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Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators Exchange Arbitration Numbers

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The Ottawa Senators have an arbitration hearing today with Cody Ceci to decide on a contract for next season, but the offseason doesn’t end there for them. Mark Stone, who is scheduled for a hearing of his own on Friday, has exchanged arbitration filings with the team. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Stone has asked for $9MM while the team has countered with $5MM. As always, the decision will likely come somewhere in the middle of the two numbers, though as Friedman points out that could still make this a record-breaking case. Shea Weber’s $7.5MM award in 2011 is currently the highest ever given through arbitration.

Stone, 26, can only be awarded a one-year deal in arbitration as he is just a single season away from becoming an unrestricted free agent. That freedom could be enticing to a player who has developed into one of the best two-way wingers in the league, and is coming off a season in which he scored at better than a point-per-game pace. His 62 points in 58 games for the Senators tied him with Erik Karlsson for the team lead, while recording his fourth consecutive 20+ goal campaign. Stone also possesses an almost unmatched ability to create turnovers and strip opposing players of the puck, which has led to Selke votes in each of his four full seasons.

Even accounting for the normal arbitration practice of asking for much more than you expect to be awarded, the $9MM figure will shock some people. Only nine forwards in the entire NHL will have a cap hit of $9MM or greater for the 2018-19 season, and though an exceptional player Stone is still not in the upper echelon of NHL stars. Even if the decision lands right in the middle at $7MM, he’ll vault into the top-30 highest paid forwards in the league and set himself up for a huge contract next summer. Whether that contract comes with the Senators isn’t clear.

Last month we asked whether the Senators should trade Stone, given that he is just a year away from unrestricted free agency and the team looks like it may struggle this season. Our readership was split 55-45 in favor of a move, which may be indicative of the hesitation GM Pierre Dorion would feel. Stone can be a leader in whatever turnaround is coming in Ottawa, and is still young enough to have several prime seasons remaining after 2018-19. If the team could work out a long-term extension with him in the next few days, perhaps there would be a little bit of hope for the Senators this season. If not, a one-year award would also bring with it restrictions on negotiating extensions. Players on one-year contracts cannot discuss or sign an extension until January, at which point Stone would be just a few months away from testing the open market. The trade deadline would also be right around the corner, forcing the Senators to make a quick decision on whether they had a real shot at retaining their talented winger.

Latest On Brady Tkachuk’s Upcoming Decision

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After Vancouver Canucks draft pick Quinn Hughes decided to return to Michigan for another season instead of turning pro, all eyes turned to Brady Tkachuk to see if he would make the same decision. The Ottawa Senators prospect is expected to make a final decision by August 12th on whether he’ll return to Boston University or sign his first professional contract, but Jeff Cox of the New England Hockey Journal adds that his performance in the current World Junior Summer Showcase could have a big effect on his choice. Cox tweeted that “all indications point” towards a return to BU, unless he finds himself at a level above his competitors in the junior tournament.

For what it’s worth, Tkachuk was held off the scoresheet—except for an early holding penalty—during his first game of the tournament yesterday, when the United States fell to Sweden 3-1. There’s obviously quite a few more matches to show off his talent, but it’s not a good start for those hoping a big performance would lead him to leave the NCAA after just one season.

If Tkachuk does go back, the Senators could always sign him at the end of the NHL season and even get him into a few games without burning a contract year. Because Tkachuk won’t turn 20 until September 20th, he could play up to 10 games and still see his contract slide forward, though it’s not clear when his year would end. If Boston University finds themselves in the Frozen Four mix, there might not be much time for him to join the Senators, making a 2019-20 debut more likely.

Hughes, Tkachuk and Oliver Wahlstrom, who is expected to report to Boston College this season are all extremely talented players who shouldn’t be in the NCAA ranks for very long. While there is always a slight chance that one could finish his college years and become an unrestricted free agent down the road, players selected early in the first round virtually never go this route. All should be joining their respective organizations before long, and making an impact in the NHL in short order.

