Senators Place Artem Zub On LTIR, Recall Donovan Sebrango
The Ottawa Senators have placed defenseman Artem Zub on long-term injured reserve as expected. In a corresponding roster move, the organization announced the LTIR placement and the recall of defenseman Donovan Sebrango from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators.
It’s an unfortunate but necessary transaction for the Senators after reports from this weekend indicated that Zub would be out ‘for a while’ with a broken foot. Ottawa is likely still looking to add a defenseman via the trade market but will use Sebrango for now.
It’s becoming somewhat of a lost season for Zub. He’s already missed time in mid-to-late October with a concussion and could miss as many as two months due to the broken foot. As arguably the team’s best right-handed shooting defenseman, Sebrango will have big shoes to fill.
He’s in the second year of a four-year, $18.4MM extension originally signed in 2022. He’s tallied two assists over 11 games with the Senators this year and posted a respectable +0.5 E +/- according to Hockey Reference.
The only silver lining to the injury is that Sebrango has a clear path toward making his NHL debut. He was originally drafted with the 63rd overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, making his way to the Senators organization in the trade sending Alex DeBrincat to Detroit over a year ago.
Sebrango, 22, is in his fourth professional season collecting seven goals and 31 points in 184 games between the Grand Rapids Griffins and Belleville. There may be some initial discipline issues (149 PIMs in the AHL) but he allows Ottawa to win more puck battles in the defensive zone.
The Senators don’t play until tomorrow night against the San Jose Sharks which would be an ideal matchup for Sebrango’s first game. They’ll likely play him next to Thomas Chabot or Jake Sanderson to lessen his initial responsibility if he does make his debut tomorrow.
Utah Loans Patrik Koch, Milos Kelemen To Czech Extraliga
The Utah Hockey Club is sending a couple of AHL players to the Czech Extraliga. The organization has loaned defenseman Patrik Koch to HC Oceláři Třinec and forward Milos Kelemen to HC Dynamo Pardubice. Both players had already registered double-digit games with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners this season.
It will be Koch’s second go around in the Extraliga. He played three years for the HC Vítkovice from 2020 to 2023 collecting six goals and 23 points in 156 contests. He’s in his second year with Utah (including one year with the now-defunct Arizona Coyotes organization) after signing a one-year, $775K agreement on June 20th.
He’s been a solid presence for the Roadrunners over the last two years scoring one goal and 17 points in 73 AHL contests. There was some early indication that he might crack Utah’s opening night roster as a depth defenseman after a strong showing in the IIHF World Championships and the NHL preseason. He scored one goal and four points in eight tournament games for Team Slovakia and helped them earn a birth into the knockout round.
He’ll now be taking his talents back to Czechia with Kelemen. The latter was signed out of the Extraliga in 2022 after scoring five goals and 18 points in 44 games for BK Mladá Boleslav in 2021-22. He’s been a consistent middle-six scorer for the Roadrunners over the past three years scoring 31 goals and 68 points in 124 games. He’s the only one of the pair that has already made his NHL debut scoring one goal and two points in 24 games for the Coyotes from 2022 to 2024.
Without a real pathway to playing time in the NHL, the Utah Hockey Club is returning the two Slovakians to a more comfortable lifestyle. They are both playing on expiring contracts this year and may continue the rest of their professional careers overseas.
Morning Notes: Daugavins, Norris, Crosby
The IIHF reports that former NHL forward Kaspars Daugavins has retired. The 36-year-old’s announcement caught many by surprise as he has been very productive in recent seasons including this year in Slovakia’s top league Tipos Extraliga, where he has posted six goals and 14 assists in 19 games.
Daugavins was a third-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2006 (91st overall) and played seven seasons in the organization, including parts of three seasons in the NHL. Daugavins played 85 games with the Senators before he was plucked off waivers by the Boston Bruins in March of 2013. He played just six games with the Bruins before making his way to Europe the next season. During his brief NHL career, Daugavins registered six goals and nine assists while averaging just over 11 minutes of ice-time per game.
