Free washer | Will the Senators blow up their core?

Rumors are intensifying in Ottawa. Tipster James Murphy, citing an NHL manager, says a major trade threatens to shake up the Senators. A photo of captain Brady Tkachuk adorns his text.

A week earlier, former team defender Marc Methot, who has a history with the organization, dropped this bombshell on Twitter/X. “I don’t want to be dramatic, but the next one to leave won’t be the owner, the coach, the GM or the owner, but an important piece of the core and that’s going to hurt. »

The Senators beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 on Monday night at home to end a five-game losing streak, but they remain four points behind the Buffalo Sabers for last place in the playoffs.

Ottawa began its rebuild in 2018 by trading Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks, then Mark Stone and Matt Duchene at the trade deadline.

However, over the last seven seasons, the Senators have never crossed the 21^e rank in the general classification. They finished on 26^e rank or lower five times.

Brady Tkachuk, fourth pick in 2018, and Drake Batherson are in their seventh season, Thomas Chabot in his eighth. Tim Stützle is already in his fifth season and Josh Norris, hard hit by injuries, is living his sixth year within the organization after being obtained in the trade for Erik Karlsson.

This core is obviously not responsible for the inability of its bosses to find a viable number one goalie, or for costly and failed trades like those of Alex DeBrincat and Jakob Chychrun.

But when a club seems unable to complete its rebuild, core pieces are usually targeted. We have seen it elsewhere in recent decades. Here are some examples of major trades to shake up the team, some for the better, some for the worse…

Oilers Edmonton (2016)

Connor McDavid has just been drafted, to the delight of new general manager Peter Chiarelli. There is a lack of gritty players up front and reliable defensemen, Chiarelli believes, and the Oilers are full of skilled wingers. He trades 2010 first overall pick Taylor Hall, 25, for defenseman Adam Larsson, and offers a golden bridge to Milan Lucic. Hall had a great season in New Jersey in 2017-2018, winning the Hart Trophy as the MVP, but otherwise did nothing remarkable. He has changed clubs five times since 2020. Larsson brought some reliability on defense and the Oilers reached the playoffs at the end of that season, but they would miss two more years, to sound the death knell for Chiarelli.

Buffalo Sabers (2018)

The Sabers still don’t win with Ryan O’Reilly, despite the arrival of young firsts Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart a few years earlier. O’Reilly is sent to the Blues for Tage Thompson, Patrik Berglund and first and second round picks. The Blues won the Stanley Cup and the first round pick was moved to 31^e rank. Defenseman Ryan Johnson, drafted at this rank, is still in the American League at 23, but Thompson has become a leading center, without allowing the Sabers to win. Eichel and Reinhart were in turn traded. Will this year be the good one after 13 consecutive exclusions from the series?

Florida Panthers (2022)

The Panthers have been floundering in mediocrity since the turn of the century. They reached the playoffs in 2021, but were eliminated in the first round. They reached the second round the following year, but were stunned by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar are at the peak of their careers, but a year away from full autonomy. Bill Zito trades them to the Calgary Flames along with a first round pick for Matthew Tkachuk. Florida reached the Finals in Tkachuk’s first season with the Panthers, and won the Stanley Cup the following year. This may be the trade the Senators dream of, but there have been several other flashes of genius from Zito, including Gustav Forsling, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart.

Carolina Hurricanes (2018)

The Hurricanes have just missed the playoffs nine times in a row. We explode the core by trading center Elias Lindholm and defender Noah Hanifin, both drafted in the top 5to the Flames for Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland and Adam Fox. Hamilton will give three good seasons to the Hurricanes, who will finally reach the playoffs, but their success will be mainly attributable to the rise of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Martin Necas, Brett Pesce and Jaccob Slavin. Ferland, affected by concussions, and Fox, who dreams of New York, will only pass through. In the long term, the transaction will have been more profitable for the Flames, who just obtained first-round picks and prospects for Lindholm and Hanifin six years later.

Arizona Coyotes (2018)

The Coyotes have missed the playoffs six years in a row. Dylan Strome, 22, third overall pick in 2015, and Brendan Perlini, also 22, 12^e pick in 2014, are traded to Chicago for 23-year-old Nick Schmaltz. The Coyotes make the playoffs a year and a half later, but it will be an isolated event. Schmaltz is not bad, but he is at best a winger capable of putting up 55 to 60 points. Strome was eventually jettisoned by the Blackhawks a few years later, but he’s finally coming into his own at 27 years old. He has 29 points in 20 games so far in Washington.

Moral of the story? Your managers still remain the most important players in an organization. We may want to shake the foundations, we must make wise exchanges…