Cody Ceci, Ottawa Senators Exchange Arbitration Filings

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With Garnet Hathaway re-signing this morning, the next player scheduled for an arbitration hearing is Cody Ceci of the Ottawa Senators. That meeting is on the books for Wednesday in Toronto, and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports on the filings from both sides. The Senators have filed a $3.35MM ask, while Ceci is looking for $6.0MM. As usual, the ruling will likely come down somewhere in the middle of those two numbers should they not come to an agreement in the next few days.

Ceci, 24, is a player that has drawn quite a lot of attention over the years due to his continual inclusion in trade negotiations. In almost every discussion about the Senators and their pursuit of a high-end player, Ceci has been part of a potential return. That inclusion has been derided by the analytical community at times given Ceci’s poor possession numbers, but he continues to be an extremely valued piece of the Ottawa blue line. In fact, he may be the team’s top option should Erik Karlsson be traded before the season begins. That would put an incredible amount of pressure on the young right-handed defenseman, who has failed to put up big offensive numbers despite obvious ability and huge opportunity over the past few years.

Logging more than 23 minutes a night in each of the past two seasons, Ceci has been deployed in a defensive role (usually alongside Dion Phaneuf, who is now part of the Los Angeles Kings organization) to balance some of the offensive starts given to Karlsson. Though that is certainly a limiting factor in Ceci’s offensive numbers, there are other warts in his game that hinder his impact for the team and keep him from really reaching the top echelon of defensemen in the NHL. Those numbers should also lead an arbitrator to rule for much less than the $6.0MM ask, though probably well above the team’s filing as well. Ceci earned just $2.8MM last season, and should get a nice raise either way.

The Senators will almost certainly choose a one-year contract for their young defenseman, as he is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency after the 2019-20 season. Leaving with just a one-year deal will allow them to continue to negotiate with him as a restricted free agent next summer, and try to get him to re-sign long-term. Otherwise, he could hit the open market as a 26-year old and really cash in as a right-handed option. Even with his poor possession numbers, there are still many who see Ceci as a key defender for the Senators and one who could step into top-four minutes for many teams around the league.

Brady Tkachuk To Decide Where He Will Play Next Year Within The Next Two Weeks

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Senators winger prospect Brady Tkachuk will make a decision on whether he will sign with the team or return to Boston University for his sophomore season by August 12th, reports NHL.com’s Mike Morreale.  Leading up to the draft, there was speculation that Tkachuk was leaning towards staying in college but he clarified things saying that he would discuss the situation with whoever drafted him and make a decision at that time.

Tkachuk was drafted fourth overall by the Sens last month following a strong showing in his freshman campaign, one that saw him collect 31 points (8-23-31) in just 40 games.  He also stood out at the World Juniors where he finished tied for fifth in tournament scoring with three goals and six assists in seven contests.

Physically, many believe Tkachuk is ready to make the NHL jump and considering Ottawa isn’t set to field a lineup full of high-end players, there is certainly room for him to step in and make an impact.

Is that necessarily the smart play, however?  Many expect the Senators to be near the league basement next season with an expected trade of their franchise player in defenseman Erik Karlsson so is it in their best interest to burn one of their cheap entry-level years in a season where they’re not expected to really compete?  Staying with Boston University and working on his all-around game while continuing to physically mature is far from a bad idea.

There are two other options though.  By signing his ELC, Tkachuk wouldn’t be eligible to go back to college but being drafted out of the NCAA, he isn’t subject to the AHL age restriction that CHL players are so he could suit up for their minor league affiliate in Belleville where the usual 10 and 40-game thresholds apply in terms of burning a contract year and accruing a year towards UFA eligibility.  Alternatively, he could theoretically be loaned to London of the OHL as they hold his junior rights although, on the surface, that’s the least likely option.

Where Tkachuk will play next year has been in question for a while now.  It appears that question will now be answered within the next two weeks.

Snapshots: Dallas Trades, Milano, Armia

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The Dallas Stars have been deep in talks with the Ottawa Senators for the right to trade for Erik Karlsson this offseason, although negotiations seems to have died down after Ottawa supposedly insisted on Dallas including top defensive prospect Miro Heiskanen in the deal. However, Dallas, who has been rather quiet this offseason looks to be still working the phones on adding talent through the trade market, according to NHL.com’s Mark Stepneski.