In other morning notes:
- Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff mentioned on Daily Faceoff Live that Ottawa Senators forward Josh Norris has had his name come up in conversations that the Senators have been having, presumably with other teams. Ottawa has struggled out of the gate this season and has failed to live up to expectations once again. Their core is signed to significant long-term deals, and Norris is one player who hasn’t lived up to his paycheck. That being said, moving Norris would be very difficult given his cap hit and injury history. The 25-year-old has been decent offensively this year, posting eight goals and six assists in 21 games while starting 56% of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone.
- Sidney Crosby’s off-season extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins appears to have done nothing to cool the trade rumors that continue to be pushed out about him. On yesterday’s edition of TSN Overdrive, Bryan Hayes floated out what a potential Crosby trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs would look like. A deal involving the two sides is highly unlikely, given Kyle Dubas’ history with the Maple Leafs and Crosby’s desire to finish his career in Pittsburgh. However, thanks to the Penguins’ massive struggles as of late, a Crosby trade out of Pittsburgh doesn’t look as impossible as it did a month ago. Pittsburgh figures to be busy in the coming months if they don’t turn things around. However, the chances that Crosby is moved remain relatively close to zero.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: San Jose Sharks
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Pacific Division, next up is the Sharks.
San Jose Sharks
Current Cap Hit: $81,214,232 (below the $88MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
G Yaroslav Askarov (one year, $925K)
F Macklin Celebrini (three years, $975K)
F William Eklund (two years, $863K)
F William Smith (three years, $950K)
D Jack Thompson (one year, $828K)
Potential Bonuses
Askarov: $850K
Celebrini: $3.5MM
Eklund: $850K
Smith: $850K
Total: $6.05MM
Celebrini is off to a good start to his career though injuries have cost him playing time already. While that won’t hurt in the long run, it could make a Calder Trophy push a little harder which is one of the potential ‘A’ bonuses, of which he has four of. While it’s still extremely early, the Sharks are hoping that he’s their top center of the future and we’ve seen the price tag for those players hover around $8MM per season, an amount that will probably need to go higher by the time this deal is up.
Smith has stayed healthy early on but has struggled in his first taste of the pros. While they’re probably unconcerned long-term and still view him as the second option behind Celebrini, this start likely takes him out of reaching most, if not all of his ‘A’ bonuses. If he lives up to his potential, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Smith in that $8MM range on his next deal. Eklund had an impressive first full NHL season last year and is on a higher pace this year. They’re hoping he has top-line potential which could get him in the $8MM range long-term as well although the fact he’s primarily being deployed on the wing could shave a little off his price tag.
Thompson was seeing regular action for the Sharks after an early-season recall before today’s demotion, albeit primarily on the third pairing. If he can reclaim that roster spot before too long, he could land in the $1.3MM range on a bridge contract in the summer.
Askarov has already signed his second contract and we’ll get to that later on. For this section, let’s focus on the bonuses. Given that he was just recalled this week and that they’re running a three-goalie rotation, it’s hard to see him playing enough to reach any of his four ‘A’ bonuses. He needs to get to 1,800 minutes (or 25 appearances with at least 30 minutes of playing time) to have a shot at qualifying for them.
Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level
G Mackenzie Blackwood ($2.35MM, UFA)
D Cody Ceci ($3.25MM, UFA)
F Mikael Granlund ($5MM, UFA)
F Klim Kostin ($2MM, RFA)
F Luke Kunin ($2.75MM, UFA)
D Jan Rutta ($2.75MM, UFA)
F Givani Smith ($800K, UFA)
F Nico Sturm ($2MM, UFA)
G Vitek Vanecek ($3.4MM, UFA)
F Fabian Zetterlund ($1.45MM, RFA)
Granlund opted to sign with the Sharks in 2023 on what amounted to a pillow deal to try to rebuild some value. He might have done just that. With an expanded role, he reached the 60-point mark last season and is producing more than a point per game in the first quarter of this season. As far as straight value goes, the Sharks have done pretty well with this deal. How things go on his next contract remains in some question, however. While Granlund is playing well in a top-line role, he’s not a top-line center on most teams and he has struggled with lesser roles at times in the past. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if his market wasn’t as strong as his numbers might indicate although another deal around this price point should be doable.
