Sens trade Zibanejad for Brassard

[Alfie11]

Zibanejad + 2018 2nd for Brassard + 2018 7th

[thedaigle1]

Mika Z traded

With a 2018 2nd for Derrick Brassard and a 2018 7th. Holy fuck.

[Matt the Aussie]

Gotta love cost certainty...lol wow.

AND we gave up a second? What on earth was that for?

[matchesmalone]

Fuck this bullshit.

[Josh]

Absolutely terrible. Wtf is this? Sens give up the better pick and better player. This doesn't even address a positional need.

[matchesmalone]

I don't really know how to feel or react right now.

First of all, Zibanejad is/was pretty much my favorite player; I just got his jersey last year.

Second, after a decade of defending Bryan Murray and practically every move the Sens made, I'm finally on the other side of the equation again. I like the coaching hires, but outside of the first round the draft was questionable, free agency was a dud, and now this. I haven't been this upset about a Sens trade since we traded Martin Havlat for Josh Hennessy and Tom Preissing.

[Alfie11]

Interesting responses so far - seems like the majority is definitely not in favour of this trade.

I'm indifferent right now. Zibanejad has potential ... he has all of the tools. However, there's definitely legitimate concerns if he ever reaches that potential. So far in his career he hasn't been able to put his tools together and make it work like he should be. With that being said, he's very young and has had two productive seasons. Plus he's in the best shape of his life.

I like Brassard, though. He's played very well for the Rangers and, I believe, gives us a better second line right now.

The draft pick part sucks, though. That shouldn't have been included. Here's what I'm thinking, though. I saw on Twitter that the Sens had this deal done for a while, or at least likely done. Brassard got a $2M signing bonus on July 15. Three days later, he's traded. It's very possible it was a 4th or 5th pick, and New York eating the $2M cost the Sens a higher pick. Plus, Brassard has a receding salary contract, so the Sens will end up paying less for this season and in the future.

The only good possibility out of all of this is that the Sens could be using their long-term savings to re-sign Hoffman.

[Alfie11]

Also, I think the most concerning news all day actually came in Dorion's press conference. He said this helps the Sens chances of making the playoffs next year, which is the 'ultimate goal'. Unfortunately, these are dark days to be a Sens fan.

[matchesmalone]

Honestly, I'm clearly biased. But when I step back and look at it as though I'm a talking head on a sports TV show, Zibanejad and Brassard are at present roughly similar players, in terms of value and role, if not style or skillset so much. But Zibanejad just turned 23, and has yet to play his fourth full season. He has room to grow and had a strong finish to last season (44 shots on net in the final 12 games), Brassard will be 29 by the start of the season, and is what he is. And then on top of it Dorion gave up a second round pick. Mike Milburry voice: This is a terrible trade! Terrible! Pierre Dorion should be ashamed of himself.

[Josh]

So this is looking more and more like its got "Melnyk" written all over it. There's the signing bonus that Brandon pointed out, and apparently Brassard's contract was front-loaded, meaning his cap hit is much higher than the actual dollars owed to him.

[thedaigle1]

I've pretty much talked myself off the ledge on this one. Mika was a fan favourite and you can't deny that he had huge offensive upside. But I do like that:

-Ottawa could have more Hoffman money set aside now
-Ottawa has a left handed centre to play with Ryan or Stone
-Ottawa has a centre who can rock the man advantage
-Brassard is a player in his prime with a manageable contract
-Brassard can play effectively in all phases and is much more complete that Mika

All i'm hearing from the Senators fanbase is "This team is wasting the prime years of its core! When is management gonna DOOOOO something?!"
So management goes out and gets Ryan and Phaneuf and Brassard.
And the fanbase says "This team is mortgaging the future! What were they thiiinkiiing?"

A) This team cannot bring in free agents without overpaying. No one wants to play in Canada. Period. Name one UFA who took a team-friendly deal to play in Canada this year. No one.
B) This team has to give up picks and prospects. This team can't eat salary so it has no other leverage. They parted with the guy who was a contract nightmare waiting to happen.*
C) This team has enough firepower and it needs more two-way players. Bona fide NHL players aren't cheap and I'd like to know what other assets the team had that other GMs actually want.

*again, I liked Mika and I know a lot of fans felt the same way but his play wasn't in line with the expectations of the organization and that always leads to negotiation problems (especially in Ottawa).

[Alfie11]

Right now, Brassard is a better player than Zibanejad. He's also a better fit in Ottawa's top six, due to his left-handed shot and playmaking mentality.

You're right, this is a win-now move, and the fanbase realizes it's time to win now. However, we just paid a second round pick to get out of a $2M signing bonus. And our GM said that the ultimate goal for the Senators is to qualify for the playoffs. So it's hard to be optimistic

[thedaigle1]

Right now, Brassard is a better player than Zibanejad. He's also a better fit in Ottawa's top six, due to his left-handed shot and playmaking mentality.

You're right, this is a win-now move, and the fanbase realizes it's time to win now. However, we just paid a second round pick to get out of a $2M signing bonus. And our GM said that the ultimate goal for the Senators is to qualify for the playoffs. So it's hard to be optimistic

I hear ya. And I think most people will agree with that.

I specifically did not mention the second round pick in my rant because historically speaking second rounders are about as worthless as seventh rounders. You can argue me on that one but I'm just going by the numbers. I defend this move cos the team is not happy to say 'well we were injured last year and we changed coaches so let's just ice the same roster and see what happens.' This isn't an overhaul but it's also not a trade for the sake of a trade. Again, I think a lot of people are upset cos we LIKED Mika as a dude. Myself included. I think when we evolve beyond human emotion this will all make a lot more sense.

[Alfie11]

I hear ya. And I think most people will agree with that.

I specifically did not mention the second round pick in my rant because historically speaking second rounders are about as worthless as seventh rounders. You can argue me on that one but I'm just going by the numbers. I defend this move cos the team is not happy to say 'well we were injured last year and we changed coaches so let's just ice the same roster and see what happens.' This isn't an overhaul but it's also not a trade for the sake of a trade. Again, I think a lot of people are upset cos we LIKED Mika as a dude. Myself included. I think when we evolve beyond human emotion this will all make a lot more sense.

I definitely don't think the trade is horrible. I agree that the second round pick likely becomes nothing, but it's still confusing that we made a win-now trade while also sending an asset to save $2M while spending one of the least amounts of money in the league.

[thedaigle1]

I definitely don't think the trade is horrible. I agree that the second round pick likely becomes nothing, but it's still confusing that we made a win-now trade while also sending an asset to save $2M while spending one of the least amounts of money in the league.

That's just the Eugene factor, my friend. We're all victims of his spend-thrift ways.