Trade-deadline primer for the Ottawa Senators

With the All-Star break in the rearview, the trade deadline looms large and is now just two weeks away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Ottawa Senators.

This season has not gone according to plan for the Sens.  A popular pick to push for a playoff spot, they have instead languished for most of the year and find themselves at the basement of the Atlantic Division even after a coaching and GM change.  Despite that, there is still a capable young core to try to build around so GM Steve Staios might not necessarily operate as a true seller in his first trade deadline at the helm.

Record

24-27-3, eighth in the Atlantic

Deadline status

Seller and Light Buyer

Deadline cap space

$109.9K on deadline day, 1/3 retention slots used, 47/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming draft picks

2024: BOS/DET 1st* OTT 1st^, OTT 2nd, DET 4th, OTT 4th, TB 4th, OTT 5th, OTT 6th
2025: OTT 1st^, OTT 2nd, OTT 3rd, OTT 4th, OTT 5th, OTT 6th, OTT 7th

*-Ottawa will receive the lowest of Boston and Detroit’s first-round picks as part of the Alex DeBrincat trade.

^-Ottawa must forfeit its own first-round pick in either 2024, 2025, or 2026 as punishment for failure to disclose Evgenii Dadonov’s no-trade list in a voided 2022 trade.

Trade chips

From the moment that they signed Vladimir Tarasenko to a one-year, $5M contract, speculation began regarding a possible trade if Ottawa found itself out of the playoff race as it clearly is.  After being one of the prizes of the deadline a year ago, he could be a key pickup again for someone this time around as he has 37 points in 52 games so far.  However, he does have a full no-move clause so he can control where he goes and he has recently changed agents.  The Sens are believed to value his off-ice contributions with their young core group so it’s not a guarantee that he moves.  If he does, Ottawa will likely need to retain the maximum 50% of his contract to maximize their return, one that should get them a fairly high draft pick.

The Senators added Dominik Kubalik from Detroit as part of the DeBrincat trade but he has struggled.  After putting up 20 goals and 45 points last season, he has been limited to just nine tallies and a dozen points overall.  At a $2.5M price tag, the Sens likely won’t be able to get much for him but he could be a buy-low candidate with a bit of upside for a team looking for depth.

On the non-rental side, Jakob Chychrun’s name has come up in plenty of speculation as well.  The Senators have made it clear that they’re not shopping him but with the 25-year-old having another year of team control at an affordable $4.6M, they’re going to get plenty of calls.  Chychrun has 30 points so far, the second-most of his career while he’s averaging nearly 23 minutes a night.  If a team strikes out on landing Calgary’s Noah Hanifin, Chychrun could very well be a fallback plan although the price to get him should be high; it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they match the return they gave up for him a year ago (a first-round pick and two second-rounders).

Another non-rental option is blueliner Erik Brannstrom.  While he’s on an expiring contract, he’s controllable through restricted free agency through the 2026-27 campaign.  An offensive defenseman at the lower levels, Brannstrom has failed to make a significant impact on that front, notching just 12 in 48 games so far while he’s averaging just 15:43 per game.  Owed a $2M qualifying offer, it feels like he’s trending toward non-tender territory if he stays in Ottawa so he’d be a potential buy-low candidate if a team wants to take an early look to see if he’d fit better in another system.

Other potential trade chips: F Mathieu Joseph, F Mark Kastelic, F Jiri Smejkal, D Lassi Thomson

Team needs

1) Cap space – If Ottawa wants to try to add a piece, they need to free up cap room.  If they need to call up a player for the stretch run, they need cap room.  Basically, the Sens need to move out someone first to give themselves some much-needed flexibility before they can attempt to do much of anything else.

2) Veteran leadership – This has been a long-reported goal since Staios took over for former GM Pierre Dorion.  While the Senators have some veterans including Claude Giroux and Travis Hamonic, this is still a fairly young core for the most part.  They believe that bringing in the right veteran piece or two could help this team take a step forward.  They’re known to have interest in Chris Tanev as the type of veteran addition they want for the back end but that would make more sense for an offseason move than an in-season one.  But if they can find a bottom-six forward that fits the bill, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them try to add that piece now.