Kunin was a speculative non-tender candidate after a down showing last year but the two sides settled on this deal. He’s capable of being a versatile utility forward but hasn’t been able to produce with enough consistency thus far. Still, someone who can play all three forward positions, kill penalties, and play with an edge will be of interest on the open market and a contract around this price point on a multi-year agreement could happen. On the flip side, Kostin has not played well in either season of this contract and is more of a depth forward than a regular one. His 2021-22 efforts appear to be the outlier at this point and as a result, most of his offers in the summer are likely to be at the league minimum or very close to it.
Sturm was primarily a depth player before joining San Jose but became a capable middle-six option over his first two seasons which had him on track for a decent raise next summer. However, his early-season usage has him back in his old spot on the fourth line which won’t help his market. That said, given the demand for middlemen, he could still get a small increase on his next deal. Zetterlund wound up with a bridge deal after struggling upon being acquired in the Timo Meier deal. His first full season with the Sharks was a strong one with 24 goals and 20 assists and he’s on pace to eclipse those numbers this year. With arbitration rights, he’s on pace to triple this deal at a minimum if he can keep it up. Smith, meanwhile, has been more of a depth player over the years and is likely to stay around the league minimum again on his next deal.
Ceci was acquired from Edmonton in a cap-clearing move mid-offseason. He’s getting an opportunity to play a bigger role but most teams know his best role is in more of a fourth or fifth role. As someone who is a right-hand shot and can log 20-plus minutes a night, another deal in this range for a few years is a likely outcome. Rutta’s first season with San Jose last year wasn’t bad in a third-pairing role but he has struggled this season. If things stay as is, he probably won’t be able to land this much in the summer if he winds up playing a role on a team going deep into the playoffs, that could boost his value back up to around this price point.
Vanecek was brought in at the trade deadline last season to give them another veteran to try to help stabilize things to a point. He hasn’t fared too poorly all things considered but coming off a rocky year in New Jersey, his value has taken a hit. He could be a candidate for a one-year pillow deal but a two-year agreement at a price tag starting with a two is more likely. Considering how poorly San Jose’s back end has been at times, Blackwood has fared relatively well since joining the Sharks last summer. However, his overall numbers won’t be high enough to land him any sort of sizable raise. Something around this price tag should be doable though.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Ty Dellandrea ($1.3MM, RFA)
D Mario Ferraro ($3.25MM, UFA)
F Carl Grundstrom ($1.8MM, UFA)
D Timothy Liljegren ($3MM, UFA)
D Henry Thrun ($1MM, RFA)
D Jake Walman ($3.4MM, UFA)
F Alexander Wennberg ($5MM, UFA)
D Marc-Edouard Vlasic ($7MM, UFA)
Wennberg was a beneficiary of the Sharks wanting some veteran center depth and the demand for middlemen on the open market, yielding an above-market contract for a player who hasn’t eclipsed the 40-point mark since 2016-17. If he stays in the 30-plus-point range as he has since then, a more realistic price tag would be closer to $4MM in 2026.
Grundstrom was acquired over the summer after it looked like he might be non-tendered by Los Angeles. While he has shown a bit of a scoring touch in the past, he hasn’t been able to do so with enough consistency, resulting in him playing a lot on the fourth line. This price tag is on the high side for someone in that role; he’ll need to find a way to produce more if he wants any sort of notable raise. Dellandrea was acquired from Dallas in the hopes that a change of scenery would get him going. That hasn’t happened yet and he finds himself in the same limited role he had with the Stars. If that continues, a non-tender could be on the table.
Vlasic has been a long-time core defender for the Sharks over his 18-year career, earning himself some Norris Trophy votes in the prime of his career. However, that prime was a long time ago. At his best, Vlasic was a key shutdown defender who could play on the top pairing and he signed this contract while being in that role. But for the most part since then, he has been more of a depth piece, either on the third pairing or as a healthy scratch. This season, he has yet to play due to a back injury but even when he returns, it’s likely to be in a limited role. He’s a buyout candidate next summer if San Jose decides to open up some cap space and if he was to hit the open market and consider going elsewhere, it’d be a minimum-salary agreement.
