Adamo Marinelli
March 25, 2022
The Senators made four moves at the trade deadline and also resigned a crucial piece of their current team. Let’s examine and grade all their moves.
Ottawa Senators acquire: F Mathieu Joseph and a fourth-round pick
Tampa Bay Lightning acquire: Nick Paul
Grade: B+
Nick Paul was having a career year with the Ottawa Senators. Before he was traded, he had a career-high 131 shots and a career-high 11 goals and the season isn’t even over yet. He also had seven assists and 18 points, which has helped the team immensely on offense. In addition to contributing on offense, he has also been very reliable on defense and was a factor on both the powerplay and the penalty kill. He looked to be a long-term piece on the current Senators’ roster, but the writing was on the wall that he would be traded after he and the organization were not able to come to a contract agreement. He was offered a four-year deal with an AAV of $2.5 million but wanted an AAV of closer to $3.25 million. However, I think the Senators got significant value for a player of Paul’s talent, something they have failed to do with players in the past.
Mathieu Joseph is a talented, young player and will provide a boost to this young offense. He is a good skater, his distribution and passing are good and his shooting and hockey IQ are above average for a young player like him. He is 25 entering his prime and his current cap hit is less than $800k per year. His next contract will likely be in the $1 to $1.5 million range per year, cheaper than Paul’s. He will be a good addition to the Senators offensively and will also chip in on defense too. Also, who knows, the fourth-round draft pick could be something special.
Ottawa Senators acquire: D Travis Hamonic
Vancouver Canucks acquire: a 2022 3rd round pick (originally was Vancouver’s pick, was traded to Vegas before being traded to Ottawa)
Grade: C+
Travis Hamonic is still a decent defenseman, but he is on the other side of his prime at 32 years old and has struggled with injury issues as of late. He has only played 24 of the Canucks’ 64 games this season and has made minimal contributions on offense with only three goals, four assists, and seven points. Hamonic is still decent defensively but given Ottawa’s struggle on defense this season outside of Thomas Chabot, they need a star, not someone who is decent. At 32 years old, a cap hit of $3 million a year is pretty pricy for someone who isn’t as good as he was a few years ago.
The biggest question mark behind this trade is why Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators’ organization would give up a valuable third-round pick for not only a defenseman who is not only past his prime but has been on waivers and went unclaimed by the other 31 teams in the league. If management has a plan for Hamonic, whether it be to mentor the younger defensemen and play a role on the blue line for Ottawa or flip him for other assets that’s one thing, but I think the Sens should have gotten another pick or player in return given Hamonic’s large contract. Especially considering the Canucks saved a lot of cap space by moving Hamonic and used the pick they got from the Sens to acquire Travis Dermott from the Leafs who is a better defenseman than Hamonic. I do hope the Hamonic move works out, but we’ll see.
Ottawa Senators acquire: F Zach Senyshen and a 2022 fifth-round pick.
Boston Bruins acquire: D Josh Brown and a conditional 7th round pick in 2022
Grade: B
The Josh Brown experiment in Ottawa simply didn’t work out the way both parties wanted. His NHL debut for the Florida Panthers came over five years after the team initially drafted him. His development was slow and on numerous occasions this season, many defensive miscues by Brown resulted in Ottawa conceding a goal. However, it wasn’t only Brown who struggled defensively. It was the entire blue line unit minus the first line pairing of Chabot and Zub. He only recorded seven points (all assists) in 72 games with the Senators in two seasons; he never really proved to be an NHL-ready talent and has spent the majority of his career in the AHL. There were multiple games where head coach D.J. Smith refused to make him a healthy scratch. The Sens also should have sent him to the minors for further development and to increase his confidence which they didn’t.
It sucks to see him go, but it should help improve the defense as there is one less liability on the blue line. To make things even better, they also are getting an NHL-ready prospect from the Bruins, in Zach Senyshyn. He has only played 14 games for the Bruins in which he registered one goal and three assists since he was drafted in 2015 but he has had a fantastic career with the AHL’s Providence Bruins with 49 goals, 51 assists, and 100 points in five seasons. He has an excellent shot, is a great skater with tremendous speed and agility, and can deliver crisp, accurate passes to his teammates anywhere on the ice. He’s also good on special teams. He is currently playing on the Belville Senators right now and the Senators have numerous prospects from Belville they’ll be calling up in the near future, Senyshyn included. This would be a B+ but his limited NHL experience worries me a bit.
Ottawa Senators acquire: 2022 5th round pick
Winnipeg Jets acquire: F Zach Sanford
Grade: C-
Zach Sanford was acquired by the Senators from the St. Louis Blues before the season in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick and Logan Brown who didn’t work out well in Ottawa. Sanford, a veteran forward, a leader, and a Stanley Cup Champion was brought to Ottawa for many reasons including his ability to mentor young players and provide on offense. His best season saw him record 16 goals, 14 assists, and 30 points in the Blues’ Stanley Cup-winning season. Sanford had a pretty good year for the Senators.
He was good on special teams, wasn’t afraid to be physical to win puck battles, is a great skater, was one of the leaders in the locker room and he contributed offensively too, scoring nine goals and 17 points in 62 games. However, it became clear he wasn’t happy in Ottawa. Dorion was able to get a fifth-round pick, which could result in a good young player, but that is never certain with later draft picks. In addition, the Senators retained $1.6 million of Sanford’s $2 million cap hit which makes no sense. So essentially, they bought a fifth-round draft pick for $1.6 million. I understand the Jets are trying to tool up for a deep playoff run and thus they overpaid for Sanford. If he was sent to another team, the Sens may have gotten less in return. However, Sanford was having a decent season in Ottawa. He is 28, still in the middle of his prime, and could still help out the team. They gave up Logan Brown and a 4th for Sanford and in return only got a 5th. They either should’ve got more in return or kept him.
Ottawa Senators resign goaltender Anton Forsberg to a 3-year contract, $2.75 million AAV
Grade: A-
Anton Forsberg has been really good for the Ottawa Senators this season. He has a 14-13-2 record in 32 games started with one shutout, a .918% save percentage, a 2.75 goals-against average. Considering the Senators’ defense is not one of the best in the league this season that has dealt with numerous periods of struggles and numerous injuries to key players like Thomas Chabot, Forsberg has been very reliable this year and has kept his team in games day-in and day-out. Forsberg has been the best goalie on the team in the last two years with Matt Murray constantly dealing with injury and confidence issues and Filip Gustavsson has not been bad by any means, but he has experienced a regression this season and has worse stats than Anton Forsberg this season. This is a low cap hit for each of the next three seasons considering how much Forsberg has provided for this team.
However, unless the Senators make a goaltending move in the summer, they will have three goalies on one-way contracts next year. Forsberg, Murray who will carry a cap hit of 6.25 million next year, and Filip Gustavsson who will make $800k next year. If Forsberg can turn into a Craig Anderson type rather than a Mike Condon type, the Senators will have two young goalies to rely on. Plus, they also traded for a goalie prospect from the Calgary Flames.
The Senators’ biggest move of the deadline was trading Nick Paul to Tampa Bay. But the majority of their transactions were getting rid of excess players and salaries. However, acquiring a decent at-best defenseman like Hamonic, who is similar in skill to Del Zotto, who they already have on their roster, when they need a superstar to solidify their defense is confusing. Pierre Dorion thinks this is the Sens’ last deadline as a seller, and many Sens fans hope he’s right.
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