The scribe writes that general manager Jim Nill said in an interview that he is still talking to teams about potential trades.

“I can’t name things, but there is still lots out there,” Nill said. “We’re talking to teams. There is still a lot of movement happening within the business. I can’t say there is anything happening overnight, but there is a lot of dialogue still.”

Nill has said that he likes the team, which has added former first-rounder Valeri Nichushkin, Heiskanen, Blake Comeau and backup goaltender Anton Khudobin. However, with many big names still available in trades, it wouldn’t be surprising if Dallas was looking to make one more big move.

  • The Hockey Writers’ Mark Scheig writes that if the Columbus Blue Jackets must part with Artemi Panarin, the team will likely have to look in their own organization for a potential replacement player who can take that next step on offense for them — namely Sonny Milano. While a year ago, the fans were ready to move on from the prospect after two long years in Cleveland with the AHL, Milano is the team’s best left wing offensive talent who could step in and replace Panarin. However, the scribe writes that the problem is that his defense has been holding him back, but if Milano shows that he can improve on that aspect of his game, he might thrive in a top-six role. The 22-year-old averaged just 11:39 ATOI per game last year and still managed to score 14 goals. If he could find better minutes, he might be the breakout player many thought he would be years ago.
  • With a new team and new opportunities in front of him, NHL.com’s Matt Cudzinowski interviews Joel Armia, who was acquired by the Montreal Canadiens a month ago from the Winnipeg Jets. The 25-year-old Armia said while his goal is to always improve on the season before, he is concentrating his training on improving his speed.  “I’ve been working a lot more on my skating and speed,” Armia said. “I think that’s going to help me more and more on the ice. The game is getting faster every year, so skating and speed have been the main focus. I’m training with a couple of guys in Pori who play pro in Finland. I’ve also been working in Helsinki with Teuvo Teravainen and Esa Lindell, and a couple of young guys who’ve been drafted. In Helsinki, they have some good skating coaches. That’s where I go every other week to work. I’ll spend about three days there at a time. I also get my off-ice workout programs there and train in Pori.”

Erik Karlsson Talks Between Sens, Lightning Never Got Close To A Deal Getting Done

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  • There is nothing imminent on the trade front for the Lightning when it comes to Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson. Joe Smith of The Athletic (subscription required) characterizes the discussions as not having got particularly close to a deal and adds that some feel that Ottawa isn’t in any rush to move him and are prepared to wait to get the price they want.  Of course, further complicating things is that Tampa Bay may have to involve a third team to offload enough payroll to take on Karlsson’s $6.5MM contract as the Sens aren’t expected to be willing to take significant salary back in return.

The Contract Each Team Would Most Like To Trade: Part II

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Nearly every team has one of those players: a top talent they were excited to sign and never thought could do anything but help them. In hindsight, history shows that more often than not, expensive, long-term free agent contracts don’t work out. It may look good at first (or it may look bad right away to the outside observer), but players struggle to make their value last throughout a lengthy contract. Those contracts come back to bite teams and are hard to get rid of. As teams begin to finalize their rosters at this point in the off-season, many are struggling to make everyone fit under the salary cap and are regretting these past signings that exasperate a cap crunch that can be tough for even a mistake-free club. We already took a look at the first third of the league; here are the contracts that each team would most like to trade, from Detroit to Ottawa:

Detroit Red Wings: Frans Nielsen – four years, $21MM remaining

As speculated by some readers in the comments section, it was no mistake that Part I ended with Dallas. Detroit deserved both some extra consideration and to lead off an article about poor contracts. There is an argument to be made that almost every single player age 28 and over on the Red Wings roster is signed to a bad contract for one reason or another. Detroit is a team that ranks towards the bottom of the standings and towards the top of the salary cap and that is not just bad luck. However, some are much worse than others and they are so bad that it is tough to choose between them. Take this scenario: Player A scored 35 points in 75 games last season. It was 14 points more than the season prior, including six more goals, and Player A also led the team in hits. He is 31 years old and signed for five more years at $4.25MM per. Player B scored 33 points in 79 games last season. It was eight points less than the season prior, and Player B also had the worst face-off percentage among the team’s centers. He is 34 years old and signed for four more years at $5.25MM per. Still undecided about which contract the team would rather trade? Player A is a Michigan native and career Red Wing and Player B is entering only his third year after signing a lucrative free agent contract. Player A of course is perennial whipping boy Justin Abdelkader. Yes, the Abdelkader contract is terrible. At no point in his career has he been worth his current contract value. Yet, he improved last season, is younger and brings a defensive element to his game, and is also loyal to the current administration – the call of the question after all is which contract the team would most like to trade. That would instead be Player B, Frans Nielsen, who at 34 is predictably declining and last year made more than Abdelkader for less production and there is no reason to believe that trend won’t continue. The team rewarded Adbelkader for years of service, whereas they took a gamble on Nielsen that hasn’t paid off. One of those moves is far more regrettable. Nielsen is the guy, but he only narrowly edged out Abdelkader and defenseman Danny DeKeyser, who also has relative age and Detroit roots to his advantage.

Edmonton Oilers: Milan Lucic – five years, $30MM remaining

The Oilers can refute trade rumors surrounding Milan Lucic all they want. The truth of the matter is that GM Peter Chiarelli signed Lucic hoping that he could both produce with and protect Connor McDavid in Edmonton as he did for David Krejci in Boston. The only problem is that the 30-year-old power forward can no longer keep up with a player of McDavid’s caliber. Lucic managed to score 34 points last season, tied for fourth on the team, but that is nowhere near what is expected of a $6MM player, especially when he scored 50 in year one with the Oilers and topped that mark many times with the Bruins. Edmonton still may be holding out hope that Lucic can turn it around and be just as much of a scoring threat as he is a physical threat, but make no mistake that the team would be quick to get rid of his contract if the right deal came along. In contrast, the team would be far more hesitant to move a hefty contract like defenseman Andrej Sekera who has been good and injury-prone, rather than healthy and underwhelming.

Florida Panthers: Roberto Luongo – four years, $18.13MM remaining

Florida is a tough one. Dale Tallon has done a good job of locking up his core long-term and, despite being right up against the cap, there are few egregious contracts on the roster right now. Give it a few years and maybe Michael Matheson will hold this title, but for now it goes to Roberto Luongo by default. Of course, Luongo is beloved in Florida and the team doesn’t even have to carry the whole of his cap hit, with the Vancouver Canucks retaining $800K each year. However, the reality is that Luongo will turn 40 this season and it will be only the first of four years left on his deal. The Panthers have almost $8MM committed to two goalies for the next few years and the other, James Reimer, is younger and outplayed Luongo in 2016-17 and in more games to boot. While they both fought injuries this past season, it was Luongo back on top performance-wise, but the impressive numbers he did post came in just 35 appearances versus Reimer’s 44. Florida paying over $4.5MM per year to a backup goalie in his forties just doesn’t make sense and the team would be better off moving forward with just Reimer and Michael Hutchinson if they could find a way to trade Luongo. Another reason this contract is bad: both the Panthers and Canucks will be hit with cap recapture penalties if Luongo retires prior to 2022.

Los Angeles Kings: Dustin Brown – four years, $23.5MM remaining

For the first time in years, Kings fans are feeling good about Dustin Brown. That is why now is the perfect time to trade him. Brown had been the bane of L.A.’s existence for four years, registering no more than 36 points each year while eating up $5.875MM in cap space, when he finally broke out of his funk in 2017-18 with a massive 61-point season and one of the league’s best plus/minus ratings. The question now is whether the past four years were an aberration with this season setting a new baseline or will Brown regress back to his bottom-six production. With a cap-strapped roster full of expensive contracts for older players, L.A. can’t take the risk of keeping Brown around if the right opportunity presents itself. They would be forced to trade the career King if a taker came forward rather than hold out hope that he doesn’t revert back to his old ways of being drastically overpaid.