Walman was another cap casualty over the offseason, this time coming from Detroit. After being more of a fourth option with the Red Wings, he’s often on the top pairing and is doing well in that role. If that keeps up, he could make a case to push past the $5MM per season mark in 2026. Ferraro has been a speculative trade candidate for a while given his reasonable cap charge and his shutdown role. Limited offense will limit his earnings upside on the open market but we’ve seen players like that land around $4.5MM recently and that could be a reasonable price point for his next deal.
Liljegren was brought in from Toronto in yet another cap-clearing move (though this one came just recently). There was some risk had he made it to arbitration last summer, resulting in the two sides settling on this deal. Now, Liljegren needs to prove he can be a top-four player if he wants to beat this deal in his first trip through the open market. Thrun, meanwhile, is still looking to establish himself as a must-play top-six blueliner. Offensively, he can hold his own but he has scuffled in the defensive zone, resulting in him being more of a third-pairing player this season after being a top-four piece last year. He’s a safe bet to be qualified as things stand but he’ll need to show some improvement if he wants to get past the $2MM mark on his next deal when he’ll have arbitration rights.
Snapshots: Hurricanes, Boeser, Drouin, Perron, Paul, Romanov
Already without Frederik Andersen long-term, the Hurricanes won’t have fellow goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov for the time being as he’s now in concussion protocol, meaning their current tandem is Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets. To that end, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that Carolina is looking into what options might exist on the trade market. Andersen is out for at least two more months while Kochetkov’s timeline is less certain. The Hurricanes are almost right at the salary cap limit per PuckPedia while they do have nearly $2.4MM in LTIR room if needed. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Carolina was looking into players on lower-cost deals to try to give them a small upgrade between the pipes in the short term.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Barring any issues arising from today’s practice, Canucks winger Brock Boeser could return to the lineup on Tuesday in Boston, mentions Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. The 27-year-old has missed nearly three weeks due to a concussion, putting a strong start to his season on pause. In his contract year, Boeser has six goals and five assists in a dozen outings so far.
- Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin has been limited to just five games this season after missing more than a month due to an upper-body injury. Now, the team announced (Twitter link) that he’s dealing with another upper-body injury, one that kept him out of the lineup against Tampa Bay. Drouin has been productive when in the lineup as he has two goals and two helpers in his limited appearances so far.
- Senators winger David Perron was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Calgary due to an upper-body injury, relays TSN’s Claire Hanna (Twitter link). The veteran returned to Ottawa’s lineup a little over a week ago after taking time away when his newborn daughter needed to undergo surgery. It has been a rough go on the ice for Perron’s first season with the Sens as he has been held without a point for his first nine games of the season.
- Lightning forward Nick Paul will miss at least this week with the undisclosed injury that has held him out for nearly a week now, notes Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider (Twitter link). The 29-year-old had gotten off to a nice start offensively before the injury, notching five goals and eight assists in 17 games while seeing time at both center and the wing.
- Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov just returned to the lineup after recovering from a nagging injury but was a late scratch tonight. However, it wasn’t a recurrence of the injury as the team announced (Twitter link) that the 24-year-old was scratched due to being sick and is listed as day-to-day. Romanov has two assists, 27 blocks, and 31 hits in 11 games so far this season.
Minor Transactions: 11/25/24
There have been quite a few paper transactions made across the NHL today as teams continue to try to save every little bit of cap room they can. Here’s a rundown of today’s moves, per the AHL’s transactions log.
- The Oilers have reassigned defenseman Josh Brown and forward Drake Caggiula to AHL Bakersfield. Brown has been shuffled back and forth in recent days while Caggiula was recalled back on Thursday. Edmonton is off until Friday and the moves allow them to dip out of using LTIR and bank a small amount of cap space for the next few days. At least one of them, if not both, will likely be recalled later in the week.
- A day after being papered down, the Bruins have recalled forward Marc McLaughlin and defenseman Jordan Oesterle from AHL Providence. McLaughlin hasn’t played for Boston yet this season while Oesterle suited up three times earlier this month.
- The Hurricanes have recalled winger Jackson Blake and goaltender Spencer Martin from their latest paper loan to AHL Chicago. Both players have been shuffled back and forth routinely in cap-saving moves.
