SENATORS ARE SELF-DESTRUCTING
Tight-fisted team quickly becoming a shell of last year’s eastern conference finalist
“I think the whole situation there is f----- up. That’s the best way to put it.”
That comment, which sums up what Ottawa Senators fans are feeling these days, came from a former player who was part of last year’s playoff team. Based on the amount of turnover in the last year, it could have come from anyone — current players included.
That’s the mess the Senators find themselves in. A team that was a goal away from reaching last year’s Stanley Cup final has spent the past 12 months systematically destroying everything that was once good about the roster. A toddler kicking apart a sandcastle has shown more restraint.
It all started when the team chose not to protect heart-andsoul defenceman Marc Methot in last June’s expansion draft. A few months later, Kyle Turris was sent to Nashville in a three-way trade for Colorado’s Matt Duchene that also included Ottawa’s first-round pick.
Then Dion Phaneuf and his US$7-million cap hit were shipped off to Los Angeles last week. On Friday, another doozy: the Senators completed a threeway transaction with Pittsburgh and Vegas that sent centre Derick Brassard, prospect forward Vicent Dunn and a draft pick to the Penguins, and landed the Senators defenceman Ian Cole, prospect goalie Filip Gustavsson and two draft picks, including the Pens’ first rounder.
Now, with the team stuck in second-last place in the Eastern Conference standings and the trade deadline approaching, the real destruction is about to begin.
Erik Karlsson, a defenceman so special that a year ago GM Pierre Dorion said God created him on the eighth day, could be gone in the next two days. In doing so, the Senators are in the process of robbing their fans of a two-time Norris Trophy winner who is not only regarded as the best defenceman in the NHL, but is arguably one of the top three players in general.
Not even Judas would have been this cruel.
“Look at the guys who had an impact there and now they’re all gone. It doesn’t make much sense,” said the former Senators player, who requested anonymity.
“There’s so much going on behind the scenes that I don’t know who’s pulling the strings, but I feel bad because the fans there are so awesome. I loved playing there and it’s got to be so hard for them because we were one goal away from going to the Stanley Cup final last year and then there’s this.
“I don’t want to badmouth the team, but I didn’t want to leave. I was very happy there. I was frustrated when I left.”
How did the Senators get to this point? How did a team go from playing in Game 7 of last year’s Eastern Conference final to sinking to the bottom of the standings with no real end in sight? Well, money is a large part of it. Despite reaching the third round of the playoffs, Ottawa didn’t sell out all of its home games. This year, in an attempt to increase ticket demand, the team removed 1,500 to 1,700 seats from the upper bowl. Yet according to espn.com, the Senators rank 24th in home attendance.
The seats aren’t the only things that have been tossed out lately.
Methot, Karlsson’s longtime defence partner and friend, was left unprotected in the expansion draft in part because he was earning $4.9 million.
Turris, who signed a six-year, $36-million extension with Nashville after the November trade, said ownership — not management — was unwilling to pay him the same amount.
And Karlsson’s impending exit is the result of comments he made in December, when he stated: “when I go to market, I’m going to get what I’m worth and it’s going to be no less, no matter where I’m going.”
So now the Senators are rebuilding, or removing, whatever you want to call it.
Aside from Karlsson, the team has made Mike Hoffman, Cody Ceci and pretty much everyone not named Thomas Chabot or Colin White available. Maybe a fresh look is necessary for a team that overachieved during last year’s playoff run. But optically, it’s not a good look after what has transpired in the last 12 months.
As the former player said, “There’s a lot of bad s--- going on over there.”
Will Erik Karlsson get moved before Monday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline? If so, which teams are not only interested but can also afford him? Here is a look at five possible suitors, with plenty more expected in the summer if he’s still available.
This seems like the most obvious place for Karlsson to end up before the trade deadline, because it would give the Lightning two solid cracks at the Stanley Cup. Plus, Tampa Bay has the resources to pull it off. If Ottawa can get 21-year-old defenceman Mikhail Sergachev, a first-round pick and a prospect such as Cal Foote or Boris Katchouk, GM Pierre Dorion would be happy.
The Rangers are rebuilding, but no one put a timeline on when it would be complete. With Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh and other big-time contracts coming off the books, the Rangers could have the cap space to pull it off.
Ottawa would probably want J.T. Miller, either 2017 firstrounder Lias Andersson (7th) or Filip Chytil (21st), as well as the expected first-rounder acquired in the Nash trade.
Having two Karlssons on the team would mean William Karlsson would have to add a W to the back of his jersey, but the confusion is worth it if the Golden Knights could win a Stanley Cup in their first year. Let Ottawa pick two of the three first-rounders chosen in last year’s draft (Cody Glass, Nick Suzuki and Erik Brannstrom) and toss in this year’s firstround pick.
The Oilers hired Paul Coffey to work with their defence, but what they’re missing is someone who plays like a Hall of Fame defenceman. The money would have to match up, so any trade would include Ryan NugentHopkins or Leon Draisaitl, as well as a first-round pick in either 2018 or 2019. It’s steep. But you know GM Peter Chiarelli isn’t afraid of trading top picks.
Something needs to change in Buffalo and after missing the playoffs in what will be seven straight seasons, it needs to change in a hurry. Karlsson, who would be at home wearing blue-and-yellow and passing the puck to Jack Eichel, would cost Sam Reinhart, prospects Alex Nylander or Casey Mittelstadt, as well as the first overall pick in either 2018 or 2019.