Despite a respectable 9-4-2 record over their past 15 games, the Ottawa Senators sit 28th overall in league standings. It’s no secret the team will be a seller leading up to the NHL trade deadline March 8.
With defenseman Jakob Chychrun and forward Vladimir Tarasenko ranking near the top of various “Trade bait” lists, it’ll be interesting to see if one or both of these players will be on the move
General Manager Steve Staios and Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations Dave Poulin are obviously working the phones to constantly improve their club. There’s been an open desire from the Senators’ management group to add another veteran piece or two to the current roster mix, not to mention a wanting to acquire a dependable right-shot defenseman.
Unless there’s an opportunity to get a head start on 2024-25, such as adding an RD; Chris Tanev (Calgary), Matt Dumba (Arizona), and Sean Walker (Philadelphia) among them, all pending unrestricted free agents who the Senators may be interested inking for next season, the upcoming deadline should be about freeing up space for the offseason.
The Senators currently possess $13.6 million in cap space for next season. Pending restricted free agents, Shane Pinto and Parker Kelly will need to be signed, which should reduce the available cap number to below $10M. D-man Erik Brannstrom is also pending RFA, but with seven blueliners already under contract, including LD Tyler Kleven, a $2M qualifying offer for the 24-year-old may be too much for the Senators to handle.
With this in mind, moving Brannstrom at the deadline and clearing the way for Kleven to gain much-needed experience for the remainder of this season makes sense. Brannstrom’s flexibility as a puck-mover and his ability to kill penalties can assist any potential playoff team, especially if they run into a string of injuries.
As for the Senators’ leading candidate to be dealt at the deadline, signed to a one-year $5M contract, Vlad Tarasenko holds all the cards due to his negotiated no-move clause. The 32 year-old recently switched agents from Pat Brisson to Newport’s Craig Oster. Oster, the uncle of Brady Tkachuk also represents Josh Norris, Brannstrom, Kleven, Jiri Smejkal.
Tarasenko enjoys being in Ottawa and has bought into interim head coach Jacques Martin’s philosophy. Earlier in the week, the St. Louis Blues 2010 16th overall selection re-iterated that the subject was yet to be broached by Senators’ management, and he’s keeping his options open, “When the talks start, of course, we’re going to look at all options.”
Tarasenko is on a 62-point pace, which will easily surpass his 50 from the 2022-23 campaign, but more importantly, his 44 goals in 97 postseason games, which includes a Stanley Cup ring, will draw interest from multiple suitors.
The Blues acquired a decent haul last season when they moved the RW to the New York Rangers along with defenseman Niko Mikkola. St. Louis retained 50% of Tarasenko’s $7.5M salary while acquiring forward Sammy Blais, AHL d-man Hunter Skinner, a conditional 1st and 4th round picks which met their their conditions.
Due to the Senators’ current roster depth on the back end, it’s no surprise Jakob Chychrun’s name is included on Tradebait lists. As much as the team under previous management sought to acquire the 25-year-old, there are others out there attempting to do the same – an offensive rearguard with consistent 50-point potential is tough to come by.
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Chychrun is heading into the final season of a deal that carries a reasonable $4.6m cap hit. However, the Ottawa resident possesses some control of his contract due to his 10-team no-trade clause.
The issue at hand, when perusing the Senators’ blueline, is Thomas Chabot/Jake Sanderson are solidified on the left side. In order for the left-shot Chychrun to play 20 minutes per game, there’s little choice but for him to line up on the right, not his strong side.
Sanderson can play the right in a pinch. However, under D.J. Smith, it became clear Chabot’s experiment on the right side was met with little success.
The only caveat possibly hindering trading a player of Chychrun’s ilk at this time of year is likely the salary cap. If a swap such as this occurs, it will be a move that helps each team, including multiple players, fill a void that Staios and Poulin are seeking.
One thing for certain: the make-up of the Senators’ blue line will have a different look next season., whether Chychrun is subsequently dealt or not.
Forward Dominik Kubalik and centre Mark Kastelic are two more players who could be on the move at the deadline.
Kubalik, a pending UFA, was expected to add more offense than he has to date, with nine goals and 12 points in 45 games. His minus-21 currently gives him the Senators’ Green Jacket.
Martin has relegated the 28-year-old to the fourth line in recent games.
Like Kubalik, Kastelic has seen his ice time dwindle of late, with two games in the past three seeing under five minutes of ice time.
Rourke Chartier is waiting in the wings with Belleville for a return to Ottawa. Chartier doubles as a dependable penalty-killer who averaged 10:41 during his 34 games with the Senators this season.