Trade Deadline Primer: Ottawa Senators
With the All-Star break in the rearview, the trade deadline looms large and is now just two weeks away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Ottawa Senators.
This season has not gone according to plan for the Sens. A popular pick to push for a playoff spot, they have instead languished for most of the year and find themselves at the basement of the Atlantic Division even after a coaching and GM change. Despite that, there is still a capable young core to try to build around so GM Steve Staios might not necessarily operate as a true seller in his first trade deadline at the helm.
Record
24-27-3, 8th in the Atlantic
Deadline Status
Seller and Light Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$109.9K on deadline day, 1/3 retention slots used, 47/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2024: BOS/DET 1st* OTT 1st^, OTT 2nd, DET 4th, OTT 4th, TB 4th, OTT 5th, OTT 6th
2025: OTT 1st^, OTT 2nd, OTT 3rd, OTT 4th, OTT 5th, OTT 6th, OTT 7th
*-Ottawa will receive the lowest of Boston and Detroit’s first-round picks as part of the Alex DeBrincat trade.
^-Ottawa must forfeit its own first-round pick in either 2024, 2025, or 2026 as punishment for failure to disclose Evgenii Dadonov’s no-trade list in a voided 2022 trade.
Trade Chips
From the moment that they signed Vladimir Tarasenko to a one-year, $5MM contract, speculation began regarding a possible trade if Ottawa found itself out of the playoff race as it clearly is. After being one of the prizes of the deadline a year ago, he could be a key pickup again for someone this time around as he has 37 points in 52 games so far. However, he does have a full no-move clause so he can control where he goes and he has recently changed agents. The Sens are believed to value his off-ice contributions with their young core group so it’s not a guarantee that he moves. If he does, Ottawa will likely need to retain the maximum 50% of his contract to maximize their return, one that should get them a fairly high draft pick.
The Senators added Dominik Kubalik from Detroit as part of the DeBrincat trade but he has struggled. After putting up 20 goals and 45 points last season, he has been limited to just nine tallies and a dozen points overall. At a $2.5MM price tag, the Sens likely won’t be able to get much for him but he could be a buy-low candidate with a bit of upside for a team looking for depth.
On the non-rental side, Jakob Chychrun’s name has come up in plenty of speculation as well. The Senators have made it clear that they’re not shopping him but with the 25-year-old having another year of team control at an affordable $4.6MM, they’re going to get plenty of calls. Chychrun has 30 points so far, the second-most of his career while he’s averaging nearly 23 minutes a night. If a team strikes out on landing Calgary’s Noah Hanifin, Chychrun could very well be a fallback plan although the price to get him should be high; it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they match the return they gave up for him a year ago (a first-round pick and two second-rounders).
Another non-rental option is blueliner Erik Brannstrom. While he’s on an expiring contract, he’s controllable through restricted free agency through the 2026-27 campaign. An offensive defenseman at the lower levels, Brannstrom has failed to make a significant impact on that front, notching just 12 in 48 games so far while he’s averaging just 15:43 per game. Owed a $2MM qualifying offer, it feels like he’s trending toward non-tender territory if he stays in Ottawa so he’d be a potential buy-low candidate if a team wants to take an early look to see if he’d fit better in another system.
Other Potential Trade Chips: F Mathieu Joseph, F Mark Kastelic, F Jiri Smejkal, D Lassi Thomson
Team Needs
1) Cap Space – If Ottawa wants to try to add a piece, they need to free up cap room. If they need to call up a player for the stretch run, they need cap room. Basically, the Sens need to move out someone first to give themselves some much-needed flexibility before they can attempt to do much of anything else.
2) Veteran Leadership – This has been a long-reported goal since Staios took over for former GM Pierre Dorion. While the Senators have some veterans including Claude Giroux and Travis Hamonic, this is still a fairly young core for the most part. They believe that bringing in the right veteran piece or two could help this team take a step forward. They’re known to have interest in Chris Tanev as the type of veteran addition they want for the back end but that would make more sense for an offseason move than an in-season one. But if they can find a bottom-six forward that fits the bill, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them try to add that piece now.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Sanderson And Zub To Return Saturday
- The Senators will welcome back a pair of defensemen on Saturday as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays that Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub will return from their respective lower-body injuries against Chicago. Sanderson has missed nearly three weeks with his injury and he certainly has been missed as he logs nearly 23 minutes a night for them in the final year of his entry-level deal. As for Zub, he was out for the last two games, resulting in Ottawa having to dress only 17 skaters earlier this week before being eligible for an emergency cap-exempt recall. The Sens now have 21 players on their active roster and that’s all they’ll be able to afford as they have less than $75K in cap space, per CapFriendly.