Minnesota Wild: Zach Parise – seven years, $52.77MM remaining

When the Wild signed 28-year-old’s Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to matching 13-year contracts worth almost $100MM apiece, they knew that those deals would have dark days at some point in the future. However, they never could have imagined that Parise’s decline would come so soon. Parise remains one of the most popular players on the team, but injuries have kept him off the ice and affected his play when on the ice over the ice and his stock is falling quickly. Parise has never been able to reach the peaks he enjoyed in New Jersey, but he still produced at a high level over his first four seasons with the team. The past two years have been a different story and Parise appears to be trending in the wrong direction. Now 33, Parise isn’t totally beyond help and could turn it around. If back at 100%, Parise has enough natural ability and enough talent around him to still be a $7.5MM player. However, it would be nearly impossible for Minnesota to ever move the behemoth that is his contract so, if somehow they received an offer, they would take it without a second thought. Fan favorite or not, there is too much risk associated with Parise moving forward.

Montreal Canadiens: Shea Weber – seven years, $55MM remaining

I know what you’re thinking and yes, the Carey Price contract doesn’t look great right now. However, an extension of any length and value for any player coming off an injury-riddled season would bring a skewed perception. Price has been one of the best goalies in the league for years and one bad season doesn’t change that. Will he lose that title in the next eight years? For sure, but it would be a shock to see the Canadiens move their poster boy any time soon. Their #1 defenseman is another question though. When Montreal acquired Shea Weber for P.K. Subban, they never could have anticipated that his body would break down so soon after. Injuries cost Weber all but 26 games last season and he will miss the beginning of 2018-19 as well. Weber doesn’t seem like the type of player who will retire early, but there is no guarantee that these injuries won’t slow him down significantly for the remainder of his contract. In fact, the only guarantee is that he will slow down over the next seven years. At $7.86MM, the Canadiens need Weber to be his dynamic two-way self. The team already has one overpaid stay-at-home defenseman in Karl Alzner and can’t afford another. If they could move Weber, they would.

Nashville Predators: None

GM David Poile flat out doesn’t sign bad contracts. Criticize the deals for Ryan Johansen and Kyle Turris if you like, but the bargain contracts throughout the rest of the lineup have allowed Poile to overpay for reliable centers and that is a team-building model that anyone can get behind.

New Jersey Devils: Corey Schneider – four years, $24MM remaining

The easy answer is that the Devils don’t feel any pressure to trade anyone on the roster. They currently have the lowest payroll in the league with nearly every player signed to a fair deal. Those who are overpriced – Travis Zajac and Andy Greene – play important leadership role and the only player signed to a substantially long-term deal is electric young blue liner Damon Severson. The one and only player that sticks out as a potential long-term cap problem is starting goaltender Corey Schneider. This may surprises some; after all Schneider trails only Tuukka Rask among active save percentage leaders. Schneider had been elite since arriving in New Jersey, but something started to change in 2016-17. His SV% fell to .908 and his GAA inflated to 2.82 and then things only got worse last season with a SV% of .907 and a GAA of 2.93. He was also limited to just 40 appearances this year and was outplayed by journeyman Keith Kinkaid. The Devils can’t count on Kinkaid to repeat his 2017-18 performance moving forward and if Schneider’s back-to-back bad years are more than a fluke, they can’t depend on him for four more years either. He’s not going to be a $6MM backup either. New Jersey will give Schneider the time he needs to return to form, but they may not hesitate if the right trade comes their way as well.

New York Islanders: Andrew Ladd – five years, $27.5MM remaining

The Islanders without John Tavares are a totally different animal. A six-year, $30MM extension for Josh Bailey now looks bad. A $5.75MM cap hit this season for free agents Leo Komarov and Valtteri Filppula signed to make up for Tavares’ lost production looks bad. The likes of Cal Clutterbuck, Casey Cizikas, and Matt Martin now look worse on a team that needs more offense and less grit. However, the one contract that looked miserable well before Tavares bolted to Toronto is Andrew Ladd and it is only going to get much worse. The veteran forward was intended to find chemistry with Tavares when he was signed to a seven-year, $38.5MM contract two years ago. Instead, Ladd has just 60 points over the past two seasons combined and has by all accounts been relegated to a bottom-six role. The 32-year-old will now be asked to take a bigger role in Tavares’ stead and that is a scary proposition. The Islanders aren’t in any cap trouble, but the team should be thinking rebuild and would likely take any offer at all to rid themselves of Ladd.

