After a disheartening loss to a division rival that’s taken the wind out of the sails of many fans, today’s news has come at a fairly opportune time.
The NHL has announced a change to Ottawa’s punishment for the botched Evgenii Dadonov trade, in which former GM Pierre Dorion failed to notify the Vegas Golden Knights of a no-trade clause.
The Sens were slated to lose their first-round selection in the upcoming draft – now, they will be picking after all – albeit 32nd overall. This position is locked in regardless of whether or not the Sens plummet to dead-last in the league, stay the course, or find a way to get into the playoffs. If they somehow win the Cup? The punishment effectively amounts to nothing at all, since they’d be picking 32nd anyway. I’d love to see how the Golden Knights react if this scenario comes to pass.
Links, News, and Notes:VP of Communications Ian Mendes goes behind the scenes of the trade deadline in his latest Monday column – from meeting with newest Senator Warren Foegele, to TSN putting together a quick news hit on the David Perron trade right before the Sens took on the Flames last week.Silver Seven alumnus Callum Fraser took a deeper look at the Sens’ defence, and especially their penalty kill, which includes insight from players and staff on how the improvements we’ve seen have come from minor adjustments and quicker decision-making, as opposed to a complete structural overhaul.Mammoth forward Nick Schmaltz was slated to be one of the top unrestricted free agents available come July 1st, before signing an 8-year extension worth $8M annually. Schmaltz has 59 points in 65 games for Utah this season, and I’ve found this news to be notable because a lot of these teams that are beginning to establish themselves as playoff-caliber, also have the cap space to retain their talent – this will have an impact on the pool of available free agents the Senators could reslistically go after in the offseason.