Day one of the 2025 NHL Draft saw the Ottawa Senators make one first-round selection. The Senators drafted Wisconsin defenseman Logan Hesnler with the 23rd overall pick.
Then it was time for day two of the draft for the Senators. Entering day two, the Senators had six draft picks from rounds 2-7. Early into day two of the drat, the Senators would make a trade with the Los Angeles Kings to acquire defenseman Jordan Spence. The Senators traded away a 2025 third-round draft pick (67th overall) and a 2026 sixth-round draft pick.
TRADE: We have acquired defenceman Jordan Spence from the LA Kings in exchange for the 67th overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft and a 2026 6th round pick (acquired from Colorado).
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) June 28, 2025
Les #Sens font l'acquisition du défenseur Jordan Spence, de Los Angeles, en échange de deux… pic.twitter.com/de5jxKJNAG
General manager Steve Staios is still being aggressive with making a trade for Spence. The trade is a win for the Senators to acquire Spence from the Kings.
1. Production and underappreciated in Los Angeles
The 2024-25 season was Spence's best in his career. Spence recorded career highs with four goals, 24 assists and 28 points along with a +23 rating. Spence's +23 rating was the fourth highest on the Kings roster and second among all Kings defensemen. For the season he had, Spence was an underappreciated player on the Kings.
The Senators can get good production with Spence being a steady offensive defenseman for assists and get impact when on the ice with a high +/- rating. Spence also recorded 77 blocked shots and 80 hits in 2024-25, which were also career highs for a single season.
Spence can fit in well on a Senators defense that showed improvement from 2023-24 to 2024-25. Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson, Artem Zub, Nick Jensen and Tyler Kleven can get excited to welcome Spence to Ottawa.
2. Young with a solid, cheap contract and still having potential
Being 24 years old is a sign that Spence can grow his game more. With a career year in 2024-25, potential is still there for Spence. Having a career year is a stepping stone for Spence to grow his game more.
Spence's contract is also important and a good one. Spence will be a restricted free agent after the 2025-26 season, but his salary for this season is a cheap $1.5 million.
Trading for a player that's on a restricted contract for that cheap is a solid move by Staios. The Senators didn't have their cap take a big hit. Now with the Spence trade, the Senators have over $9.25 million in cap space according to PuckPedia.
The Senators still can have money in place to try and re-sign Claude Giroux, Adam Gaudette and Nick Cousins. With trading for Spence, Travis Hamonic and Dennis Gilbert re-signing might not be that high.
Trading away two draft picks for a player who had a career year and was a reliable defenseman on the Kings was a solid move by Staios to get Spence. Now, the Senators will have to wait for Spence to see how he can fit in Ottawa for the 2025-26 season.