No Thank you!!!!

Ottawa accepts.

LA's fine with Iafallo. Thanks though.

We'd be trading Iafallo to create room at forward, not take two forwards back.

We'd be trading Iafallo for Mattias Samuelsson (but you wouldn't), or for draft capital (i.e., a high pick or to move up in the draft to the first or second round). The Philly pick might be in play because we don't know yet where your position will be.

Dorion would be extremely stupid to sacrifice JBD to get rid of 1 year of Zaitsev (only 2.5 salary after bonus is paid this summer. Cheap buyout for the team acquiring him)

But I literally don't think Dorion is smart so...

1. We get rid of Zaitsev's full cap hit for this season and next season as well.



2. In this scenario, Buffalo is paying Zaitsev's signing bonus, not Ottawa.



3. We are currently offering a high pick/prospect to dump Zaitsev, according to Kevin Weekes.

https://twitter.com/KevinWeekes/status/1609605157293289475

1. Who cares about this season? Sens most likely won't make the playoffs and we don't need cap space right now. Paying more NOW would just be continued stupidity

2. buying a NHL franchise that needs a new arena downtown is a 2 B$ investment. I don't think they'll care much about Zaitsev' bonus lol

3. It can happen, it would just add to the stupid Dorion column which is longer than a lot of things. We're talking about a GM who gave a 2nd round pick to take on a 6.5 AAV cap dump lol

What's the maximum you'd pay to dump Zaitsev?

a 2nd because that is was it would cost at most to dump him, at 1 year and 2.5m in real cash only he is a excellent buyout candidate

Let's look this from a different POV.'
I know D-men take longer to develop, but Docker was drafted in 2018 and few 23 yo are prime prospects.
Would one not think he should be able to put Holden in the press for a few games.
Buffalo could use a RHD, unlikely Zaitsev is the answer even at $1,000,000.
Docker would be the minimum price to pay to move Nikita and his $4,500,000 cap hit as his ceiling appears to be 6th/7th Defenseman.

I would not move him this season, since no need for cap space. Teams who compete don't spend assets to dump contracts until they need cap space. We WANT to compete...

Next summer, team should be sold by then so I would pay his bonus and dump his 2.5 salary to a team who needs to reach the floor (4.5 AAV is useful then) OR could buy him out for cheap. It shouldn't cost two 2nd round picks or a (needed) prospect like JBD

I would also look if we could buy him out ourselves but don't think it will be possible if the cap doesn't go up more than 83.5 AAV (and if we sign DeBrincat long-term)

It's only going up to 83.5 million.


After signing DeBrincat + Pinto, we'll be left with only about 5 million in cap space to fill out the rest of the roster with 8-10 additional players.


When that happens, it will be one big cap crunch.

JBD is still 22 y/o, he turned 22 in June and hasn't played much since (11 AHL games and 9 NHL games this season) as he has been injured.

Before injury, he was nicely establishing himself. Now that Sens D-men are a bit more healthy, he got sent to the AHL again because they want him to play a lot of minutes. Ottawa only has 6 D-men on the active roster, 5 guys on 1-way deals and Sanderson. Plus Zaitsev is injured... This is another subject but Dorion makes a lot of mistakes or questionable moves, even though it might not be apparent right away for everybody. We were already stuck with Zaitsev and he traded a 3rd (sigh) for Hamonic, which blocked both JBD and Thomson. Not the end of the world as we have the luxury to develop them more in the AHL (don't forget Covid also slowed down young player's development) but ideally, Sens would have two guys like Zub in the top-4 and JBD on the 3rd pair, or even better something like that :

Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - JBD
Brannstrom - Zub

Brannstrom and Zub have been really good together in the past, problem is Chabot need Zub too. Sanderson and JBD both come from the same program and have played together. Sanderson has been carrying Hamonic into respectability, he's already that good that he could help JBD establish himself. Of course TOI would have to be managed properly, including special units. I think JBD will be underrated for a while as he will never be a big point producer

So I am not sure where JBD ceiling as a 6th/7th Defenseman comes from, but the Sens see him as a much more important piece than that. They will NOT sacrifice him to dump a contract

People often think that when a young player spends time in the AHL it means he is a bust or will be a marginal player. Do you know how many times I have read that Brannstrom was a bust the last 2 years? Yet he has been doing pretty well analytically but unfortunately for him (and his next contract), points have not been coming yet.

I didn't see that the 83.5 AAV was confirmed, weren't they waiting to see if players would pay the whole escrow first?

8-10 additional players after Pinto and DeBrincat?

Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
DeBrincat-Stutzle-Giroux
Greig-Pinto-Joseph
Crookshank-Kastelic-Kelly
??????

Chabot-Zub
Sanderson-JBD
Brannstrom-Zaitsev
??????

Forsberg
??????

Unless you think that all of Greig, Crookshank and JBD won't be on the team, I see only a need for a Brassard type (would bring him back for experience and versatility) and a backup goalie

Players needed to be signed after Pinto and DeBrincat :

Brannstrom, JBD, D-man, 13th forward, backup

https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/senators


It says here that Ottawa has a guaranteed roster size of 10 players and 17.175 million in projected cap space for next season.


But for some reason, it's not counting the injured players as part of our roster.


So, it's probably 13 players with 17.175 million in cap space.


Sign DeBrincat + Pinto and you need 5-7 additional players with only ~5 million in cap space.


It's still a bit tight.

First, thank you taking the time for the detailed comment.
Second, you know the SENS much better than, and I respect your opinion of Docker.
Third, I will only comment once to you as each of us have our POV.
Fourth, Brannstrom (only 10 mo older) is miles ahead of Docker.
Erik has played in 152 NHL games v only 22 for Jacob.
Even the harshest critic should not consider Erik a bust.
On the other hand the strongest supporter of Jacob may to search deep to find evidence that he will be more than a fringe NHL performer.
Fifth, which was my original point and I may obfuscated the issue but for a team to take on Nikita's salary it would cost a bit more than a second ergo a late first or Docker.
Finally, It would be foolish to pay any price to move Zaitsev when the SENS do not have cap issues.

I understand where you're coming from but you can't draw that conclusion with NHL games played

Brannstrom was playing pro hockey in Sweden at a very young age, he was a top prospect. He was expected to make the NHL fast but since he went back and forth to the AHL, some were calling him a bust

JBD was more of a project who went the college route. This is only JBD 2nd pro season and he only played 11 AHL games and 9 NHL games this season so far. Like I said, he was establishing himself in the NHL just before his injury. He's back to the AHL because Sens now have 6 healthy D-man and they want JBD to play as much as possible. They have actually been pleased with his development



I guess it depends what you mean by "fringe" but he will not be a star and will not put a lot of points but should be a quality NHL player. He was already the best defensive D-man in Belleville last season as a rookie. There was even a huge sequence of games where they didn't get scored an ES goal against when he was on the ice. That's his bread and butter, to be good defensively

I doubt that anybody who followed him in ND, team Canada, AHL and NHL would think that he will become a 6th/7th D-man at best.



Yes, absolutely no reason to trade him now if the price is going to be higher than next off-season

Pay his bonus in July, THEN trade him for a lesser cost. Team acquiring him could just buy him out for cheap ($) OR just use him to reach the cap floor (2.5 salary, 4.5 AAV)