On Thursday, Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion poured cold water on any notion that pending restricted free agency Alex DeBrincat will be traded. “We’ll just see where it goes at the end of the year, and if we sign a contract with him before then, we’ll see what happens, but he’s not getting traded,” Dorion said while speaking on TSN 1200 on Thursday.
The Senators acquired DeBrincat prior to the 2022-23 season in exchange for the team’s first and second-round draft picks in 2022 as well as a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL draft. “The ability to add someone who is a consistent goal-scorer, someone whose age fits in with a lot of our core, someone that is a competitor, someone who has a proven track record,” Dorion said at the time of the deal.
DeBrincat has tallied 18 goals and 44 points across 53 games in his first season in Canada’s capital, adding 180 shots, 90 hits, and 21 power-play points to his ledger. A draft steal in the second round at pick No. 39 in the 2016 draft, DeBrincat has twice scored 41 goals in his five-year career and at least 28 in four of the five, including the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season.
Who Could be Dealt?
While Dorion also said defenseman Travis Hamonic won’t be traded, the focus on the young Senators will be who is going to be shipped out as part of their ascension up the Eastern Conference ladder.
Along with Hamonic, veterans Austin Watson, Tyler Motte, and Derick Brassard are pending unrestricted free-agent veterans that could be of use to contending clubs. Motte fetched the Canucks a fourth-round pick in a trade with the Rangers prior to last season’s deadline and keep net a similar return for a team looking for a fourth-line contribution. Watson could also fill a need with his grit and physicality in a bottom-six role.
The club would surely like to get rid of some if not all of defenseman Nikita Zaitsev’s $4.5 million cap hit for next season, but he’s been healthy scratched throughout the season. He’s skated in just 24 games with four assists and a minus-four rating in that time. He also owns a 45.3% Corsi For% at even strength this season, according to Hockey Reference, and a 47.1% mark for his career. Suitors for Zaitsev will be few and far between.
There have been whispers the Senators are interested in bringing in Mackenzie Weegar who could be on the block less than a full season into his Calgary Flames tenure. Whether the Sens are willing to dip into their prospect pool and draft capital to significantly upgrade their blueline remains to be seen, but they have limited assets to sell at this year’s deadline.
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