Much like last summer, Pierre Dorion has locked up one of his players long term. In this case, it’s Jake Sanderson, who received an 8-year deal. This is most similar to the deal signed by Josh Norris, but the latter had two successful NHL seasons prior as opposed to Sanderson‘s one. That said, Jake was a much higher pick and in theory that makes it less risky. This gives the Sens five players locked in around the 8 million mark for next season (Sanderson, Norris, Stutzle, Tkachuk, and Chabot). The odds being what they are, at least one of these contracts is going to turn into a problem in the future, but near term this looks good on Dorion. It has no impact on the Shane Pinto negotiations, as the cap will go up next season. I’m mystified as to why Egor Sokolov still has no contract, but Pinto‘s situation will likely drag into the pre-season. My expectation remains that the Sens will trade Brannstrom to clear space for Pinto.
Speaking cap space, I think Del Zotto retiring removes his buyout cap hit (cf), which gives the Sens another 750k to play with (so around 1.645). My expectation has been Sokolov will get a two-way for at least this season (assuming he’s retained), so all the extra space can go to Pinto without a move (and if Brannstrom is shifted and nothing comes back, the team has 3.645 available, which ought to be plenty).
This is refreshing to see from the fanbase after their myopic view of the team last summer. While The Athletic article assumes the trade grade is strictly related to Debrincat, Dorion’s trade history is the stuff of nightmares. Let’s briefly go through his major trades as a reminder:
2016
1-12 (Michael McLeod and 3-80, who didn’t pan out) for 1-11 Logan Brown
The latter has 99 NHL games and is now on a 2-way contract in TB; McLeod, by contrast, has played 242 games and re-signed with New Jersey for 1.4. I’ll take an NHL regular over a flop any day.
Derick Brassard and 7-194 (failure) for Mika Zibanejad and Jonatan Berggren
Not only is this a colossal failure straight-up, but the latter prospect had a solid rookie season with Detroit last year
2017
Jyrki Jokipakka and Alex Formenton for Curtis Lazar and minor leaguer
Any time you move Lazar it’s a big win, but getting the pick that landed them Formenton (his personal issues aside) is a win
Matt Duchene for a lot of things but primarily Bowen Byram
I’ve gone over this before–it’s a terrible trade
2018
Mikkel Boedker and minor leaguer for Mike Hoffman and minor leaguer
This is another one-sided deal
K’Andre Miller for JBD and failed 2-48
The two defenders are worlds apart
Erik Karlsson and minor leaguer for Josh Norris, Tim Stutzle, and other parts
A major reason why Doug Wilson isn’t San Jose’s GM anymore
2019
Matt Duchene and minor leaguer for Lassi Thomson and various failed prospects (that were retained–one of the picks is part of another bad Dorion trade)
Anthony Duclair and picks for Ryan Dzingel and a late pick
This worked out well for Dorion
Erik Brannstrom, Egor Sokolov, and marginal player for Mark Stone and minor leaguer
Nothing needs to be said
Connor Brown etc for Cody Ceci etc
While the Sens saddled themselves with an awful Zaitsev contract, this is still a win
2020
Ridley Greig and traded picks for Jean-Gabriel Pageau
While it’s unlikely Greig will be as good a player as Pageau, we still don’t know yet
Derek Stepan for Josh Doan
Not yet confirmed, but I suspect this is going to be a fail for Dorion
2022
Mathieu Joseph and pick for Nick Paul
Pretty clear cut
Alex DeBrincat for Kevin Korchinski and prospect
Now recognized as the fail that it always was
Cam Talbot for Filip Gustavsson
Even if Gus regresses, this was a slamdunk for Minnesota
2023
Nothing for Roman Kantersov, a bad player, and a prospect
While technically not determined, it’s a heavy price to get rid of Zaitsev
Dominik Kubalik, failed prospect, and picks for Alex Debrincat
Technically not determined, but it’s extremely unlikely any of these assets are as good as what was given up–this whole situation being Dorion’s fault to begin with
This article was written by Peter Levi
eyeonthesens 