one in a long process that concluded back in mid-June.

A source tells Garrioch that the transaction is likely to be completed in the next few days.  From there, it will then go to a vote of the Board of Governors who must have a vote of two-thirds approval to formally ratify the transaction.  At this point, there is little reason to think they won’t give the green light to the transaction.

Andlauer is well-known to the Board as he already is an alternate representative of the Canadiens as he presently owns a 10% share of the team.  Garrioch notes that Andlauer is hoping to complete a sale of that chunk of the team to majority owner Geoff Molson (who sits on the Executive Committee) soon.  However, if an agreement can’t be reached on that front, Andlauer’s portion would then be placed into a trust.

Andlauer won’t be buying the team outright as his bid has several partners.  Those include Anna and Olivia Melnyk (who will retain a 10% stake), local businessman Jeff York (whose portion has more than 20 local investors), the Ottawa real estate-based Malhotra family, Toronto-based investment group Yorkville Asset Management, Paul and Michael Paletta of Burlington-based Alinea Group holdings, and OHL Oshawa owner Rocco Tullio.

Once the sale is made official, the Sens are expected to bring back long-time executive Cyril Leeder who is likely to replace Anthony LeBlanc who resigned as president of business operations last month.  Meanwhile, there have been discussions for franchise icon Daniel Alfredsson to return to the franchise in some capacity.

While it still might be another couple of weeks before everything is made official (in terms of the transaction being completed and then ratified by the Board of Directors), it appears that this long sale process following the death of long-time owner Eugene Melnyk is about to come to a conclusion.

Senators Notes: Pinto, Arena, Korpisalo

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There doesn’t appear to have been progress on contract talks between the Ottawa Senators and restricted free agent forward Shane Pinto, says The Athletic’s Ian Mendes. Pinto’s agent, Lewis Gross, declined to comment when Mendes reached out to him for an update last week, and Mendes anticipates “radio silence” in the near future. While the Senators would certainly love to have Pinto under contract when training camps kick off a month from today, they technically have until December 1 to sign Pinto to a deal for him to maintain eligibility to play in the NHL this season.

Drafted 32nd overall in 2019, Pinto’s stock rose sharply this season after he shouldered some top-six minutes at times with Joshua Norris limited to just eight games with a shoulder injury. That being said, his production didn’t jump off the page. He did score 20 goals, finishing sixth on the team, but he added just 15 assists to finish with 35 points in 82 games. He likely won’t command a significant number on a short-term extension, but anything above the league minimum is incredibly tough for the Senators to make work at the moment. After signing Vladimir Tarasenko to a one-year, $5MM pact earlier this month, CapFriendly projects the Senators with just $895K assuming a bare-minimum roster of 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

More on the Sens:

  • Mendes also mentioned another area of interest for Senators fans, the status of a potential new arena, which remains in flux with Michael Andlauer set to take over as the team’s majority owner. Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe had spoken to Mendes earlier in the summer, referencing a Canadian Department of National Defense building downtown as another potential site as compared to the long-rumored LeBreton Flats plot. However, with the government’s lease on the building slated to run through 2035, construction could take quite a while to start before the Sens see their new home. That’s not to say a solution won’t be found sooner, but Mendes believes Andlauer’s initial priorities will lie with the team on the ice, putting discussions on a new, more centrally located home on the back burner for the time being.
  • Free agent addition Joonas Korpisalo spoke to NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger over the weekend, saying he’s excited to get to work in Ottawa with an old friend in goalie tandem partner Anton Forsberg. The two netminders have won a pro championship together already, winning the 2016 Calder Cup while members of the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization. Korpisalo arguably had the best season of his career in 2022-23, starting a career-high 37 games while putting up a very respectable .914 save percentage, given he played the majority of the year on a Blue Jackets team with a rather hapless defense thanks to a score of injuries. On a more competitive team in Los Angeles after a late-season trade, Korpisalo excelled with a .921 mark down the stretch. That being said, the five-year, $20MM contract Ottawa signed him to this summer is widely viewed as a serious gamble, and rightly so – Korpisalo has just a .904 career average across more than 200 games of NHL experience and has no experience starting the majority of his team’s games.

Make Or Break Year For The Senators?

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  • Adam Proteau of The Hockey News writes that he believes both D.J. Smith and Pierre Dorion are on the hot seat for the Ottawa Senators heading into the 2023-24 NHL season. Over the last several years, the Senators have made a serious attempt in transitioning out of their relatively short rebuild, looking to compete at the game’s highest level once again. With aggressive trading, wise approaches at multiple drafts, and bringing in marquee free agents such as Claude Giroux and Vladimir Tarasenko, the team has only inched toward the playoffs, rather than leaped. As the organization transitions to a new principal owner in September, the pressure might be increased on the head coach and General Manager this season.

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