Ottawa Senators: Consider Trading With the Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are in desperate need of scoring, and the Ottawa Senators may be able to provide them with some.

We are just over two weeks away from the NHL trade deadline, one of the craziest times of the year in the NHL, and the Ottawa Senators may be at the forefront of it this season.

With the team continuing to struggle and many question marks regarding star players, the Senators are certainly going to be selling off assets at the deadline to set up the foundation of their rebuild.

That much has been obvious for the last month or so, but what is less obvious is who will trade with the Ottawa Senators? Looking around the league, the best option seems to be trading with the Carolina Hurricanes, who are desperately trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the tenth consecutive season.

Why the Hurricanes?

The Hurricanes are right now on the outside of a wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference, just three points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, who hold sole possession of the second wild-card spot.

Their main issue stems from the offense, Carolina is 10th in the East and tied for 16th in the NHL with just 158 goals scored, or just 2.9 goals per game. That leaves their defense out to dry, as the Canes have allowed 160 goals (2.96 goals against per game, 15th in the NHL) which is respectable given the spike in scoring this year and the lackluster goaltending (.896 team SV%) the Canes have had.

What Can the Sens Give Them?

With three of the Sens’ major offensive weapons on expiring contracts, no sign of when they will be re-signed and Eugene Melnyk’s recent comments concerning the salary cap, it is a very real possibility that Matt Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel are all on the trade block.

Stone currently has 52 points in 53 games, which would make him Carolina’s second highest scoring player if he were dealt. Duchene’s 22 goals are more than any Hurricane on the roster except for Sebastian Aho (24 goals). And Dzingel’s 40 points would be only behind Aho as the highest scoring center on the team. All three would make a serious impact for the Canes, who are just getting healthy at the right time this year.

What Can the Sens Get in Return?

In return the Sens could ask for some draft capital (Carolina has three second and three third round picks over the next two years) or maybe even a first-round pick if the trade involves Duchene or Stone. So if the team doesn’t plan to spend near the salary cap, that would probably be the way to go.

A guy like Michael Ferland wouldn’t be bad get. He’s on an expiring deal (Making $1.75 million) and he has 28 points in 45 games this year on the second line. He would make up for some of the production lost if Dzingel, Duchene, or Stone were traded.

But the Sens should make a move for the plethora of defense that the Hurricanes have. Brett Pesce’s name has been brought up a few times, but he is only in the first year of a six-year, $24.15 million deal, so it’s unlikely. A guy like Trevor Carrick or Jake Bean would be a solid return and a nice way to deepen the farm system’s defense. Even Trevor van Riemsdyk or Hadyn Fleury could be thrown in to help bolster the blue-line.

It’s All Speculative

Yes, the Ottawa Senators trading with the Carolina Hurricanes is a tantalizing idea, but all we have at this moment is speculation. It wouldn’t be a bad idea, but knowing the people in the front office they’d probably find a way to screw this up.