Ottawa Senators Reassign Max Guénette
Feb. 16: The Senators returned Guénette to Belleville on Friday, ending his emergency exception. He played 11:53 in last night’s 5-1 loss to Anaheim, recording one shot on goal.
Feb. 15: The Ottawa Senators have recalled defenseman Max Guénette to the NHL lineup. The team does not currently have the cap space for this recall, but played their last game down one player, allowing them to use an emergency recall on Guénette.
This is just the third recall of Guénette’s career, with the last coming in April of last season. Guénette played in his first NHL game on that recall, playing in roughly nine minutes of an overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres. He went without a point and set a -1, but added one hit, one block, and two shots. Guénette has otherwise spent the last three seasons with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, making his professional debut with the club in the 2021-22 season. He had a quiet AHL rookie season, scoring just 19 points in 48 games, but led all Belleville defensemen with 40 points in 72 games last season. He’s maintained that lead-scoring role into this season, netting 23 points in 41 games.
The Senators originally drafted Guénette in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Draft. He’s been one of seven players from that round to make their NHL debut, joining Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Dustin Wolf.
Guénette will take over for Artem Zub, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Zub has played in 40 games this season, averaging nearly 21 minutes each game and scoring 18 points. He’s served as Ottawa’s second-most productive defenseman behind Jakob Chychrun.
Artem Zub Could Return Thursday
Senators defenseman Artem Zub did not participate in the team’s optional practice on Wednesday morning, but he hasn’t been ruled out of Thursday’s contest against the Ducks, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun says. Zub, 28, missed Tuesday’s 6-3 win over the Blue Jackets with a lower-body injury.
As such, the Senators were forced to play a skater short due to salary cap restraints, as both Zub and Jake Sanderson were out of the lineup with short-term injuries. If Zub can’t return for tomorrow’s game, the Senators will be able to use a $0 emergency recall on a minor-league defenseman with a cap hit of less than $875K. The right-shot shutdown specialist is having the best season of his career, on pace to break his previous career-high of 22 points set in 2021-22 while posting a career-best +5.3 expected rating. He remains under contract at a $4.6MM cap hit through 2027.
Senators Notes: Mandolese, Zub, Sanderson
The Ottawa Senators have assigned goaltender Kevin Mandolese to the AHL’s Belleville Senators. Mandolese’s demotion comes as no surprise given that the Senators activated netminder Anton Forsberg off the IR earlier today. The 23-year-old didn’t see any NHL action during his most recent recall and hasn’t played in the NHL since last season when he dressed in three games for Ottawa going 1-2 with a .916 save percentage.
Mandolese’s AHL numbers have remained comparable to the ones he posted last season as the native of Montreal, Quebec is sporting a 6-7-2 record with an .895 save percentage and a 3.38 goals-against average with Belleville. The former sixth-round pick has good size at 6’4” tall but he hasn’t been able to put it all together or fill out his frame as he plays smaller than most netminders of his stature.
In other Senators notes:
- The Ottawa Senators were forced to play tonight’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets without the services of defenseman Artem Zub. The 28-year-old has been dealing with a lower-body injury and was unable to dress this evening. Zub had been playing in the top four and was rolling offensively as of late with seven assists in his last 11 games. Zub could return to the lineup on Thursday night when the Senators take on the Anaheim Ducks but there is no word yet on his status going forward.
- The Ottawa Senators were also without the services of defenseman Jake Sanderson. Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun tweeted that the Senators would be forced to dress just five defensemen tonight with Zub and Sanderson out of the lineup. The 21-year-old is also dealing with a lower-body injury and told reporters earlier today that he would like to get back into the lineup at some point during the team’s upcoming Florida road trip. Given that timeline, it is fair to guess that the former fifth-overall pick will miss the next two or three games as Ottawa doesn’t visit the state of Florida until early next week. Sanderson has been good this season as he has taken another step forward for Ottawa registering seven goals and 17 assists in 47 games.
Senators Assign Zack MacEwen To AHL
Feb. 13: MacEwen passed through waivers unclaimed, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. The team assigned him to AHL Belleville later on Tuesday.
