The Ottawa Senators deal sending Mike Fisher to Nashville for a first round pick and a conditional third rounder was perhaps GM Bryan Murray’s way of letting it be known that the Senators are open for business. The Senators are sunk near the bottom of the NHL, just two points ahead of the Oilers who have the fewest points in the league. The Sens are packed with aging players and devoid of organizational depth at virtually every position. It’s a grim outlook.
The way to fix that is to start dealing off players that are worth something to a playoff contender looking for that missing piece of the puzzle. While the parts as a whole aren’t working out for the Senators, they can send those pieces elsewhere to help build for the future. As for who could draw interest elsewhere, there’s a few candidates that can get it done before the trade deadline on February 28.
Alex Kovalev - Forward
The NHL veteran has had a rough go of it this season in Ottawa and a change of scenery would likely help him snap out of his moribund funk that’s plagued him all year. He’s always been a goal scorer and this year he’s got 11 goals and 12 assists. He’s just two seasons removed from scoring 26 goals and racking up 65 points and could give a team in need of a scoring winger on the second line a lift. Kovalev would love nothing more than getting out of Ottawa and away from coach Cory Clouston but it’s possible his temperamental style be enough to scare teams away.
Chris Phillips - Defenseman
Phillips is an impending unrestricted free agent after this season meaning that teams just looking to get instant help for a playoff run this year could acquire him and then not think about re-signing him in the off-season. Phillips has been a steady but not flashy defensive defenseman throughout his career in Ottawa. He’s got just four assists on the season so if a team is looking for a point-producer on the blue line, he’s not it. If you’re looking for a guy that can play solid enough defense to shore things up for a Cup run he might be the guy.
Chris Neil and Jarkko Ruutu - Forwards
Neil is certainly not a favored guy around the league and neither is Ruutu. They’ve both got reputations for being agitators and dirty-hit-throwers. Some teams feel they need a player like that to win. Ruutu has been in Clouston’s dog house lately and Neil, despite his questionable fight choices and generally nasty demeanor has a little bit of talent for a third line guy. You may not like them, but they’re the sort of player that you’d rather have on your own team than your opponent’s roster. With things being as dour as they are in Ottawa now, the Senators subtracting one or both of these guys might be addition by subtraction.
Jason Spezza - Forward
He has to be mentioned because he’s the youngest of the most talented guys on the roster. Daniel Alfredsson won’t go anywhere and Spezza has had his share of ups and downs in the last year in Canada’s capital city. Spezza is also the guy that could bring the most usable instant return in a trade.
The problem for any team that might want to acquire Spezza is that the ransom to do so would be sky high and Spezza’s cap hit isn’t very friendly at $7 million a year until 2014-2015. It’s an extreme long shot that Spezza would be traded but if the Senators are going to burn it all to the ground to rebuild, the guy that would help accelerate the process through trade immediately is Spezza.