Ten months ago, the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators were linked by the question: “Which up-and-coming Atlantic Division club has the best chance to make the playoffs?”
The answer is a resounding, “neither.”
Another year of failure means the Sabres and Sens really, really want to make the leap next season, which has seemingly put both the seventh-overall pick (Ottawa) and 11th selection (Buffalo) in play for trades.
And those are spicy picks.
We’ve already seen the trade market start to shake out, with the New Jersey Devils acquiring Jacob Markstrom from Calgary on Wednesday without giving up another selection we thought might be in play, No. 10 overall.
Assuming the Devils hold at 10th now that they have their goaltender, there could still be some action ahead of (and behind them) leading up to the draft. With that in mind, let’s try to cobble together some swaps for the picks currently held by Ottawa and Buffalo.
Ottawa Senators receive
D Brandt Clarke
F Morgan Geekie
Los Angeles Kings receive
G Linus Ullmark, 30 per cent of salary retained by Boston
D Jakob Chychrun
Boston Bruins receive
7th overall pick in 2024 draft
Why Ottawa does it: The Sens are in everything-on-the-table mode. They could draft a fantastic defenceman with the seventh pick, but nobody who will be ready to play in the NHL five months from now. Clarke is an absolute stud, right-shot blue-liner who is ready for prime time after recording 46 points in 50 games this past season as an AHL rookie.
Sure, Ottawa could get more volume by parsing out the seventh pick and Chychrun — who is 12 months away from being able to leave on his own for nothing as a UFA — and moving them in separate deals, but the club would not receive that one golden piece like Clarke in that scenario. Oh by the way, the 21-year-old is also a native son who grew up playing hockey in the Ottawa region.
Geekie is a big body with team control who can help the Senators’ middle six.
Why Los Angeles does it: Like Ottawa, L.A. is at a breaking point. It’s just a different type of pressure being exerted. The Kings have lost three consecutive first-round series to the Edmonton Oilers and simply cannot stomach another early post-season exit. Rob Blake has certainly pushed chips in during previous summers, but it’s officially desperation season in Tinseltown. The GM has surely swatted away countless overtures for Quinton Byfield and Clarke before. However, the opportunity to bring in not one, but two difference-makers in the same transaction forces him to finally, reluctantly capitulate and relinquish one of his prospect treasures. He simply cannot go out onto the margins of the goalie market again and hope something works. Instead, he acquires a guy who won the 2023 Vezina Trophy.
Both Ullmark and Chychrun are entering the final year of their deals, but California has a way of hooking people in and Blake bets on his ability to keep at least the defenceman — and maybe the goalie, too — around long-term.
Ullmark, of course, nixed a deal to L.A. at the trade deadline four months ago, but this is an entirely different proposition than leaving your beloved teammates and uprooting your family right in the middle of the season.
Why Boston does it: This probably requires the least amount of explanation for any of the three teams involved here, which is why the B’s have to accept retaining at least a bit of the dollars in Ullmark’s final year. Having the top goalie pair in the league is no longer a luxury the Bruins can afford with Jeremy Swayman due for a new contract and clearly now the No. 1 man in Beantown. The Bruins already tried to trade Ullmark before the deadline and chances are it wasn’t going to net anything as tasty as the seventh-overall selection. This move would allow Boston to add a gem of a prospect to an understandably barren farm system.
Buffalo Sabres receive
F Martin Nečas
Carolina Hurricanes receive
11th-overall pick in 2024 draft
Why Buffalo does it: The last thing Buffalo needs to do is pitch another prospect to its fans. Western New Yorkers want the playoffs for the first time since 2011, not another kid who was almost born in that year. The Sabres bet on Nečas’ upside and ink the 25-year-old restricted free agent to an eight-year pact after promising him prime power-play time and a locked-in role on the top six. Sure, Buffalo would love to add a more rugged skater with high-end talent, but those are rare birds and Nečas still comes with a six-foot-two frame and untapped potential. He could be an 80-point player next season.
Why Carolina does it: Naturally, the Canes would love to get immediate help back for Nečas and maybe pocketing the 11th pick ahead of the draft can still achieve that. Like the Kings, Carolina is in need of a crease upgrade and could potentially shop No. 11 around and see what it could turn up. If an L.A. trade isn’t in the cards for the Bruins with Ullmark, would the B’s move him to Carolina for pick No. 11 and one year of Frederik Andersen to be Swayman’s backup? Worst case, new GM Eric Tulsky walks to the podium and takes a player who could be a serious difference-maker for Carolina in the not-too-distant future.
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