[Trade] Sens acquire Derek Stepan from Arizona for a 2021 2nd

[devo22]

solid deal all around. Arizona gets cap relief and a 2nd, Ottawa gets cheap leadership and a trade deadline chip, and Stepan gets to pad his stats on a weak team in a contract year. Like it for everybody involved, honestly.

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Why? Stepan is one season removed from being a 15 goal scorer and two from being a consistent 50 point scorer.

What makes them that desperate? In terms of actual cash they are one of the lowest in the league with around 60M in spending on their players while other teams will be spending 80M+ on their team. Or in the case of Toronto, 90M+.

Don't get confused with the 200k the Coyotes are actually paying Hossa with his 5M+ cap hit (that will go on the LTIR). While obviously more cap is better, getting below it gives you flexibility, it's not like the Coyotes needed to move Stepan to ice a team, they could go out today and sign an 8M player and be cap compliant and still spending far less than the Flames.

There's three likelihoods; the Sens perform well and then they are happy bolstering their team with depth players like Stepan; the team still falters but Stepan does alright and they are able to recoup that 2nd rounder or close to it at the deadline; or it's a complete bust and they are out 2M and a 2nd round pick. Still better than being anchored with Eriksson for another year.

We've also seen what rebuilding teams who jettison anyone remotely of NHL quality gets you through the Oilers. Having some veteran leadership, some players who know what it feels like to win in the NHL and want to do it again, could be worth their weight in gold for a young rebuilding team like the Senators.

Lots to unpack here so here goes.

Stepan - wrong side of 30 and In decline. This is not the type of player you give up a second round pick for. Yes, $2m in real salary is palatable, however his high cap hit limits the number of teams that can take him on so a very limited market. This reeks of overpayment. Given the number of teams looking to shed money and the caliber of players that would be available that would be better than stepan, that second round pick could have secured a better player to help the sens. I’m not sure if it was posted here or not, but how does stepan get more than Nate Schmidt? Not even close in terms of who the better player is.

Coyotes. They were going to move oel for pennies on the dollar. They needed to lose salary/real money. Going back to Schmidt, Vegas needed to shed cap to be compliant to sign pietrangelo. Different reasons for the desperation (financial vs cap) but dealing with a team who is facing financial pressures. We’ve become desensitized to the size of player salaries but $2m is nothing to sneeze at. Dorion could have held firm at a 3-4th rounder and probably get the deal done. $2m could have got you a superior player (haula for example without giving up a pick) and a second could have also got you a better player (Schmidt as a reference).

Maybe stepan is an amazing leader with leadership intangibles and this makes sense for the sens. They’ve stockpiled picks over the years so they can take a swing like this. But from an outside perspective, this seems like an overpayment and money/pick could have been spent better elsewhere.

[BigErnSalute_16]

Hey guys, come on. After Mr. Coffee's prediction last year that he was totally right on, for sure, even though nobody knows what prediction he's talking about and he won't say. We should all just resign to the fact that he knows more about hockey than all of us and his predictions for the Canadian division are set in stone, 100% guaranteed to happen this year.

And we should also all remember these predictions so that when they 100% happen at the end of the year we can all look back and bow down to the genius hockey mind that is Mr. Coffee.

Stop fighting it guys, he's just better than all of us. And he has definitely swayed my opinion so much so that I now believe that Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Edmonton will all finish ahead of the lowly flames who made the playoffs last year despite poor seasons from all their top players and also improved across the board this offseason.

It's inevitable.

[topfiverecords]

A new GM is going to play hardball, and it appears he did. He also knew who he was dealing with. Dorion.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

And Brannstrom, who may very well win the Calder...

People underrate bad teams because they view the prism of next year based on last year- which is the wrong prism. Like Dino, who was one of those guys laughing at me last year right before the season started and then I was right. He won’t admit it though. It might all well come down to Matt Murray who’s lost a bit of a step though.

Brannstrom? Guess it's possible. He's a very undersized dman with okay offensive upside.. Former #14 overall.

He'll be competing against Laf, Byram, Turcotte, etc... It could happen...I guess.

[BigErnSalute_16]

Originally Posted by blankall

Brannstrom? Guess it's possible. He's a very undersized dman with okay offensive upside.. Former #14 overall.

He'll be competing against Laf, Byram, Turcotte, etc... It could happen...I guess.

Valimaki has a better chance at winning the calder than Brannstrom does

[topfiverecords]

Not an easy year to make Calder predictions, with the shortened and tightened schedule and repeated games against the same 6/7 teams.

Anyone’s prediction is fair. Unless they predict it’s an Oiler.

[Robbob]

An oiler has never won the Calder, that isn't changing anytime soon.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Surprised at the reaction in here.

The Senators are going to surprise this year. A decent 3-6 month rental for yes- a declining player but a decent one, in exchange for a 25% chance for a NHLer??????? You may as well make that trade today instead of March.

Seems fair to me. And remember they have 2x 2nds next year anyway (well, not anymore). Seems rational to upgrade their top 6. After their moves this offseason- they’re going to be better and challenge the likes of Toronto. They are arguably only slightly worse than Calgary actually. Yes I know this won’t be popular here but watch and just keep in mind the last time I made a prediction that everyone mocked before a season I was correct. They may finish only one spot behind Calgary if not ahead. Recall they’re bringing in a couple stud rookies and other very high quality prospects too......

What a ridiculous post.

Yes the Sens have some decent pieces but finishing ahead of the Flames? I don’t k ow what you predicted in the past but that has nothing to do with this awful prediction.

[Enoch Root]

Some hilarious calls on the Sens in here. Sure, they have some exciting young pieces, and they will start to rise in the standings over the next 2 or 3 years. But this year? LOL.

