What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Unfortunately for the Ottawa Senators, what’s staying in Vegas is one of their top four defenceman and Erik Karlsson’s longtime defence partner.
As expected, the Las Vegas Golden Knights selected Marc Methot during yesterday’s Expansion Draft. The annual Awards show is always painful but it was especially rough for Sens fans, as they end up losing one of the best players during this year’s expansion.
There are rumours the Knights could now flip Methot elsewhere (possibly Dallas) but what we know for sure is he won’t be patrolling the blueline in Ottawa next season.
Extremely sad to see my good friend leave me and us way to early. All the best brother @MarcMethot3
— Erik Karlsson (@ErikKarlsson65) June 22, 2017
While losing a quality player and person like Methot hurts, Pierre Dorion and the Senators have to look at it as an opportunity. Methot has been solid for the Senators but $4.9 mil is a lot to pay someone in that shutdown role and Dorion seems confident that they have options internally (Claesson, Harpur, Chabot) to eat up some of those minutes.
We’ve also seen Phaneuf and Karlsson paired together at times over the last couple seasons and they’ve actually looked pretty good. That could be another option for the Coaching Staff to consider going forward.
The reassuring this is anybody looks good with Erik Karlsson and the Captain has had some success away from his regular partner in the last couple seasons.
Erik Karlsson in 2017:
47.0 CF% with Methot
53.9 CF% without MethotErik Karlsson in 2016:
48.1 CF% with Methot
55.2 CF% without Methot— Derek Neumeier (@Derek_N_NHL) June 22, 2017
No matter how you look at it though, Dorion is going to take some heat for this move.
Any time you lose a top four defenceman without getting anything in return, there will be questions asked. I do give Dorion some credit for drawing a line in the sand and not letting the emotion involved dictate his decision-making. He felt the price Vegas was asking for was too much and he just couldn’t justify giving up a first round pick and then also losing a player like Freddy Claesson at the same time.
Vegas knew they had the Senators in a tough spot but credit to Dorion for sticking to his guns.
At the same time, shedding that kind of salary without taking any money back the other way means the Senators may have an opportunity to add a fairly significant piece this off-season. And not necessarily a replacement for Marc Methot. Assuming that money is available to spent, of course.
The league-wide trade freeze officially lifted at 8:00 AM this morning and you can expect Pierre Dorion to check what options are out there.
Lastly, best of luck to Marc Methot, wherever he lands.
He was as genuine a guy as you’ll find in the game and he seemed to be legitimately proud to be an Ottawa Senator.
During locker cleanout day after their devastating loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals, Methot seemed to be one of the most emotional players- not only hurting from the loss but also clearly proud of his team and appreciative of the support they received from city during the run.
That was one thing that always struck me about Methot. He seemed to legitimately care about his city and about the fans of this team.
His presence will obviously be missed on the ice but the hole will be just as big away from the rink and in the community.
Pierre Dorion will meet with the media in Chicago at 3:00 PM today ahead of this weekend’s Entry Draft.