New York Rangers: Brendan Smith – three years, $13.05MM remaining

Has any free agent contract in recent memory soured as quickly as Brendan Smith’s? Smith signed a four-year deal with the Rangers last June and was expected to play a top-four role for the team for years to come. By February, he had been placed on waivers and buried in the AHL. Smith played in only 44 games with New York and saw less and less ice time as the season wore on and he continued to turn the puck over at an alarming rate and cost his team goals. Now what? One would assume that Smith will be given a second chance this season, but the relationship between he and the team may be beyond repair. There is no doubt that the Rangers would take a re-do on that deal and would move him if possible. Marc Staal is another player that New York wouldn’t mind moving, but as a player who can eat minutes and provide solid play most of the time, his $5.7MM contract seems like nothing next to Smith’s $4.35MM deal.

Ottawa Senators: Bobby Ryan – four years, $29MM remaining

No contract in the league has become as notorious for being labeled a “bad deal” that the team is desperate to trade like Bobby Ryan’s. The Senators are so determined to move on from Ryan that they are trying to force Erik Karlsson trade suitors to take the overpaid forward as well. At one point in time, $7.25MM per year for Ryan seemed like a fair deal. At 23 years old he was a 71-point player with the Anaheim Ducks and even after moving to Ottawa, Ryan started his tenure with three straight seasons in the 50-point range. However, the last two years have been very different. Ryan has only suited up for 62 games in each campaign and has looked like a different player on offense. At his best, he looks disinterested and lucky to be in the right place at the right time and at his worst he costs his team goals. Ryan has managed to register only 58 points combined over the past two years; he had 56 alone in 2015-16. Ryan may just need a change of scenery to jump start what used to be dynamic goal-scoring game, but the Senators don’t care about that. All he is to them is a waste of cap space and of owner Eugene Melnyk’s dwindling wealth. They want him gone at any cost.

Look out for Part III of this three-part series early next week…

 

Snapshots: Forsberg, Korn, Karlsson

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When the Chicago Blackhawks went out and signed Cam Ward this offseason, it created a situation where the team has three goaltenders on one-way contracts. Corey Crawford, the expected starter, is working his way back from an upper-body injury (most likely a concussion) and is expected to be ready for the start of the year—though today admitted he still is “not 100 percent” yet. The team also has Anton Forsberg, acquired in last summer’s Artemi Panarin–Brandon Saad trade on a contract worth $750K at the NHL level.

Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times spoke with head coach Joel Quenneville at today’s Blackhawks Convention, who admitted they won’t be carrying three goaltenders. As Lazerus explains, that means Forsberg will likely be placed on waivers at some point before the start of the season, giving every other team a chance at the 25-year old goaltender. Forsberg posted a .908 save percentage last season but simply wasn’t good enough to carry the load after Crawford was ruled out, something that Ward will have to try should the starter experience any setbacks or new injuries this year.

