A report card on the GM’s trade record
Expect the team’s newly empowered GM to do some deals like these at the table
Off-season signings and waiver wire pickups have not made a positive difference, but there is reason to believe Pierre Dorion will fare well with his moves before the National Hockey League trade deadline on Monday.
Since taking over as Ottawa Senators general manager almost two years ago, Dorion has pulled the trigger on 13 deals, and his overall batting average is solid.
Dorion is also now in a position of power, with unrestricted free agent-to-be Johnny Oduya the only player he really has to move, and, if Jyrki (Kevin) Jokipakka could be sold as a “depth” guy for the playoffs, somebody will give up something for the veteran Oduya to at least serve in a similar role. Otherwise, Dorion could stand pat until summer, when other current sellers will also be looking to land impact players.
That stated, expect him to get heavily involved in the frantic, leaguewide activity in the next few days. This is what Dorion has done to date at the trade table:
JUNE 24, 2016
TRADED (to New Jersey Devils): 12th pick in 2016 (Michael McLeod) and 73rd pick in 2016 (Joey Anderson)
ACQUIRED: 11th pick in 2016 (Logan Brown)
BREAKDOWN: The Senators didn’t want to risk losing out on Brown once he made it through the Top 10. McLeod is a strong skating centre with 29 points in 27 games with the Mississauga Steelheads, but the Senators see in Brown a towering middleman with special puck skills. He has 18 goals and 23 assists for 41 points in 25 games with Windsor and Kitchener. The third-round pick was worth the flip to the Senators.
GRADE: None. Tough to evaluate before they’re in the NHL, but the Senators remain quite pleased with how things worked out.
JUNE 17, 2016
TRADED (to Calgary Flames): Alex Chiasson
ACQUIRED: Patrick Sieloff
BREAKDOWN: It was unlikely the Senators would tender a qualifying offer to Chiasson, who gave them just eight goals and six assists for $1.2 million despite all sorts of opportunity in 77 games in 2015-16. In that sense, they picked up Sieloff for nothing, and nothing was exactly what Sieloff gave the Senators at the NHL level, although he probably would have played some games by now if he hadn’t concussed Clarke MacArthur in his first Ottawa training camp. The 23-year-old defenceman could still get a call up after Monday’s trade deadline.
GRADE: C, with a shrug.
JULY 18, 2016
TRADED (to New York Rangers): Mika Zibanejad and a secondround pick in 2018 for Derick Brassard and a seventh-round pick in 2018
BREAKDOWN: The two players have almost identical numbers since switching places, although Zibanejad has missed time because of injury. The purpose of trading a big, young centre like him was to obtain a veteran with playoff experience, and the Sens made it to double overtime in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final last spring; Brassard was a star in their first-round elimination of the Boston Bruins. The fact Ottawa had to throw in a second-round pick very likely had to do with the fact the trade was consummated three days after the Rangers had to pay Brassard a $2-million bonus, a sum many teams would take over an unknown second rounder.
GRADE: B
NOV. 2, 2016
TRADED (to Pittsburgh Penguins): fifth-round pick in 2017 (Jan Drozg)
OBTAINED: Mike Condon
BREAKDOWN: We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — the Sens would not have made the playoffs last season without Condon, who stepped up from his backup role to win 19 games while Craig Anderson was away helping his wife fight cancer. From what we hear, at least one other team was poised to make a similar offer for Condon when Dorion swooped in.
GRADE: A+
JAN. 24, 2017
TRADED (to San Jose Sharks): Zack Stortini, Buddy Robinson and a seventh-round pick in 2017 (Matthew Hellickson)
ACQUIRED: Tommy Wingels
BREAKDOWN: Another deal in which the Senators felt they were giving up nothing, as Robinson played just seven NHL games over five seasons and was with the organization for two years only to provide leadership in the minors. Wingels arrived with experience, including 29 games in the playoffs, and added some speed, but made very little impact in 36 regular-season games (two goals, two assists) and nine games in the post-season.
GRADE: Another indifferent C
FEB. 1, 2017
TRADED (to Minnesota Wild): future considerations
ACQUIRED: Marc Hagel
BREAKDOWN: Minor-league deal
GRADE: None
FEB. 27, 2017
TRADED (to Vancouver Canucks): Jonathan Dahlen
ACQUIRED: Alex Burrows
BREAKDOWN: This one could turn into an F, especially with the contract extension the Senators gave Burrows that has one more season with a cap hit of $2.5M. But, despite an uproar from all those certain Dahlen will become a 30-goal scorer in the NHL, the kid came to North America in the fall and, after being sent to the Canucks’ American Hockey League farm team in Utica and a bout with mono, returned home. Some are wondering if he’ll come back. Burrows is baggage, but he helped the Senators’ playoff run last season with his experience, 11 points in 20 regular-season games and five more in the playoffs.
GRADE: C+, potential to drop
FEB. 28, 2017
TRADED (to Carolina Hurricanes): third-round pick in 2017 (Evan Barratt)
ACQUIRED: Viktor Stalberg
BREAKDOWN: Stalberg added just four points in 18 regular-season games and two more in 17 playoff contests, but his speed and penalty-killing abilities made him an effective addition.
GRADE: B-
MARCH 1, 2017
TRADED (to Calgary Flames): Curtis Lazar and Mike Kostka
ACQUIRED: Jyrki Jokipakka and a second-round pick in 2017 (Alex Formenton)
BREAKDOWN: This deal was criticized from this corner at the time, but we are now starting to doubt Lazar, the former first-round pick who has two goals in 45 games for the Flames and just 15 in 225 career outings. The speedy Formenton, a product of good scouting, looked promising during the NHL pre-season and has produced a point per game with the London Knights. But then, Lazar was a very promising junior as well.
GRADE: C
MARCH 6, 2017
TRADED (to New Jersey Devils): Future considerations.
ACQUIRED: Brandon Gormley
BREAKDOWN: Minor-league deal.
Grade: None.
NOV. 5, 2017
TRADED (to Colorado Avalanche): Shane Bowers, Andrew Hammond, a first-round pick in 2018 (top 10 protected) or 2019, a third-round pick in 2018
ACQUIRED: Matt Duchene
BREAKDOWN: The Senators also lost Kyle Turris in this threeteam deal that included the Nashville Predators, and for a few weeks it looked they were big-time losers in the trade. However, Duchene has regained his old form and has been outstanding for the past month and a half. With Bowers projected to be a third-line NHLer and the first-rounder-to-come so unpredictable, the Senators appear to be the clear-cut winners.
GRADE: B+
FEB. 13, 2018
TRADED (to Los Angeles Kings): Dion Phaneuf and Nate Thompson
ACQUIRED: Marian Gaborik and
Nick Shore
BREAKDOWN: At one time, getting rid of Phaneuf ’s bad contract was thought impossible, but it got done even if it meant the Senators retained 25 per cent of his salary. They picked up another bad deal when they took Gaborik, but he’ll be cheaper to buy out in the summer. Dorion could have got a draft pick for Thompson, who has another year on a deal that proved to be a mistake. Shore, however, has proved he can play in the league and, with his quickness, might be back as a fourth liner.
GRADE: B-
FEB. 15, 2018
TRADED (to Chicago Blackhawks): Chris DiDomenico
ACQUIRED: Ville Pokka
BREAKDOWN: DiDomenico has strong puck skills and hockey sense, but just doesn’t skate well enough to be a full timer on the team the Senators want to be. The once-promising Pokka was needed on the Belleville blueline and will likely get his first NHL chance in Ottawa soon.
GRADE: C, with one final shrug