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Ottawa Senators: Making Sense of Awful Trade Proposals

By Jack Baines

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 22: General manager Pierre Dorion of the Ottawa Senators talks on the phone on the draft floor during Rounds 2-7 of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 22, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 22: General manager Pierre Dorion of the Ottawa Senators talks on the phone on the draft floor during Rounds 2-7 of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 22, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 03: Jesse Puljujarvi #98 of the Edmonton Oilers skates against the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on February 3, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 03: Jesse Puljujarvi #98 of the Edmonton Oilers skates against the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on February 3, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

The trade: Ottawa acquires Kris Russell, James Neal, Jesse Puljujarvi, and a 2020 3rd (EDM) from Edmonton for Connor Brown, Christian Jaros, a 2020 1st (OTT), a 2020 2nd (NYI), and a 2020 2nd (OTT)

We’ll head over to the NHL’s other hub city for our third and final trade. I believe the intention here is a cap dump, given that the trade is titled “CAP DUMP”. That said, this goes far beyond a typical cap dump as there are multiple impact pieces going both ways.

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It should also go without saying that this would be a terrible trade for Ottawa. One could even make the argument that the deal’s four best pieces are all going to Edmonton, as Ottawa loses the three best picks and possibly the best player in Brown. Edmonton, on the other hand, trades two big deals for players on the wrong side of 30, a measly (when compared to the other three picks) third, and a player who a) has no intention to play for the Oilers, b) has unclear intentions of ever playing in the NHL, and c) has yet to prove himself in the NHL.

We’ll need to clear a lot of the non-cap dump pieces out of the way to really get started on this, so that leaves us with just Russell and Neal coming to Ottawa and no one going the other way. In fact, I’ll even take this a step further and limit it to just Russell as Neal is still providing decent value for Edmonton while also having more term left on his deal, making him a player that neither party would likely have interest in including in this deal.

That leaves us with the question of what to send the other way as well as the sweetener for taking on Russell’s deal. For the latter question, I’ll actually bring Puljujarvi back into the deal. While he’s not the most attractive trade chip, he’s the kind of high-reward player the Sens should be after if the risk is low enough.

To find the player going to Edmonton, he need to find a player who’s less valuable than Puljujarvi as Ottawa acquiring Kris Russell is more of an asset for Edmonton than Ottawa. While the decision may be unpopular due to his play last season, I’ve decided that Mike Reilly will be heading over to Edmonton in the trade. Reilly was possibly the team’s second best defenceman last season, but at 27 he’s unlikely to emerge as anything beyond a low-end NHLer. He’s a UFA after next season so he probably isn’t in the longterm plans, and with Artem Zub, Erik Brannstrom, Max Lajoie, and others on the verge of making the team, adding a Kris Russell would only really make sense if there was a spot on the blueline being cleared up.

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