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Trade Deadline Primer: Ottawa Senators

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The trade deadline looms and is now just a week 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.

After a flurry of high-profile acquisitions in the summer of 2022, expectations were that the Ottawa Senators would compete for a playoff spot. This didn’t look very likely as the calendar flipped to 2023, but a 7-2-1 run in their last ten games has brought them back to life. The Senators haven’t made the playoffs since their miracle run in 2017, but now sit within six points of the final wildcard spot in the jam-packed Eastern Conference.

The biggest asset the Senators have at the trade deadline is cap space. Ottawa is one of the few teams who can add significant salary this season. This opens up endless possibilities for Dorion to get creative to facilitate a blockbuster trade, take on bad contracts, or act as a middleman and retain salary to acquire more assets.

In terms of on-ice assets, the Senators do have a few UFA veterans who could be of interest to teams that are looking to shore up their depth.

Cam Talbot has had a forgettable first season in Ottawa. Between injuries and poor play, he has significantly hurt his stock as he heads to free agency this summer. He was acquired last July from the Minnesota Wild in a goalie swap for Filip Gustavsson. Since the trade, Gustavsson has flourished in the Twin Cities, while Talbot has failed to find his game. This has led to Talbot being mentioned on trade rumor boards for over a month. Talbot may not fetch the Senators much more than a late-round pick, but could be of interest to teams looking to add a veteran backup.

One last piece that could be of interest to teams looking to add toughness is Austin Watson. The former Nashville Predator has just six points this season in 52 games, but any acquiring team wouldn’t be adding the former first-round pick for his offensive game. Watson has 63 PIMs this season and has been one of a handful of veterans tasked with mentoring a young Ottawa Senators forward group. Watson could likely be had for a late-round pick should a team look to add toughness.

2) Starting Goaltender: Ottawa hasn’t had stability between the pipes since Craig Anderson took them to within a goal of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017. While Anton Forsberg had a career year last year, his numbers fell off a cliff this season, leading to another year of instability in the Ottawa crease. The Senators do see 22-year-old Mads Sogaard as their goaltender of the future, however injuries and uneven play have stunted his young career. The 6-7 netminder has shown promise in limited NHL action, but with the Senators moving out of the rebuilding phase, it may be time to acquire a stable NHL-ready starting goaltender.

Ottawa Senators Recall Jacob Larsson

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The Ottawa Senators recalled defenseman Jacob Larsson from the AHL’s Belleville Senators this morning, per a team tweet. The move continues a busy season on the NHL/AHL wire for Larsson, marking his sixth recall of the 2022-23 season, CapFriendly lists.

Despite the numerous recalls, Larsson has primarily served as an experienced insurance policy for Ottawa. The 25-year-old defender has suited up just seven times for the Senators in 2022-23, and due to his low games played total, he still hasn’t required waivers since clearing them before the season. He will need to clear waivers again if he plays three more games or stays on the NHL roster for 10 more days.

Larsson comes up to the NHL roster to replace the spot vacated by Nikita Zaitsev, who the Senators traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday in exchange for future considerations. Drafted 27th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in 2015, Larsson has two goals and eight assists in 37 games for Belleville this season.

It was a short stint in the minors for Larsson, who Ottawa reassigned to Belleville on Monday after appearing in four straight games. A puck-moving defender, Larsson’s NHL play has been passable this season in limited ice time.

At 25, the development track on Larsson is nearing its end. With his waiver-exempt status close to expiration, Larsson could stay on the Senators’ roster as an extra defender for most of the season’s remainder.

Chicago Blackhawks Acquire Nikita Zaitsev

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The Ottawa Senators have traded defenseman Nikita Zaitsev to the Chicago Blackhawks, in a move that concludes the Senators’ widely-reported efforts to find a taker for Zaitsev before the March 3rd trade deadline.

The Senators have dealt Zaitsev, a 2023 second-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-rounder to Chicago for future considerations, effectively paying the Blackhawks two draft choices to take on Zaitsev’s $4.5MM AAV contract, one that runs through the end of next season. Of note is the fact that the Senators will save nearly $6MM in real cash through this deal.

Senators general manager Pierre Dorion issued the following statement regarding the trade:

We’re pleased to afford Nikita a fresh start. He’s a pro’s pro who showcased himself to be a caring teammate and quiet leader throughout his Sens tenure. We’re thankful for his time in Ottawa and wish he and his family the best in his next chapter.

