Senators defenseman Victor Mete has been a healthy scratch somewhat routinely as of late, and as a result, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Ottawa has given his agent Darren Ferris permission to speak to teams in an effort to facilitate a trade.
The 23-year-old was claimed off waivers from Montreal near the trade deadline last season and played a largely regular role for them down the stretch. That paved the way for the Sens to avoid arbitration with Mete as they agreed to a one-year, $1.2M contract back in August.
However, this year, things haven’t gone as well. Outside of a four-game stint in COVID protocol, Mete has been healthy all season but has played in just 31 of 57 games in 2021-22. When he has been in the lineup, he has basically been entrenched as a sixth defenseman, and accordingly, his 14:56 ATOI is a career low. With a $1.2M qualifying offer owed with salary arbitration eligibility again this summer, Mete currently stands as a possible non-tender candidate.
Despite his struggles, Dreger reports that there is some interest in Mete’s services, likely in the form of a draft pick coming the other way. If Ottawa is willing to retain half of his contract, that would lower the AAV for an acquiring team to just $600K or less than the league minimum. For cap-strapped teams wanting to add some low-cost depth, such a move would certainly make sense if Ferris is able to help facilitate a move between now and the March 21 trade deadline.
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