Senators trade deadline preview: Ottawa sellers with sights on future

There isn’t much mystery surrounding the Ottawa Senators’ trade deadline status. This North Division cellar-dweller is a seller, but will they find many trade partners?

Senators general manager Pierre Dorion is on the record predicting a quiet deadline period, not just for the Senators but for the entire NHL. That could change somewhat with the news that American-based players coming into Canada may only have to quarantine for seven days instead of 14.

Not that the Senators are likely to trade for a player to step into their lineup now, but the quarantine relief may help them add one of their college prospects late in the season, such as Jacob Bernard-Docker and Shane Pinto of North Dakota.

As for the selling part, with nine unrestricted free agents and some potentially useful playoff chips at forward and defence, Ottawa’s roster could easily fill a need here or there.

Might we see a rare Toronto-Ottawa deal, which would have the added benefit of a move within Ontario and no quarantine period for the traded player? Keep in mind that when the Senators acquired goaltender Anders Forsberg on waivers from Winnipeg, they were able to add him to their roster immediately by flying him to Ottawa on a charter flight from Manitoba. General managers know their provincial health rules as well as the NHL rulebook these days.

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RFAs and cap hit

F Brady Tkachuk, 21 | $925,000
F Drake Batherson, 22 | $736,666
D Artem Zub, 25 | $925,000
D Christian Wolanin, 26 | $900,000
G Filip Gustavsson, 22 | $761,666
G Marcus Hogberg, 26 | $700,000

UFAs and cap hit

F Ryan Dzingel, 29 | $3,375,000
F Clark Bishop, 24 | $700,000
F Micheal Haley, 34 | $700,000
F Derek Stepan (on IR), 30 | $6,500,000
F Artem Anisimov (on IR), 32 | $4,550,000
D Erik Gudbranson, 29 | $4,000,000
D Mike Reilly, 27 | $1,500,000
D Braydon Coburn, 36 | $1,700,000
G Anton Forsberg, 28 | $700,000

Draft picks

2021: 1st, 2nd, 2nd (San Jose Sharks), 3rd, 6th, 7th
2022: 1st, 2nd, 2nd (Tampa Bay Lightning), 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 7th (Sharks)

Needs

Unlike teams that are planning for this year’s post-season, Ottawa is not looking to add to their roster unless it’s something that makes sense beyond this season. If they could pick up a prospect or a draft pick for one of their unrestricted players, they would do so.

While they are headed toward another lottery pick, the Senators are not likely going to be able to stockpile picks as they did in 2020, when they had six selections in the first two rounds, including two top-five picks.

The Senators do have an extra 2021 pick in Round 2 (from San Jose, left over from the 2018 Erik Karlsson trade), but are lacking picks in the mid to later rounds – nothing in Round 4 or 5.

It shouldn’t be difficult to scoop a pick or two in this area, if not higher, from one of the many rentals they could offer up – with forward Ryan Dzingel and defenceman Mike Reilly being at or near the top of the list.

There has been interest shown in players still under contract, useful role forwards like Nick Paul or Connor Brown, but Dorion is not expected to part with either of them, as well as they have performed for Ottawa this season.

It was interesting to see the Senators activate defenceman Braydon Coburn for Thursday’s game against Toronto, in place of Christian Wolanin, who was placed on waivers. Coburn hadn’t played since March 4 against Calgary, when he was minus-3 in a 7-3 loss. That looked like a move to get Coburn seen ahead of the deadline, in case anyone might be interested in a big, veteran defenceman who was with the Stanley Cup-winning Lighting last season, although he only suited up for three playoff games. Coburn and Josh Brown have both played recently, after sitting out for long stretches.

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Potential assets to move

As they emerge from their rebuild, the Senators are growing ever more protective of their young, developing assets, beginning with Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson and Tim Stützle on down.

Their older players are almost all up for grabs, but realistically only a few have real trade value.

With Derek Stepan and Artem Anisimov out for the season with injuries, there go two potential trade chips. Defenceman Erik Gudbranson could provide veteran leadership and toughness to a contending team, but he can be a liability with the puck in his own end and still has $1.5 million on his remaining cap hit, which could be a deterrent for a team in cap trouble.

Asset No. 1: F Ryan Dzingel

If this feels like a movie you’ve already seen, that is understandable. Dzingel has already been on the Sens trade-bait board, having been dealt by Ottawa to Columbus at the 2019 deadline. Dzingel’s comfort level with the Senators organization that drafted him out of Ohio State in 2011 is apparent. He has scored five goals in 11 games since rejoining the Senators from Carolina via trade in February. With $1.3 million left on his remaining cap hit, Dzingel could be a fit for teams looking for speed on the wing, with an occasional scoring touch. Don’t expect the Senators to receive the same haul they did for Dzingel in 2019 – Anthony Duclair plus a second-round pick from the Blue Jackets.

