The wheeling and dealing has started in Ottawa.
Dion Phaneuf has been traded to the Los Angeles Kings along with Nate Thompson in exchange for Marian Gaborik and Nick Shore. The Senators are retaining 25% of Phaneuf’s remaining salary.
Phaneuf was on the ice for the first two goals Pittsburgh scored tonight and then he barely played in the second period. When Phaneuf didn’t show up for the third period, it was clear something was up.
The Senators have found a way to move what looked like an unmovable contract. Phaneuf has three more years remaining on his deal at a cap hit of $7 million. He’ll make $6.5 mil in the next two seasons and $5.5 in the final year of the contract.
Meanwhile Marian Gaborik comes with an unfortunate contract of his own although not quite on the level of Phaneuf. Gaborik has three years left at a cap hit of $4.875 mil a season. He’ll make $4.5 mil next year, $3.1 mil and then $3.0 mil in the final season.
My quick math was a little off. It's more significant. Including what players were owed remainder of this season, #Sens will save $5,455,107 in real cash with the transaction - even by eating 25% of Phaneuf contract. Suffice to say, I think this was the key to the deal.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 14, 2018
Those cash savings are key in this deal. Also, Gaborik is a cheaper buy out, should the Senators decide to go that route this off season and if they don’t, the fact that he doesn’t haven’t a NTC gives them a little additional flexibility down the road.
The Senators also snuck Nate Thompson in the deal which opens up a spot in the bottom six for next season. In Nick Shore, the Senators are getting a 25 year old bottom six forward set to be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
Make no mistake- there are clear financial motivations to this trade from Ottawa’s perspective. That they didn’t give up a pick or a prospect to get their worst contract off the books is pretty remarkable though.
To his credit, Phaneuf has been nothing but a professional here in Ottawa. He was thrown into a difficult situation when he was first traded here from Toronto and despite carrying that contract, he was a solid addition to the line up and a respected leader in that locker room.
Phaneuf and his family are going to a place where they’ll be more than comfortable. And in the Kings are in the thick of a playoff race too.
Safe to say this is just the tip of the iceberg for Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators.
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