In the end, it may have been one of the most dramatic Trade Deadlines in franchise history.
For the first time in a long-time, the Ottawa Senators came into the day as something other than a seller and they took advantage of that situation. With his team clinging to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, General Manager Steve Staios swung for the fences.
It was just after 11:00 AM yesterday when it became clear that something big was in the works. Winds of change had been blowing throughout the week but it was clear that this was different.
The Senators were briefly on the ice for practice only to have the entire group pulled back into the room for an unexpected although maybe long-feared meeting with management. Extremely not normal. When they re-emerged, Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker were nowhere to be found.
Dylan Cozens and Denis Gilbert are Ottawa Senators. Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker are not. It was the long-talked about lightning bolt through the core of the team and it came just hours before the NHL Trade Deadline and with the Sens just barely holding on to a playoff spot in the East.
TRADE ALERT: The #Sens have acquired F Dylan Cozens, D Dennis Gilbert, and a 2026 2nd round pick from @BuffaloSabres in exchange for F Josh Norris and D Jacob Bernard-Docker.
Les #Sens ont acquis l’attaquant Dylan Cozens, le défenseur Dennis Gilbert et un choix de deuxième ronde… pic.twitter.com/Q46BP2zDk3
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 7, 2025
It’s a move that comes with all sorts of risk but at the end of the day, it’s easy to see how Steve Staios and his staff were able to talk themselves into it.
In Dylan Cozens they are getting a younger, bigger, tougher, cheaper and healthier hockey player with a similar talent level. A guy that looked like a star in the making a couple seasons ago and that more recently, looked like someone in desperate need of a change of scenery. A player that just seems like a better fit and that on paper, gives the team a little more balance in the forward lines.
At the same time, they’re giving up an extremely-talented but often injured member of the team’s core in Josh Norris. One of Brady Tkachuk’s best friends and honestly, just one of the most likable guys to ever pull on the Ottawa colours.
You could see the “risk” in this deal play out in real-time in the moments that followed the trade. The team and its Captain were in shock.
So was I actually. Not shocked that Staios would finally tinker with the core of the team that he had nothing to do with. No, the shock was more that they could find another team willing to take on that Josh Norris contract given his injury history. There was a moment just two games ago where he flexed that right shoulder on the Ottawa bench and I thought for a moment, this guy might never play again.
He will though. In Upstate New York.
Staios wasn’t done there.
In fact, he may have saved his best work for the final minutes er seconds of the day. With just 27 seconds left to go before the deadline, Staios called up Sharks GM Mike Grier and basically stole a 25-year old top six forward that adds exactly what the Sens have been missing this season.
TRADE ALERT: The #Sens have acquired F Fabian Zetterlund, F Tristen Robins, and a 2025 4th round pick from the @SanJoseSharks in exchange for F Noah Gregor, F Zack Ostapchuk, and a 2025 2nd round pick.
Les #Sens ont acquis les attaquants Fabian Zetterlund et Tristen Robins et un… pic.twitter.com/rlagKfCwDF
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 7, 2025
Fabian Zetterlund may not be a household name but those who watch him closely say that Ottawa quietly made one of the deals of the day when they were able to pry him out of San Jose.
He’s a fast, heavy hockey player with an absolutely lethal shot that he lvoes usin’. Low maintenance and with room to grow still. Although maybe not physically because the guy is already massive.
Zetterlund scored 24 times last year and his 17 goals this season, on a dreadful Sharks team, would be good enough for fourth on the Ottawa Senators. He’s an RFA at the end of the season and like Cozens, the Sens think he can help down the stretch but also, that he can fit in well with this group going forward.
It costs the Senators Zack Ostapchuk, Noah Gregor and their own 2nd round pick. The Senators also got back an interesting Belleville bound addition in Tristen Robins in the deal along with a 4th rounder.
Steve Staios isn’t the flashiest of GMs but what we have seen both in the off-season and now at this year’s Deadline is that he is calculated with his moves, that he trades not just for the sake of it but to add specific things the team is clearly missing and maybe most importantly, that he’s not afraid to do what it takes to improve the team.
And he had himself one hell of a day yesterday.
OH! ALSO!
The Senators play their biggest game in like 8 years in a little over five hours.
The Ottawa Senators host the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon.
Lineup details likely unavailable up until closer to game time. It sounds like there is a chance both Dylan Cozens and Denis Gilbert suit up for this one though. Despite their best efforts, Fabian Zetterlund is a long shot.
Puck drop is at 12:38 PM. The game is available on TSN5 which is a nice lil Saturday treat. TSN1200 has the radio feed, streams will be available in the comment section below but the only real way to experience a game this big is live and in person. See ya there!
Go. Sens. Go.
