Ottawa Senators: One Year Later-The Dion Phaneuf Trade

Did the Ottawa Senators actually come out on top of the Los Angeles Kings in this trade?

Check your calendars folks, because it has already been a year since the Ottawa Senators traded Dion Phaneuf and Nate Thompson to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Marián Gáborík and Nick Shore.

I know, time flies right?

Looking back the trade was nothing more than a cap dump for the Sens, unloading Phaneuf’s awful contract ($7 million per year, with Ottawa retaining $1.75 million). Now with one year in the books we can see who really came out on top in this trade that at the time, according to fans, was easily won by the Kings a year ago.

Nick Shore

We begin with the assets acquired by the Senators. Nick Shore was on a one-year, $925,000 contract when he was traded to Ottawa. He would play in six games for the Sens, recording one assist and averaging 9:28 TOI.

Then on February 26th, just 12 days after becoming a Senator, he was traded to the Calgary Flames for a seventh round pick in 2019. Shore wouldn’t return to the NHL and signed as a free agent with Magnitogorsk Metallurg of the KHL in the summer.

Now Shore may not have played many games for the Senators, but they were still able to get an asset for him instead of letting him go in free agency, which counts as a win.

Marián Gáborík

A quick happy birthday to Mr. Gáborík!

Yes, the Kings traded Gáborík on his 36th birthday. Not exactly the best birthday or Valentine’s Day present for a player who won a Stanley Cup with the organization.

Gáborík dressed in 16 games for the Ottawa Senators, scoring four goals and three assists while averaging 13:19 TOI per game. It actually seemed to be going well until it was revealed that Gáborík had a herniated disk in his back and that would require surgery. That was back on April 4th, 2018. He hasn’t played another game for the Sens since.

Now is it possible that Gáborík could recover and find his way back onto the ice for the Sens in the near future? Yes it is. But given his age (He turned 37 today) and the fact that back injuries can be particularly nasty to come back from, the odds aren’t in his favor.

Nate Thompson

Carrying a cap hit of $1.65 million, Thompson was a depth forward who the Sens and Kings could slot into their line-up and hope his physical style of play would turn the tide.

Thompson would go on to play 79 games for the Kings (26 last year, 53 this year). Like his entire career in the NHL, he didn’t really light up the scoreboard, scoring just 10 points in a Los Angeles uniform.

But the Kings made the most of Thompson, trading him and Arizona’s fifth round pick in 2020 to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Calgary’s fourth round pick in 2019. Not too bad of a return for Thompson and it gives the Kings their ninth pick in this year’s draft.

Dion Phaneuf

But the key piece in the trade was Phaneuf, whom the Senators acquired from the Maple Leafs in 2015.

The biggest issue is that while the Maple Leafs didn’t retain any salary, the Senators had to retain $1.75 million per year for the rest of the contract. It may not sound like much, but that extra $1.75 million could be the difference keeping their best players in Ottawa and seeing them leave in free agency.

For the Kings, bringing him in hasn’t work out too well. Adding an extra $5.25 million to an already tight salary situation, Phaneuf has seen action in 74 games, scoring 14 points for his trouble. He has seen minutes reserved for a third-pairing defenseman, averaging 16:16 TOI, with him only playing 14:32 minutes per game this year.

At 33, it is apparent that Phaneuf’s physical play is catching up with him, and with two years left on his contract the Kings may have problems moving him unless his play picks up.

Who Won the Trade?

Even with how Phaneuf has panned out for the Kings, LA still won this trade. The Kings were able to get a decent asset for a player of Thompson’s quality and Phaneuf is still a presence in their line-up. For the Sens, they got one asset for Shore, but Gáborík may not play another game for them. Obviously the Sens couldn’t foresee that happening, but it has to be taken into account. And most of all, the trade required the Sens to retain a portion of Phaneuf’s salary.

The Ottawa Senators were not fleeced in this trade (They got rid of a contract that would hold their rebuild back), but looking back they still could have done better. Whether it was a few more picks from LA or finding a way to avoid retaining salary, the Sens should not use this trade as a blueprint in the future.