Twelve days ago, we covered how the Senators were reportedly “actively trying to move” Zaitsev and his hefty cap hit. It’s a deal that should not come as a surprise, as the Blackhawks don’t have any plans to compete for the next few seasons, so they get to add to their stockpile of draft picks by taking on a cap hit that is of little consequence to their overall plans.

While $4.5MM for this season and next is no small number in today’s flat-cap environment, the prize of this deal for the Blackhawks is Ottawa’s second-rounder this season, which could very well be a pick in the first half of the second round. The quality of this summer’s draft is widely considered to be deeper than in past years, so the Blackhawks are adding a pick that they likely believe can possibly land them an impact player down the line.

This season, Zaitsev has played in just 28 NHL games, averaging the fewest minutes per game of any season in his NHL career.

The 31-year-old cleared waivers earlier this year, and will now join Petr Mrazek and Jason Dickinson, two other cap-related castoffs on Chicago’s roster.

It’s unclear what Chicago’s plans for Zaitsev are at this current moment, as the right side of their defense seems set with Seth Jones, Connor Murphy, and Caleb Jones.

Perhaps they’ll move the younger Jones brother, a left-shot, back to the left side and move Isaak Phillips back to the AHL, placing Zaitsev on their bottom pairing.

Of note is a report from NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis, who says that it “sounds like there might be some immigration hurdles” when it comes to getting Zaitsev in the fold in Chicago, although the team does plan for him to join them soon. We saw immigration issues hold back Artturi Lehkonen’s debut with the Colorado Avalanche last year, so this will be a situation to monitor moving forward.

For Ottawa, this deal is about ending what turned out to be a pricey mistake from a few years ago. The Senators acquired Zaitsev, contract and all, from the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019 in a move that would be a major help to their division rival’s ability to navigate a tight salary cap situation. Zaitsev’s tenure in Ottawa was disappointing, as although he averaged over 22 minutes a night in his first two seasons, his play was often inconsistent and he eventually saw his role and importance in coach D.J. Smith’s defensive plans decline.

While it comes at the cost of a valuable draft pick, the Senators now have quite a bit more cap space to work with before this trade deadline. Per PuckPedia, they can fit $18MM in annual cap hits at this moment, and nearly $22MM at the deadline. Ottawa has long been rumored to be scouring the trade market in search of defensive help, so it’s possible that this trade was made with the hope of using Zaitsev’s vacated cap space to accommodate a pricey blueline reinforcement.

In any case, while it’s not an ideal trade for any team to have to make, it’s a reasonable cost for the Senators in this current cap environment. It’ll hurt to lose the draft picks, absolutely, but this is a team that has disappointed this season and is eager to finally emerge from their rebuild and make the playoffs. With that as the team’s overarching goal, it makes sense that Dorion would view clearing $4.5MM off his books for this season and next to be more valuable than a second-round pick this year and a fourth-rounder for the 2026 draft.

While many scramble to pick winners and losers for any trade made in the NHL today, this looks like the kind of deal where both teams can come out on top. The Senators clear valuable cap space to acquire more useful players, while the Blackhawks add a valuable draft pick to assist them in their rebuilding process. It’s a natural fit for each team and a deal that will likely leave both teams’ fanbases satisfied.

The trade was first reported by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. His destination, Chicago, was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. PostMedia’s Bruce Garrioch was first on the details of the trade. 

Pictures courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On Ottawa Senators Sale

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  • The ultimate price tag for any interested buyer in the Ottawa Senators could reach as much as $1 billion, according to NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, via the Bob McCown podcast. While the Senators are generally valued a decent ways below that billion-dollar threshold by most public evaluators, a competitive bidding process between several motivated parties could be what helps push up the price for the franchise in Canada’s capital. While it’s no guarantee the final number gets that high, a billion-dollar sale would represent a positive development for the league, as relatively recently the Pittsburgh Penguins (who are widely regarded to be in a more lucrative market than the Senators) went for a reported sale price of around $900MM.

New York Rangers Acquire Tyler Motte

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Tyler Motte is back on Broadway. The New York Rangers have acquired the veteran forward from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward Julien Gauthier and a conditional 2023 seventh-round pick, per a team announcement.

The Senators have announced the conditions on the deal: if the Rangers win a playoff series in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, the pick will improve to be the lower of the Rangers’ two 2023 sixth-round picks. (The Rangers also own the Winnipeg Jets’ sixth-rounder from last year’s Andrew Copp trade)

Senators GM Pierre Dorion gave the following statement regarding Gauthier, the centerpiece asset his team is receiving in this deal:

Julien Gauthier is a hard-working, good skating winger with a big body who routinely goes to the opponent’s net. His north/south game should be a nice addition to our lineup.

