The Ottawa Senators haven’t made the playoffs in the past five years. The New Jersey Devils have missed the playoffs the past four springs.
Posted at 12:34 p.m.
Here are two similar clubs, with a core still very young after four years of reconstruction. And here they are already ready to sacrifice a top pick in the draft, the second overall in the case of the Devils, the seventh for the Senators, in order to obtain impact players for short-term reinforcement.
We often wonder why some rebuilding clubs have been circling for a decade and others are successful.
There are obviously irresistible offers. The game could be worth the effort if the New York Rangers offer Alexis Lafrenière for the second overall pick, or if the Jets trade Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Senators, but that won’t happen.
The Devils gave up the ninth overall pick for Corey Schneider in 2013. They’ve made the playoffs only once since. Schneider nevertheless gave the Devils three big seasons, but it wasn’t enough. He ended up in the American League in 2018 after being injured repeatedly. The choice offered to the Canucks became Bo Horvat. He’s been a captain in Vancouver for several seasons and just turned 27.
The Edmonton Oilers traded first (Mathew Barzal) and second-round picks to the Islanders in 2015 for Griffin Reinhart, fourth overall pick in 2012. Then-GM Peter Chiarelli wanted to accelerate the Islanders’ chances of success. Oilers by acquiring a defender a little more mature, at 21, and robust as desired. But his lack of speed prevented him from breaking through. He’s only played 29 games in Edmonton and he’s playing in Ireland today. Imagine the Oilers with Barzal, Kyle Connor, Thomas Chabot or Brock Boeser, always available at this rank. Edmonton started to emerge from the cellar four, five years later.
John Chayka was another “rushed” general manager, before being fired after years of watching his team go in circles. A year after arriving, he traded young defenseman Tony DeAngelo and his first-round pick, seventh overall, for established center Derek Stepan, then 27 and a season-high 55 points, and a 27-year-old rising goalkeeper Antti Raanta.
Their arrival did not allow the Coyotes to aspire to another level. Rangers wasted that pick on Lias Andersson, but Martin Necas, Nick Suzuki, Josh Norris and Robert Thomas were still available. The Coyotes are still looking for top centers five years later.
Chayka did it again two years later, when the Coyotes were just starting to win more consistently, by giving up his first-round pick in December 2019 for Taylor Hall. They lost in the first round, Hall quit after a few months, and Arizona is still rebuilding. The Devils drafted Dawson Mercer at 18e rank. He had 42 points in his rookie season at New Jersey last winter at age 20.
Another recent example is Tim Murray, GM of the Buffalo Sabers between 2014 and 2017. Was it the idea of the century to trade two first-round picks, Brendan Lemieux, Joel Armia, Drew Stafford and Tyler Myers to get, in two separate trades, Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and goaltender Robin Lehner, between February and June? 2015 ?
The idea of getting Ryan O’Reilly for Nikita Zadorov, Mikhail Grigorenko, JT Compher and a second-round pick was less ugly, but the Sabers collectively weren’t ready to win yet, nor did they still haven’t made the playoffs since 2012.
The Senators drafted Colin White at 21e rank in 2015 with the resulting picks for Lehner, Brock Boeser, Travis Konecny and Sebastian Aho were still available. Winnipeg got their hands on Jack Roslovic in the other trade (for Kane) and the youngster then moved to the Blue Jackets with Patrik Laine in the trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Roslovic, 25, has 45 points this year.
There were, however, it must be admitted, certain more favorable blows. Jordan Staal gave Hurricanes ten good years after being traded for 9e 2012 overall picks, Brandon Sutter and Brian Dumoulin. Carolina took six years to reach the playoffs, true, but Staal, 33, is still a vital part of his team and the Hurricanes are one win away from reaching the semi-finals.
Some may argue that Jacob Trouba, Filip Forsberg, Tom Wilson, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Vasilevskiy were always available (Pittsburgh unfortunately picked Derrick Pouliot), but Staal helped with the collective development of the team and he continues to do so.
The opportunity would be great for the Canadian to test the waters in order to acquire an additional choice among the top 12. Josh Anderson remains the best bait, if we improve the offer with a choice of end of first or start of second ( forget the second overall pick, but Ottawa’s seventh, Columbus’ sixth or twelfth would be more accessible).
Kent Hughes must weigh the pros and cons. Anderson is one of the few tough guys on offense. But he is 28 years old and will be 30, 31, when the CH will aspire to a championship again (in the best of scenarios). His understanding of the game is flawed, but he is said to be eager to learn and improve.
Obtaining a second choice in the top 12 would allow the Canadian to get their hands on a power winger like Juraj Slafkovski, who piques their curiosity more and more, while giving themselves the chance to draft a quality center with this other choice, among Marco Kasper, Noah Ostlund or Cutter Gauthier (a professional center that we moved to the wing this season within the American development program) but who can play there without problem.
The pro-Shane Wright will condemn this heresy, but to each his own opinion.
There’s also the option to climb a dozen ranks, offering your choice of end of first and start of second.
Still, such scenarios are always more difficult to realize in reality, but why not allow yourself to dream a little?
An elimination to the advantage of the Canadian
The Flames were eliminated by Connor McDavid and the Oilers on Thursday night. Their failure is good news for the CH, which holds Calgary’s first-round pick in the trade for Tyler Toffoli. An aces from the Flames would have meant at best for Montreal a choice between the 29e and the 32e rank. A place in the final would have pushed this choice back to 31e rank, a rank further with the conquest of the Stanley Cup.
Kent Hughes and the Canadian will now choose at 27e rank in the worst-case scenario. They could upgrade to 26e rank in the event of a victory of the New York Rangers against the Carolina Hurricanes, and at the 25e rank if the St. Louis Blues eliminate the Colorado Avalanche. But New York, like St. Louis, trails 3-2 in their respective series.
On the other hand, if the Oilers reach the Stanley Cup final, they will have to give the Blackhawks a second-round choice in 2022 instead of a third choice, and the second-round choice offered to the Canadian for Brett Kulak will be transferred in 2023.