Feb. 12: The Senators placed Zack MacEwen on waivers Monday, per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. This is the veteran grinder’s second time on the wire this season.
MacEwen, 27, is in his first season with the Senators after signing a three-year, $2.325MM deal in free agency. His $775K cap hit is fully buriable in the minors, where he’ll likely spend a significant amount of time during his tenure in Canada’s capital.
The waiver placement comes ahead of netminder Anton Forsberg‘s pending return to action from a groin injury that’s kept him out for the last month, per Garrioch. Forsberg will likely dress Tuesday against the Blue Jackets, and the Senators need to clear $1.55MM in cap space to take him off long-term injured reserve. Assigning MacEwen to AHL Belleville, plus returning backup netminder Kevin Mandolese to Belleville from his emergency loan, will clear the necessary space.
MacEwen has played in 22 games with Ottawa, scoring twice and adding an assist while averaging 6:23 per game. He hasn’t been a significant defensive liability in his limited minutes, although his point-producing ability at the junior- and minor-league levels still hasn’t translated to the NHL.
Prior to landing on waivers, MacEwen was a healthy scratch in six of Ottawa’s last eight games, including five straight.
Vladimir Tarasenko Open To Staying In Ottawa
Senators winger Vladimir Tarasenko said Monday that he’s “open to all options” ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, including remaining with the team (via Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch).
That clause leaves him in full control of his destiny over the next few weeks. Tarasenko would not confirm Monday if his representation has had conversations with the Senators’ front office about an extension or about waiving the clause.
Tarasenko has played good hockey for the Senators this year after an understandably slow start in a new environment, rebounding to post 14 goals (fourth on the team) and 34 points (fifth on the team) in 46 games. He’s currently playing a third-line role at even strength alongside Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto, helping mentor a pair of projected future core pieces in Ottawa. He should net at least a second-round pick should the Senators receive interest from a team Tarasenko is willing to accept a trade to, but he still has value to the team if they choose to keep him around and risk letting him walk to free agency this summer.
Morgan Rielly Offered In-Person Hearing For Cross-Checking
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has offered Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly an in-person hearing for cross-checking Senators center Ridly Greig in the closing seconds of Saturday’s game, per an announcement Sunday. With an in-person hearing, DoPS now has the option to issue Rielly a suspension in excess of five games.
The play in question occurred with seconds remaining in the contest after Greig scored an empty-net goal via a slap shot, increasing Ottawa’s lead to 5-3. During his celebration, Rielly approached Greig and cross-checked him in the face, causing him to fall to the ice. Rielly was assessed a match penalty on the play.
Rielly, 30 next month, had five points in his last four games before facing a potential long-term absence. He has never been fined nor suspended in his 11-year, 769-game career. Toronto’s longest-tenured player is second on the team in assists (36) and fourth in points (43) through 50 games and is logging a career-high 24:21 per game.
Any long-term absence for Rielly puts serious strain on the Maple Leafs’ defense at a critical point in the season as they jockey for playoff positioning. The team’s only true depth puck-moving option not currently in the lineup, right-shot defenseman Conor Timmins, has played just 16 games this season and is currently sidelined with an illness. If neither Timmins nor the currently-injured Mark Giordano can play Tuesday against the Blues with Rielly out, Maxime Lajoie would draw into the lineup, and Timothy Liljegren would likely become the team’s top power play option.
Senators Hoping Jake Sanderson Returns Next Week
- Having confirmed that Jake Sanderson will be out of the lineup for the team’s game tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Bruce Garrioch of TSN is reporting that the Ottawa Senators are hoping Sanderson can return to skating next week. Without having a clear timeline for his return when originally injured, this update from Garrioch at the very least provides some idea as to when Sanderson could return to the lineup for the Senators. After a strong rookie campaign last year, Sanderson has continued to improve this season, scoring seven goals and 24 points through 47 games this year.
[SOURCE LINK]
Not A Guarantee That Senators Move Vladimir Tarasenko
- While many expect the Senators to move pending UFA winger Vladimir Tarasenko before next month’s trade deadline, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli notes that it’s not a lock that Ottawa even wants to move him. The Sens are known to be looking to add quality veterans to help their younger core and have been impressed with how he has become a leading voice in their dressing room. Tarasenko recently changed agents again; perhaps it was on the hopes of spurring along extension talks that have yet to begin at this point.