Braydon Coburn, Cedric Paquette, and a 2022 2nd Round Pick acquired from Tampa Bay for Anders Nilsson and Marian Gaborik
Why it made sense at the time: This was the type of trade the Sens had the opportunity to make and they eventually did just a few weeks before the start of the season. With Gaborik all but retired and Nilsson’s future unclear, this trade boiled down to Ottawa taking Paquette and Coburn’s cap hits from Tampa Bay and getting a 2nd for their troubles. While neither player are what you would call “good” they did add some of that much-needed depth, and came with an asset instead of having to send one the other way.
How it looks so far: After drawing the ire of the fanbase for his constant inclusion in the lineup, Paquette was sent to Carolina in the Dzingel trade. Coburn looked destined to be joining Josh Brown in the Ottawa Mystery Spot before sliding into the lineup for Erik Brannstrom last night against Calgary, but hopefully, that is also temporary.
Grade: B-, a second-rounder is nice, although ideally, Ottawa would have gotten a little more for helping out a Tampa team that was up against the cap, what perplexes me is that Ottawa didn’t make more of these moves. Given that the players they did acquire were often replacement level at best, I don’t get the instinct not to wait out the market and pick up scrap that way.