- A day after the Devils loaned wingers Shane Bowers and Nolan Foote along with defenseman Nick DeSimone to AHL Utica, the trio was recalled today. Sunday’s demotions allowed them to clear LTIR for the day but they are back to using it for the time being now.
- After being papered down on Sunday, the Golden Knights have recalled wingers Mason Morelli and Callahan Burke, who scored his first NHL goal on Saturday in a win over Montreal. They also brought back blueliner Robert Hagg who was both recalled (on an emergency basis) and sent down on Saturday. Hagg’s recall moves Vegas back into using LTIR for now.
Pacific Notes: Hyman, Arvidsson, McGinn, Vlasic, Musty, Whitecloud, Karlsson
The Edmonton Oilers won’t have a healthy forward core for the rest of the week. The team’s radio commentator, Bob Stauffer, shared a note from head coach Kris Knoblauch earlier this morning indicating that forwards Zach Hyman and Viktor Arvidsson are still a week or more away from returning.
Hyman has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury dating back to the Oilers’ recent contest against the Ottawa Senators on November 19th. He’ll now miss his second straight week with Stauffer all but confirming Edmonton won’t have Hyman in the lineup for this weekend’s matchups against the Utah Hockey Club and Colorado Avalanche. It’s salt on the wound for Hyman who’s only mustered three goals and eight points in 20 games this season after scoring 54 goals in 80 games last year.
Arvidsson, who hasn’t played since November 12th, will now miss his third straight week for the Oilers. Edmonton placed him on the injured reserve over a week later on November 21st and he will now miss eight straight games after this weekend’s action. His production and availability are certainly not what the Oilers expected after giving the veteran forward a two-year, $8MM contract this past offseason.
Other notes from the Pacific Division:
- According to Derek Lee of The Hockey News, the Anaheim Ducks are placing forward Brock McGinn on injured reserve to make room for activating forward Mason McTavish this evening. McGinn’s injury is likely tied to crashing into the boards of last week’s game against the Dallas Stars and while he’s seemingly avoided a worse injury, he’ll still miss a few more games for Anaheim. McGinn had scored three goals and six points in 17 games this season before suffering the injury.
- The San Jose Sharks may get one of their longtime veterans back during their upcoming road trip. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News wrote earlier that defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic is nearing a return to the active roster after being a full participant in the team’s practices on multiple occasions. Vlasic is now in his 19th season in San Jose but hasn’t skated for the team since April 18th, 2024 due to an injury in his upper back.
- The Sharks also have some injury concerns further down their organizational hierarchy. Jeff Marek reported earlier that Sharks’ prospect Quentin Musty suffered a hand fracture in last night’s contest between the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves and Oshawa Generals. The fracture will unfortunately keep Musty off Team USA’s roster for the upcoming 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships and may extend until the OHL trade deadline. Musty had scored eight goals and 20 points in 11 games for the Wolves this season while the team sits ninth in the OHL standings with a 12-8-3 record through 23 games.
- There will be a few missing players for the Vegas Golden Knights this evening. The organization announced that defenseman Zach Whitecloud is out with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day. Vegas also added that forward William Karlsson won’t participate in tonight’s contest against the Philadelphia Flyers due to personal reasons. The injury to Whitecloud will strain the Golden Knights’ blue line with defenseman Alex Pietrangelo set to miss his third consecutive game.
Minnesota Wild Recall Travis Boyd
11/25: The Wild organization announced they have terminated the emergency conditions on Boyd’s initial recall and have made him a full recall before tonight’s contest against the Winnipeg Jets.
11/22: Travis Boyd has found his way back to the NHL after a year mired by injury. The Minnesota Wild announced they recalled Boyd from their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, under emergency conditions.
The most productive years of Boyd’s career were recently spent with the now-defunct Arizona Coyotes organization. Boyd signed a one-year, league-minimum agreement with the Coyotes in the summer of 2021 leading to 17 goals and 35 points in 74 games.
Arizona signed Boyd to a two-year, $3.5MM extension nearly seven months later. Boyd scored a similar 15 goals and 34 points in 82 games the following season with a -32 rating.