Dorion’s strategy with this trade mirrors how he approached the trade of Nick Paul last season. Rather than simply aim for the best draft pick possible, Dorion instead identified a player on the buying team’s roster that he believes can contribute to the Senators immediately.

Last season, the team acquired pending restricted free agent Mathieu Joseph. This year, it’s Gauthier, who is also a pending restricted free agent.

Both Motte and Gauthier have scored nine points this season, but for the Rangers this trade is about more than just scoring. After the acquisition of Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues, the Rangers’ need for a scoring-line right winger was met. Their biggest need heading into the deadline became an upgrade to their fourth line, as they were relying on relatively unproven commodities such as Gauthier and Jake Leschyshyn.

Now, they’ve added a player who not only brings a different flavor to their fourth line than what Gauthier could provide, but also brings a more well-rounded game and valuable playoff experience. Gauthier has just three playoff games on his resume, while the 27-year-old Motte helped the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final last season and got into 17 playoff games for the Vancouver Canucks in 2019-20.

Motte is the Senators’ leading penalty-killing forward and should be able to help a Rangers penalty kill that at the moment ranks just 15th in the league. He’s tenacious, always energetic, and a forward Rangers fans came to greatly appreciate despite his limited time on their roster. Both the New York market and head coach Gerard Gallant will surely be pleased that Motte is back in the fold.

For Ottawa, this trade is all about Gauthier. Motte got the Canucks a fourth-rounder in a trade last season, and while he’s not quite having as good of a season as he had last year, it’s hard to say that his decline alone causes his value to drop from a fourth-rounder all the way to a sixth or seventh-rounder.

Instead, this seems to be a case of Ottawa simply seeing something they like in Gauthier and preferring to add him to their roster over a slightly improved draft pick. The 25-year-old winger is, as Dorion noted, a player with size and strong skating ability. He’s routinely attacking the net when he gets offensive chances, but his ability as a finisher leaves much to be desired.

While he showed flashes in New York of the talent that made him a 2016 first-round pick, he ultimately was not able to find the night-to-night consistency to earn the trust of David Quinn or Gallant. Now, Senators head coach D.J. Smith will get a chance to see if anything can be made out of Gauthier’s impressive physical tools.

Pictures courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Ottawa Senators Make Tyler Motte Trade-Related Scratch, Recall Dillon Heatherington

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The Ottawa Senators have recalled Dillon Heatherington from the AHL’s Belleville Senators, per a team announcement. According to Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, this recall was made so that Heatherington could make the trip with the Senators to Boston for Monday’s game, adding a seventh defenseman to Ottawa’s roster.

While this move does not seem directly related to any trade conversations, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that “conversations have intensified” around Senators forward Tyler Motte.

It seems that beyond just this recall, even more Senators’ roster moves could be on the horizon. Garrioch adds that Motte will sit for Ottawa’s game today against the St. Louis Blues for trade-related reasons. While no deal has been completed yet, Garrioch notes that it’s being worked on.

As for the officially-announced transaction, the 27-year-old Heatherington now has a chance to return to the Senators’ lineup for the first time since late December, when he got into three games for head coach D.J. Smith’s team. In those three games, Heatherington averaged a shade over nine minutes of ice time per game, almost entirely at even strength. In total, the 2013 second-round pick has 23 games of NHL experience on his resume.

At the AHL level, Heatherington is more of a difference-maker. He currently serves as the captain of AHL Belleville and plays a top-pairing role for the team. While he isn’t a major offensive contributor (he has eight points in 39 games this season) he’s a valued leader, an AHL veteran with Calder Cup championship experience, and a capable defensive defenseman. He should be able to adequately fill a depth role for the Senators with this recall.

As for Motte, a deadline-season deal would mark his second mid-season trade in as many years. He was dealt to the New York Rangers last season and helped them on their run to the Eastern Conference Final. Motte is an energetic bottom-six forward who doesn’t provide a ton on the offensive end but is a respected penalty killer.

With an expiring $1.35MM cap hit, it’s easy to see why a contending team would want to pull the trigger relatively early on a deal to acquire Motte, assuming the price is within reason. Last year, the Rangers paid a fourth-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks in order to acquire Motte, although the New York Post’s Larry Brooks tweets that “the asking price is significantly higher” than it was last season to acquire Motte this year.

