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Senators, Canucks Could Be Teams To Watch On Trade Market

September 8, 2023 at 11:22 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 9 Comments

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.

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Ottawa Senators| Vancouver Canucks Shane Pinto| Tanner Pearson

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View Comments (9)

Comments

  1. pawtucket

    2 years ago

    Garland to supplement Hall/Bedard on the other wing with good possession numbers is a good match and would help the development of Connor’s game as Garland is a decent defensive winger as well.

    Reply
  2. DarkSide830

    2 years ago

    Any Formenton updates?

    1
    Reply
    • Josh Erickson

      2 years ago

      Nope. All quiet and he remains unsigned overseas as well.

      1
      Reply
  3. MoneyBallJustWorks

    2 years ago

    Josh is there any chance the league is waiting on the Canada WJC announcement till the start of the season to avoid teams trying to use the cap space “I assume” they would get back for suspended players?

    or would a situation like this which will surely result in suspensions need the PAs involvement since it’s not directly NHL related

    Reply
    • brodie-bruce

      2 years ago

      now this is me coming up with a logical conclusion so don’t take this as fact by any means. if the nhl has a personal conduct clause like the mlb he could still be suspended, even if it happened outside of the nhl because nhl players involved in something what is being alleged gives the league a bad look.

      also i understand that these guys were just being stupid “kids” but still no excuses to put yourself in a position like they are in. then again when your given special treatment your whole life and got away with almost anything because of your talents you start thinking your invincible

      Reply
  4. User 318310488

    2 years ago

    What DarkSide830 said. What’s the latest on Formenton?

    Reply
  5. User 318310488

    2 years ago

    Formenton is a solid trade chip if he’s cleared to play. His numbers have steadily increased year by year. Solid 3rd LW.

    Reply
  6. sweetg

    2 years ago

    It pretty clear. Formenton is the guy at center of world junior scandal. Problem if garland was paid three million you love the guy.

    Reply
  7. Johnny Z

    2 years ago

    I am thinking if Batherson is implicated in the WJC scandal, and is suspended, that Pinto will get his 2 x $2M contract and life goes on……….

    Reply

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