The Winnipeg Jets have been eliminated from the Playoffs. What does this mean for the Ottawa Senators? It means that the Jets might be considering a rebuild considering the lack of success this team has seen. Could the Ottawa Senators look to the Winnipeg Jets for a few pieces?
There are a few Winnipeg Jets players that could be of interest to the Ottawa Senators, as they are a pretty good team with pretty good players, but the one that peaks my interest the most is nonother than middle-six forward Adam Lowry. In 82 games this year, he scored 13 goals and 23 assists for 36 points. On Ottawa’s 2022-23 roster, that would have ranked him tied for 7th in goals, 8th in assists, and 7th in points. At thirty years old, you know what you’re getting out of Lowry. He’s a defense-first third-line center who can play up the lineup at small doses in case of injury. Lowry is a penalty kill specialist who is a beast at faceoffs. Lowry can also contribute some offense, good for about 15 goals per year and 30-35 points, which is the perfect level of contribution from a bottom 6 forward.
You might ask why the Senators should explore adding yet another center to a team that’s biggest strength is arguably their center depth. The Senators currently have Tim Stützle, Josh Norris, Shane Pinto, and Mark Kastelic as their center depth, where would Adam Lowry fit in? I actually don’t see Lowry as a full-time center on the Senators’ roster. He has some experience playing wing with the Jets and I could see him be the third-line right winger on Shane Pinto’s line. In my eyes, Adam Lowry is exactly what you want out of Pinto, and I think he could serve as a great mentor to the young center. We’re already seeing the Sens employ a natural center in Claude Giroux as a mentor to Tim Stützle, I think it would be worth a shot to invest in another mentor for another important core player.
Granted, Pinto has already shown more offensive prowess in his game as compared to Lowry, but that’s not what you’re getting Lowry for. You’re getting Lowry to help iron out the defensive side of the game for Pinto and help him with faceoffs, something he’s struggled with in the NHL up to this point. Lowry’s career faceoff percentage is 51.7% compared to Pinto’s 49.9. Pinto’s faceoffs this last season were pretty good at 52.1% but there’s absolutely zero harm in getting another faceoff specialist to even the load, you see it done quite a lot in the NHL nowadays. You could also roll Pinto and Lowry on the second penalty kill unit and have it as solid as the first, if not better.
The question is his cap hit and what it would cost to acquire him. He’s got an AAV of 3.25 million up until the 2025-26 season, and I think that’s honestly the perfect price tag for a third liner in the modern-day NHL, but it poses some issues because the Senators are facing cap issues. This is why I’d include Mathieu Joseph in any trade package for Lowry as his cap hit is pretty similar to Joseph’s being 2.95M. I’ll start by saying I like Joseph despite his struggles this season. I like Joseph’s skill set, but unfortunately, I just don’t think he’s in the right role with the Senators. To me, he screams to be the player that needs to be in the top 6 to thrive, and he’s just not going to get that opportunity in Ottawa anymore.
I don’t think a one-for-one would pass for the Jets though, so it’ll cost more. That is why I suggest adding Lassi Thomson to the trade package. Thomson was picked in the first round of the 2018 NHL draft by the Sens, and while he’s shown promise, I think other players have pushed him down the depth chart. I think he still has the potential to be a second-pairing defenseman in the NHL, who does hold a good amount of value being a right shot. If needed, I’d also add a draft pick or two, but probably not much more than a third, but for the purpose of this article I’ll say a fourth and a fifth, so the whole package would be
At first glance, that might seem to be a lot for a veteran third liner, but Lowry’s got a great contract and will definitely garner a LOT of interest league-wide, so the Ottawa Senators will be in a bit of a bidding war. This trade would put the Senators’ forward lines looking like this (X’s mean spots I think should garner more discussion later)
Alex DeBrincat – Tim Stützle – Claude Giroux
Brady Tkachuk – Josh Norris – Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig – Shane Pinto – Adam Lowry
X – Mark Kastelic – Julien Gauthier
ExF: Derick Brassard, X
One more great thing about this forward lineup, is there are 6 natural centers in this lineup, Stützle, Giroux, Norris, Pinto, Lowry, and Kastelic, with 3 more having the ability to play center in a pickle in Tkachuk, Greig, and Batherson. That’s 9 of your 12 forwards being able to slot in at center in case of injury. Even more, if you consider Derick Brassard (if he comes back) It’s important to build your team through the middle, and the Sens have clearly made that a priority.
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Closing Thoughts
I think adding Adam Lowry should be a priority this summer. Not priority number one, as I believe that should be tied to signing Alex DeBrincat to a long-term deal, but may be priority number two or three. Looking at that forward core, it looks pretty deep and could contend with any team in the NHL. The Sens have willed Giroux and Chychrun into existence, let’s will Lowry into existence.