The Senators had been looking to add some forward depth even before Shane Pinto was placed on IR. They’ve now done so, acquiring center Dylan Gambrell from San Jose for a 2022 seventh-round pick. The selection going to the Sharks is actually their own seventh-rounder that was previously acquired in January for defenseman Christian Jaros. Both teams have announced the deal. Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion released the following statement on the move:
Dylan’s a player whose progress we’ve monitored since his collegiate career at the University of Denver. He’s a good-skating centre, a strong checker and a responsible penalty killer. We have a void at centre on account of some recent injuries and Dylan will help us with that need.
The 25-year-old has reached double digits in points in each of the last two seasons while also logging over 16 minutes per game in 49 contests with the Sharks last season. That helped earn him a one-year, $1.1MM contract from San Jose this offseason. However, he failed to earn a spot on the roster in training camp having been beaten by Jasper Weatherby for the spot on the fourth line he was expected to occupy and actually cleared waivers two weeks ago.
While Ottawa could have had him for free back then, they also didn’t have three regulars out with injuries as Pinto is joined by Colin White and Austin Watson on injured reserve. As a result, they’ve decided to part with a seventh-rounder to bring in someone with 110 career games under his belt, primarily in the checking role that Dorion alluded to trying to fill. It’s a low-cost pickup for the Sens and if Gambrell pans out, he’s controllable for two more years through restricted free agency where he will have arbitration rights.
I wanted him when he was on waivers so I won’t complain, and a 7th rounder is basically the equivalent of nothing, but why not just claim him if he was deemed a target lmao?
And yes Pinto got hurt, but I refuse to believe Logan Shaw was the reason a claim wasn’t put in.
Agreed. It was definitely a mistake on Dorion’s part. Thankfully that mistake only cost them a 7th rounder though. I sincerely hope this isn’t Dorion’s idea of acquiring a top-6 forward though lol
Any sharks fans or pacific division guys surprised by this??
I’ve always though of him as a serviceable player that still has some upside. 7th round pick seems super light.
Sharks fan here: So, Gambrell has never really lived up to where we expected him to be after drafting him in the first few rounds (can’t remember where).
He improved a little bit the past 2 seasons, but I think the fact that Weatherby, a guy we all thought was going to stay in college, beat him out for a roster spot was a sign that Gambrell still isn’t where we needed him to be and was expendable.
A 7th rounder isn’t much, but I guess it’s something
Great pick up kid can play if given a chance….
Since the lockout, out of several hundred picks, only 27 7th round draft picks have played as much as a hundred NHL games, and there are only about a half dozen genuine impact players in that lot: Frederik Andersen, Ryan Dzingel, Ondrej Palat, Victor Olofsson, Patric Hornqvist, a couple of others. On form, about one 7th rounder in five so much as ever plays a single NHL game.
I would be absolutely, completely comfortable with trading a 7th rounder for ANYone under NHL contract. You’re acquiring someone at least theoretically capable of playing in the NHL for a draft pick that’ll wind up being an AHL 3rd liner.
100%