Jared’s Take – Kovalev and Svatos

The Senators made two roster moves yesterday, acquiring Marek Svatos from Nashville on waivers, and trading Alex Kovalev to Pittsburgh for a 7th round pick (which could turn into a 6th round pick)

The moves go hand in hand, and were done for the sole purpose of saving Eugene Melnyk about $1 million cash.  In dealing Kovalev, Bryan Murray was able to turn a $10 million mistake into only a $9 million mistake.  And to get a draft pick in return, no matter how low, is a bonus.  If they could have given him away for nothing, they would have.

Plucking Svatos from waivers is simply a move to add a cheap body to fill Kovalev’s roster spot so that they don’t have to make yet another callup from Binghamton.   Svatos is a NHL player, but very prone to injury and is coming off a minor surgery to his knee.  He could be a decent fill in, or he could be a prime candidate for the injured reserve, which would put them back into the same position they would have been in without him.  But for a price tag of about $200,000 for the rest of the season, it is worth a gamble.  I don’t see him fitting into the Senators’ future plans whatsoever, so it is purely an inexpensive rental.

All in all a good day for Melnyk’s pocketbook, but rather insignificant as far as on-ice product is concerned.