Simple question: what teams in the Canadian division are their forward group better than (this year)? What teams are their D group better than? And their goaltending isn't gong to be better than anyone else's (it's not like they have Price).

Fans are always so quick to think young players are going to change the fortunes of the team. Stuetzle is a dynamic young player, but he isn't going to be impactful in the NHL this year. Look at Jersey last year with Hughes and Hischier - good young players, but Jersey still sucked.

And Brannstrom? LOL Again, great young prospect, but he isn't going to change the Sens this year. Brannstrom is VERY comparable to Valimaki. Valimaki is a great young prospect, and I wouldn't be surprised if he establishes himself in the top 4 by the end of the year. But that isn't going to change the fortunes of the Flames.

If all goes well for the Sens this year, they might finish as high as 6th, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[Ashasx]

Brannstrom isn't even eligible for the Calder.

[Jordan!]

This is a pure win for AZ. He obviously didn’t get along with OEL and made way too much money. Pick recouped and a second? I’ll take it!

[Sylvanfan]

If Ottawa can build his value back up and trade him for more than they gave up this could work. But Stepan is on a Lucic like decline and come deadline that's still a big cap hit to move. I don't know why Ottawa offered more than a 4th here.

[powderjunkie]

In a regular season, he'd likely recover at least the 2nd at the TDL, but it might be tougher this year if only CAD teams are able to buy with quarantine issues...

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Lots to unpack here so here goes.

Stepan - wrong side of 30 and In decline.

If only they made this trade a couple months ago....Wrong side of 30 is definitely worrisome for long-term contracts that extend beyond a year but this is a single season as a player just turned 30. Brodie's the same age, also in decline, and he just signed for 20M.

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

This is not the type of player you give up a second round pick for. Yes, $2m in real salary is palatable, however his high cap hit limits the number of teams that can take him on so a very limited market.

A center who had one bad season? Why is he not the type of player you trade for? If he bounces back to anywhere near his 2018 form there will be a lot of teams willing to trade a 2nd round pick (or more) for him at the deadline. Especially a 2nd round pick that will likely be higher than the Columbus one they got. As for limited market, with his salary so low compared to his actual cap-hit even a cash conscious team like the Sens would be wiling to retain salary (and cap-hit) so his 6.5M cap hit becomes 1.5M by the trade deadline and 0.75M if the Sens keep half the remaining. Makes him one of the easier to acquire 2nd line depth centers should he bounce back.

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

This reeks of overpayment. Given the number of teams looking to shed money and the caliber of players that would be available that would be better than stepan, that second round pick could have secured a better player to help the sens. I’m not sure if it was posted here or not, but how does stepan get more than Nate Schmidt? Not even close in terms of who the better player is.

Are you trying to compare a foward making 2M (pro-rated for the shortened season maybe?) to a defenseman with 27M left owing? What's the point of that?

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Coyotes. They were going to move oel for pennies on the dollar. They needed to lose salary/real money. Going back to Schmidt, Vegas needed to shed cap to be compliant to sign pietrangelo. Different reasons for the desperation (financial vs cap) but dealing with a team who is facing financial pressures. We’ve become desensitized to the size of player salaries but $2m is nothing to sneeze at. Dorion could have held firm at a 3-4th rounder and probably get the deal done. $2m could have got you a superior player (haula for example without giving up a pick) and a second could have also got you a better player (Schmidt as a reference).

Haula had to be willing to sign with the Senators, this could be entirely be because they missed out on him.

Bringing up OEL, a player not moved because they weren't willing to take those pennies, who is making 60M more doesn't have anything to do with a 2M player.

The Senators need a warm body in that 2nd line center spot, whether it's one of their young players or White or someone, eventually that pushes someone out of the roster making ~1M anyways. While I'm the first to talk about actual cash on this board, 1M difference that either bolsters your team to make some noise or is likely traded before paying him that full extra million is penny pinching even by Sens standards.

This season will also be quick, a 2 week injury - or positive covid test - might normally mean nothing in the grande scheme of things during a normal season but could have teams scrambling much more when each game counts more. The Sens are probably thinking that worst case scenario they are able to trade him for a 3rd rounder at one point, move down a couple spots in the draft, give some leadership and player with NHL experience to help their young team for a couple extra grand. Best case scenario is he regains form and helps the team make noise, brings out the best in the young players, and/or is traded for more than a 2nd rounder.

[Caboose]

Ottawa's centres are all mediocre to downright bad or completely inexperienced. The Sens might be a scrappy workhorse young team, but they're cannon fodder this year.

Before the trade, their top two centers may have been Colin White and Alex Galchenyuk. Let that sink in before calling this a bad trade.

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[jlh2640]

A 2nd rounder though !???? That’s called over payment

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

If only they made this trade a couple months ago....Wrong side of 30 is definitely worrisome for long-term contracts that extend beyond a year but this is a single season as a player just turned 30. Brodie's the same age, also in decline, and he just signed for 20M.

LO, what?

Brodie isn't close to being in decline.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

What a ridiculous post.



Yes the Sens have some decent pieces but finishing ahead of the Flames? I don’t k ow what you predicted in the past but that has nothing to do with this awful prediction.

I am pretty sure Mr Coffee is referring to his 2019 pre-season prediction that the Oilers would finish ahead of the Flames. Of course, since the season was interrupted it is especially silly to be bragging about it now.

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[Caboose]

Originally Posted by jlh2640

A 2nd rounder though !???? That’s called over payment

I think Ottawa now needs contributing veterans more than a hoard of draft picks. I also don't see a second rounder as incredibly valuable. Hell, Edmonton spent one second rounder per point on Athanasiou!

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