couldnt afford 2nd t
Rejoint: sept. 2021
Messages: 1,014
Mentions "j'aime": 431
The Senators cannot afford to spend big cap on another forward. They need to re-up their players internally and acquire a legitimate starting goalie. Part of the reason Debrincat is getting traded is because of the cap crunch in Ottawa. He was a luxury pickup for last season because the Senators had cap space due to ELCs and bridge deals. Dorion knew he was going to have to trade him (or one of the other forwards) this off season once Stutzle's ELC expired. He picked up Debrincat because his RFA status ensured that there would be a good chance Dorion could recoup a 1st for him and effectively rent him for the difference of the original trade package and whatever draft picks he would get back. The original pick going to Chicago was going to be Buffalo's 15th overall pick, so it wouldn't have been inconceivable that Dorion could have recouped a similar pick.
I suspect he had a similar plan with Duchene when he originally acquired him, since a Senators 2018 or 2019 rebuild was likely the long term plan regardless of what happened, the 2017 collapse only expedited it by a year.