If Dzingel doesn’t get moved, or even if he does, the Senators could have interest in signing him to a short-term deal over the summer if the price is right.

Asset No. 2: D Mike Reilly

Had you mentioned before the season that Reilly could be a prime trading chip, the reaction around town would have been, “Yeah, right. Good luck finding interest, there.” And yet, here we are. Reilly has been a consistent presence on the Senators’ top two pairings and with 14 points, all assists, Reilly is second only to Thomas Chabot among Ottawa D-men.

Reilly skates well, makes a nice breakout pass and while he is not stellar defensively (cue the Leon Draisaitl vid), could be a depth addition as a puck-mover for a playoff team. With only about $569,000 left on his daily cap hit, Reilly comes cheap.

Asset No. 3: C Chris Tierney

Unlike Dzingel and Reilly, Tierney does not have pending UFA status. He has a year left at $3.5 million, which could be a deterrent for many teams. Nevertheless, centres are always in demand and Tierney is a solid penalty killer currently on a bit of a scoring streak following a lengthy drought. Tierney has points in his past three games, including two game-winning goals. On the season he has five goals and 14 points.

Head coach D.J. Smith likes having Tierney, 26, as a mentor to young wingers like Stützle and Batherson. It’s a role Tierney stepped into after Stepan and Anisimov went down with injuries. While Tierney fills a need here, he probably doesn’t figure into long-term plans when the centre picture could include Josh Norris, Stützle, Shane Pinto and Colin White.

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Seattle Expansion considerations

There are benefits to being a rebuilding team. The Senators don’t have a lot of veteran players they need to protect and some of their youngest core players – Stutzle and Norris, for example – are exempt from the draft.

It won’t be hard to protect their most important pieces, from Tkachuk and Batherson up front to Chabot on defence. Considering most of their future blue-liners are still in the minors or college (Bernard-Docker, Jake Sanderson, Lassi Thomson, Erik Brannstrom, etc.) they shouldn’t lose any key defencemen.

A couple of interesting points where Ottawa is concerned:

One: they may choose to expose veteran players with mid-to-large contracts to see if Seattle cares to bite.

For example, while Evgenii Dadonov was signed in the off-season to replace the production lost with Duclair, Dadonov’s $5-million ticket through 2022-23 is a bit rich for a guy who has nine goals through 36 games and none in his last seven.

Similarly, Ottawa could expose defenceman Nikita Zaitsev and his $4.5-million contract, which doesn’t expire until 2024. Zaitsev does have a limited no-move clause which would have to be considered. Zaitsev has played somewhat of an outsized role with the Senators because they are thin on defence, but that is about to change in the next year or two. Josh Brown just earns $1.2 million (through 2021-22) but was a healthy scratch for much of the season. If he doesn’t get picked up a deadline deal, he could be unprotected.

Two: their goaltending situation is fascinating. If you had asked anyone three months ago who the Senators would protect in the draft it was simple: they protect Matt Murray, brought over in a trade from Pittsburgh to be Ottawa’s No. 1 goalie. Dorion promptly signed Murray to a four-year, $25-million deal.

However, Murray has had a terrible season, with some of the worst goalie stats in the league. Murray’s backup, Marcus Hogberg, has even worse numbers. And they are just now getting back on the ice from injuries suffered in recent weeks.

There is a legitimate case to be made that the Senators should protect either Joey Daccord or Filip Gustavsson, both of whom have performed brilliantly when called on for emergency duty, albeit in small sample sizes. Now, Daccord is out for the season with a suspected high-ankle sprain, further complicating things. Prior to the season, Daccord was the higher-rated goalie internally – he beat out Gustavsson in AHL Belleville last season and earned a three-year contract, the final year of which is one-way. Gustavsson is a pending RFA.

Let’s see how Gustavsson performs for the balance of the season, and if Murray gets back in and starts playing better. How would Murray feel to be left exposed, not get picked, and then expect to be motivated to be "the guy" here?

Chances are Seattle would want more experienced netminding than Daccord or Gustavsson could offer, taking a page out of the Las Vegas playbook with Marc-Andre Fleury. But Seattle could target a goalie prospect as well, here or elsewhere. The Kraken will have a lot of goalies around the league from which to choose. Still, it is going to be very intriguing to see who Ottawa protects in goal for this July 21 draft.