  • Mitch Korn will be joining Barry Trotz with the New York Islanders this season, after being named Director of Goaltending for the organization yesterday. Korn has been with Trotz for years, including during his time with the Nashville Predators. He’s been credited with developing (or at least polishing) goaltenders like Pekka Rinne, Braden Holtby and even Dominik Hasek over the years, a feat he’ll have to try and repeat in New York. The Islanders do have talent in their crease, especially with newcomer Robin Lehner who has shown brilliance at times throughout his NHL career but can’t seem to find much consistency. Though Korn will certainly work with Lehner and Thomas Greiss this season, his real task will be developing young Linus Soderstrom and eventually Ilya Sorokin into the elite goaltenders many believe both to have the talent to become. S0rokin is already one of the best goaltenders in the KHL, and could likely already step directly into the NHL as a starter if the Islanders could convince him to come to North America.
  • Anyone worried about Erik Karlsson’s health this season after a recovering ankle caused his play to suffer in the first half of 2017-18 need not worry, as the Ottawa Senators captain told Chris Stevenson of The Athletic (subscription required) that he’s all healed up. Karlsson dubbed his ankle 110 percent, saying that “it shouldn’t be an issue for me whatsoever” in 2018-19. You can be sure that any interested teams are listening closely, as the massive package that would be required to land Karlsson in trade would only be worth it for his former self. The 28-year old Karlsson still recorded 62 points last season after a late-season surge, but clearly wasn’t himself early on. If he’s back to the Norris-caliber defenseman he’s been for much of his career, he’ll make almost any acquiring team a powerhouse immediately.

Ottawa Senators Sign Adam Tambellini

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The Ottawa Senators have signed some forward depth, adding Adam Tambellini on a one-year two-way contract. The deal will pay Tambellini $650K at the NHL level and just $85K in the AHL. Tambellini was not issued a qualifying offer from the New York Rangers and became an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

It was a surprise when Tambellini, 23, didn’t receive a qualifying offer this summer, since he’d been a solid player in the Rangers organization for the past three seasons. Scoring at least 13 goals and 32 points in each of his professional seasons, the third-round pick could have been given another two-way contract in 2018-19. He is no longer waiver-exempt, but it seems unlikely that any team would claim him at this point in his career. For the Senators he’ll have to go through the same process, but without any NHL experience to speak of he’ll likely clear with no problem.

For Ottawa, he’ll join a Belleville Senators team that is looking for offense after scoring just 194 goals last season. That put them near the very bottom of the league, something they’ll need to change if they are to compete for the Calder Cup playoffs. Tambellini can certainly help the AHL squad, but there isn’t much reason to think he’ll play a big role for Ottawa this season.

Poll: Should The Ottawa Senators Trade Mark Stone?

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The Ottawa Senators have just two weeks to sign Mark Stone before an arbitrator awards a one-year contract that would send him to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019. His hearing is scheduled for August 3rd, after which there will still be a short window to get a deal done before the one-year deal is awarded. Getting him signed to a multi-year contract appears to be a priority, but what if the team can’t get him to sign this summer?

If Stone makes it to the arbitration award and the Senators decide not to walk away from it, it would put them in an interesting situation. He wouldn’t be eligible to sign an extension—or even discuss one—until January 1st, 2019 since he’s on a one-year deal, which would also put him just a few months from the end of the season and a potential bidding war for his services on the open market. After all, Stone has developed into one of the most consistent two-way wingers in the NHL and put up 62 points in just 58 games during the 2017-18 season. His ability to create turnovers and strip unsuspecting players of the puck is almost unmatched around the league, and he can be used in many different offensive roles depending on the situation. Though there are other top forwards scheduled for free agency next offseason, Stone would be right among them as one of the top options available.

So, if there is any indication that Stone won’t sign a multi-year contract in the next two weeks should the Senators consider trading him? The team has already lost Mike Hoffman this summer to the Florida Panthers, and traded Dion Phaneuf at the deadline to free up some cap space last season. If it’s to be believed that captain Erik Karlsson is the next one out the door, what is left for Stone to accomplish this season for the club? The Senators aren’t expected to compete for the playoffs let alone the Stanley Cup, and could be several years away from contention given that they also owe their 2019 first-round pick to Colorado for Matt Duchene—who is also scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in 2019. Would moving Stone following his arbitration hearing be the ideal time? Should the team be considering it even if they can work out a multi-year deal with their 26-year old forward? Or is waiting to see how the team reacts this year the best option?

Cast your vote below and explain how you’d be approaching the situation in Ottawa if you were GM Pierre Dorion. Is Stone part of the turnaround, or just an asset to get a head start on the incoming rebuild?

Should the Ottawa Senators trade Mark Stone?
Yes 55.64% (538 votes)
No 44.36% (429 votes)
Total Votes: 967

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