Here's a couple of trades where the cost to make a cap dump was greater than this one for Zaitsev:


1. Patrik Nemeth,

2.5 million x 2 years

8 team no trade list

No signing bonuses

Cost two seconds



2. Zach Kassian

3.2 million x 2 years

No trade protection

No signing bonuses

Cost a second + a third + a drop of three spots to the bottom of the first round



I'm feeling pretty stoked right now!!!

I wonder how many would blame Dubas, even though it was signed by Lou

This should have been OUR deal!! And we would have only asked for Ottawa's 2024 second!!!

I’m assuming Ottawa has another move coming that involves a deadline deal for another team? Otherwise why not wait until the off-season.

Comment of the day.

Ottawa is making room for Erik Karlsson

Dante Fabbro

“We are excited to acquire a NHL-level defenseman”
-Kyle Davidson

That quote should tell you all you need to know about Zaitsev’s skill.

I got it.... u gave Chicago a first to acquire Debrincat... now u gave 'em a second to acquire Zaitsev... Wanna' throw in Stutzle? And how about a couple of office chairs??

A non-playoff team in the middle of a rebuild shouldn't have to pay to get rid of a 1 year "cap dump".

How were they even in this position in the first place?

Zaitsev has 1.216M remaining in cap this season, and 4.5M next season. A 2nd and a future 4th is a low cost to dump 5.7M in negative cap.

Dorion has signed or acquired some atrocious contracts, but he has done a good job efficiently dumping them. He got a 3rd and Holden for Dadonov, who had 2 years remaining at the time. He paid a 3rd and a late pick to dump 75 percent of Murray's huge contract. Now he has dumped Zaitsev for a 2nd and a 4th.

You have to keep in mind that cap is a major asset. Ottawa now has 4.5M in cap (and real dollars) to go after or retain a more effective player next season. While it wouldn't surprise me if Ottawa makes another trade, I don't think dumping Zaitsev necessarily guarantees that will happen. The reason they are moving him now is that they do not want to get stuck with him in the off season. If there is an opportunity to dump him now for a 2nd+future 4th, it's never going to be cheaper. There is no point in waiting.

As far as Chicago goes, they leveraged their cap space for an asset. Ottawa is on the upswing, so it is difficult to predict where that pick could be. It has potential to be within the first 10 picks of the second round. Zaitsev can play big minutes for them while they tank. Whether or not he does a good job doesn't matter, because they want to lose anyways.

If you're purely judging this by value, Ottawa wins. Arizona for example got two 2nd round picks to take Nemeth. Nemeth was owed 5M in cap over 2 years and 6M in real dollars compared to Chicago who got a 2nd and a 4th for Zaitsev's 5.716M in cap over 2 seasons and 5.175 in real dollars. Either way, I would imagine both teams are happy.

Now I'm not sure if Zaitsev is even playing next season, but Arizona has the absolute worse travel schedule in the in the NHL. Dallas is their closest divisional rival, Nashville to the east and Winnipeg to the north.

Ottawa is close to the cap next season...with RFA signings, and bonuses. It was almost a necessity to move Zaitsev, Though it does allow the Sens to make a TDL on an expiring contract this season.

I wondered why this wasn’t part of the Debrincat trade, but I feel like the hawks come out better as a result.

2 possibilities .

1) they sign Debrincat in the summer and then teams know they’re out of cap space and try to squeeze even more out.

2) they’re buying now (rumoured) but it won’t be anything Major.

We're heading into a cap crunch next summer where we'll need to sign DeBrincat + Pinto and then fill out the rest of the roster.

Eventually, it adds up to the point where you have to do something.

Good deal for both teams. The Sens can know either make a trade or wait till ufa to sign a good Dman

with just the 1 year left on the deal- I think Chicago gets the best of the deal. should get a good pick in a deep draft for a guy who was worth the 4mil + contract not to long ago, and Chicago is going to have to spend some cash next year anyway- might as well get a good prospect as well.

of course you do. you're the GM!

Wow! I didn’t realize that Ottawa was so tight against the cap that they had to give up assets to dump cap hit. How quickly things change!

Strange to see this at the deadline when both teams are out of the playoffs (Ottawa isn’t too far out in terms of points, but I think they have too many teams ahead of them to have a realistic chance), but I suppose there’s no reason not to do it now. Or maybe Ottawa is clearing space for another move.

i wonder if this was the trade that was "waiting to happen" for chychrun to happen... we'll see

I'm aware ... but my point is that Ottawa shouldn't be heading into a cap crunch in the middle of a rebuild.

This is the 2nd contract they've had to pay to dump in 12 months ... yet they haven't been near the playoffs in years.

They should still be on the other end of these deals given that the team is still floundering ... if just feels like financial mis-management.

And if DeBrincat gets a $9,000,000 AAV ... Ottawa's cap structure will be more top heavy than Toronto's next year (6 largest cap hits + dead cap).

Hopefully…

1. I would say we are close to the end of the rebuild. We just need a Top 4 RD and a little bit of bottom 6 depth.



2. We haven't been near the playoffs in years because we tore everything down in 2017-2018 and had to build everything back up again.

Rebuilds take several years to complete.



3. I wouldn't say the team is floundering,

We just have really poor starts to the season and then play catch up the rest of the way.

And once we get a new owner, he'll clean house from top to bottom, starting with our GM Pierre Dorion.

hopefully a new coach too. (my 2 cent)

That's a given.