Boyd started the 2023-24 season on a solid note, scoring two goals and eight points through the first 16 contests. Unfortunately, Boyd had already played his last game of the season due to a torn pectoral muscle suffered on November 30th against the Colorado Avalanche.
The newfound Utah Hockey Club chose not to re-sign Boyd this offseason making him an unrestricted free agent for the first time in three years. Minnesota quickly signed Boyd to a one-year, $775K contract on the first day of the offseason.
He’s played well for the AHL Wild this season scoring two goals and 11 points through his first 13 AHL contests. He’ll likely serve as insurance tomorrow night against the Calgary Flames if star forward Kirill Kaprizov can’t suit up due to injury.
San Jose Sharks Activate Nico Sturm, Reassign Jack Thompson
The San Jose Sharks will see the return of a bottom-six center before their matchup tonight against the Los Angeles Kings. The organization announced they activated forward Nico Sturm from the injured reserve and reassigned defenseman Jack Thompson to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, in a corresponding roster move.
Sturm hasn’t factored into a game since the Sharks’ November 14th loss to the New York Rangers. He left the game with an apparent upper-body injury and was placed on the team’s injured reserve a few days later on November 18th. He rejoined the team for practice yesterday morning and was seen centering the fourth line between Klim Kostin and Ty Dellandrea.
The former Stanley Cup champion is in his third year with the Sharks organization after signing a three-year, $6MM contract with the club in 2022. He’s seen his ice time dip to 9:50 a game on average with the influx of forward talent to San Jose and has collected three goals and six points through 18 games this season.
The reassignment of Thompson is confusing on paper given the young defenseman has scored two goals and five points in 13 games for the Sharks this season from the blue line. He’s tied for third on the team in scoring amongst defensemen with veteran Cody Ceci and appeared to be a solid introduction into the team’s top-four.
Still, Thompson is only in his third professional season and could use more seasoning in the AHL before becoming a full-time NHL talent. He played in 16 games for the Barracuda last season after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning and scored one goal and nine points with a -13 rating.
Senators Looking To Acquire A Defenseman
In congruence with today’s news that defenseman Artem Zub will miss time with a fractured foot, it’s no surprise that the Ottawa Senators are looking to trade for a defenseman. TSN’s Bruce Garrioch reports that general manager Steve Staios is aggressively pursuing the trade market for more defensive depth.
Garrioch didn’t mention in his report what handedness the Senators are hoping for but it’ll likely be a right-handed shot. Ottawa already has a solid 1-2 punch on the left side of the defensive core, as shown by Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot. It stands to reason the Senators may have already been looking for an upgrade on the right side with Zub and Nick Jensen being the only serviceable top-four options on the right side.
Ottawa has had difficulty keeping the puck out of their net this season but the entire blame can’t be put on the defense. They’ve only allowed 539 shots against in 20 games this season which is good for sixth in the league but 24th in goals against per game with a 3.25 mark. Former Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Linus Ullmark has only managed a .881 save percentage over 12 starts which is a far cry away from his .918 SV% career average before the move to Canada.
Still, the team could certainly use an upgrade on defense if they hope to compete for a spot in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs in a sturdy Atlantic Division. The Senators own an 8-11-1 record on the year and have 62 games left to build momentum.
Ottawa may have a trade partner in the Columbus Blue Jackets whom Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported yesterday were listening to offers on right-handed shot defenseman, David Jiříček. The Blue Jackets are reasonably looking for another recent first-round pick on their entry-level contract making the Senators a compatible trade partner.
Ottawa may be unwilling to part with a first-round pick for Jiříček but could build a package around forward Ridly Greig. He’s in the last year of his entry-level contract and was drafted two years before Jiříček with the 28th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft. He scored a career-high in points last year with 13 goals and 26 points in 72 games and could provide more for Columbus if he’s bumped into the top six.
Other options for Ottawa include Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks, Jacob Trouba from the New York Rangers, or David Savard from the Montreal Canadiens outside of Jiříček. It appears the Senators will land a right-handed shot defenseman sooner rather than later with how aggressive Staios has been in the market since the beginning of the season.