Maple Leafs Made Strong Pitch To Sign Chris Neil In 2009

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  • Long-time Senators winger Chris Neil had his #25 retired by the team on Friday night but Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays that the 15-year player nearly signed with rival Toronto back in 2009. The Maple Leafs made the high-money offer to Neil who, at the time, was coming off a down season but he opted to take a little less to stay with Ottawa.  In the end, he suited up for more than 1,000 games with the Sens, recording more than 2,500 penalty minutes.

Pierre Dorion Speaks On Senators Trade Deadline Plans

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The Ottawa Senators are in a tricky situation. Similar to the Buffalo Sabres, who sit just a few points ahead of them in the Atlantic Division standings, they have shown some significant growth with a roster full of young, inexperienced talent. The playoffs are likely out of reach this season, but after so many lean years (they last had a winning record in 2016-17), adding at the trade deadline doesn’t seem out of the question.

Even just as a reward for the hard play the team has shown this year, it might be worthwhile to bring in a little boost for the group. More complicated is the fact that the team is going through the process of sale, and increased ticket sales over the last 30 games could be beneficial.

You could tell that there is still some indecision on the part of general manager Pierre Dorion when he met with reporters including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia today. In detailing his deadline plans, he admitted that the next seven games would determine his strategy one way or another, but there were a few things that he has already decided.

First, is that Alex DeBrincat will not be traded. There had been some speculation regarding the diminutive sniper, because of how his contract is structured moving forward. The 25-year-old DeBrincat is owed a $9MM qualifying if the Senators want to maintain his RFA rights, which would result in a one-year deal that walks him right to unrestricted free agency in 2024. Despite his age, he will qualify for UFA status early because he has already finished six seasons in the NHL.

Ottawa could get a significant piece back for him at the deadline recouping the assets they sent Chicago at the draft. But getting DeBrincat for another season and trying to sign him long-term seems to be the plan for Dorion at this point, kicking the can on a decision down the road. If he’s still unsigned come this time next year, his name will certainly be in the news again.

Second, Derick Brassard will also not be dealt. The veteran forward is coming up on 1,000 games in the NHL, a milestone he will reach with the Senators, his hometown team (Brassard was born in Hull, just across the river from Ottawa). Technically there is still time for that to happen and then be traded, but it doesn’t seem like that is in the cards. Brassard, 35, is on a one-year, $750K contract and will remain with the team for the stretch run.

Third, Dorion admitted that he will add a defenseman if he can, but cautioned that the market is difficult to work with right now. When Travis Hamonic’s name was brought up as a potential chip, he said he likely won’t move him – not quite as determined as in the case of DeBrincat or Brassard.

Part of that need for defense is due to a new injury for Nick Holden, which has moved him to injured reserve. The Senators now have just six defensemen on the roster, as Holden joins Jake Sanderson on IR.

Ottawa Senators Place Nick Holden On Injured Reserve

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  • The Ottawa Senators placed defenseman Nick Holden on injured reserve Wednesday, CapFriendly reports. Holden is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury that kept him out of yesterday’s storybook shootout victory over the New York Islanders. The 35-year-old veteran of 636 NHL games has a goal and nine assists in 47 appearances this season, and his 10 points are tied for third among Senators defensemen with Travis Hamonic.

Injury Notes: Pageau, Tinordi, Faber

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The New York Islanders are without one of their best depth pieces tonight against the Ottawa Senators. Jean-Gabriel Pageau is out for tonight’s game against his former team with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day, per the team.

Pageau sustained the injury at practice yesterday, says Stefen Rosner of NYI Hockey Now. Reportedly, Pageau was “clipped” during a drill and was slow to get up, yet stayed on the ice for the remainder of practice. The 30-year-old center has 10 goals and 29 points in 56 games this season. This is his first absence of the 2022-23 campaign.

  • Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi is out for the remainder of tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens with an undisclosed injury, the team said. The Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope notes that Tinordi had fallen awkwardly on a shift in the first period. Tinordi, 30, was claimed on waivers by the Blackhawks at the beginning of the season and has suited up in 26 games, recording five points.
  • One of the best prospects in hockey on one of the best teams in college hockey is out long-term. The Athletic’s Michael Russo agreed with reports today that Minnesota Wild defense prospect and University of Minnesota captain Brock Faber is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in the Kevin Fiala trade, Faber has 20 points in 30 games with Minnesota this year after representing the United States at the Olympics and World Junior Championships last season.

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