Having spent time so much time covering Pierre Dorion, I know what incompetence feels like and this off-season feels very familiar. We had hints of this at the trade deadline with the awful Tarasenko trade (along with the inability to move either Joseph or Brannstrom), but that was just an appetizer. Every GM across the league should be picking up the phone to call Ottawa (as St. Louis did, getting Mathieu Joseph not just for nothing, but with a 3rd-round pick thrown in). I’m going to go through the latest roster moves and we can share the pain together. To save those of you who just want to skim for what I liked or disliked, I’ve colour-coded that with green for good, red for bad, and no highlight when I think it’s mixed.
Chychrun for Jensen/3rd-rounder (2026)
It’s difficult to imagine a worse trade. To quote The Athletic: “There’s no way to say right now just what the market on Chychrun was, but it’s fair to call it a highly underwhelming return.“. The Sens gave up on a signed, 26-year old dynamic blueliner who is finally healthy, affordable, and wanted to be in Ottawa, for a declining 33-year old blueliner coming off his worst year via analytics. I’m sure he’s good in the corners and I know he plays the right side, but he’s old, overpaid, and won’t be here long. Org defenders have come out with the refrain: “Chychrun was a sunk cost, so there is no use complaining about that anymore.” This is ridiculous (as one can see from The Athletic‘s reaction–and frankly everyone’s from outside the local market). Acquiring Chychrun is one of the few good trades from the Dorion regime and Staios’ failure to handle an asset (again!) simply illustrates he’s struggles as a general manager. It even fails in comparison to Dorion’s terrible DeBrincat trade, because he at least Dorian got a 1st-round pick. One can imagine Staios in the same scenario impatiently trading straight-up for Kubalik and a 4th-rounder.
What’s clear from the above and what follows is that Andlauer has given Staios a free reign and has no idea how to handle hockey assets. There’s positives in that he won’t interfere, but if he doesn’t have a meaningful understanding of hockey, a terrible manager can linger like Jarmo Kekalainen for years.
FA signing David Perron
He’s 35, so he can’t be bought out; he’s coming off his worst year via analytics ever (link above); and he’s signed with term for 4 million. I was trying to figure out the internal logic for this one and I think the org has done it projecting to the 25-26 season, after Giroux walks, is traded, or retires. Perron becomes a less expensive veteran in the lineup and clearly the org wants an older player in their top-six. Of course, Perron isn’t remotely as good a player as Giroux is. My problem, putting the questionable logic aside, is his cap hit, trajectory, and the inability to do anything with him if he completely falls off.
Re-signing Shane Pinto
There was never a question that he’d be re-signed, just for what and how long. The cap hit is fine (3.75) and while the term is short (two years), given all contracts coming off the books it’s possible for the team to keep him (at that point the state of Josh Norris should be clear–the worst case scenario for the Sens is Norris gets healthy but is a shadow of his former self).
Nothing for Mathieu Joseph and a 3rd-rounder (2025)
It’s amazing how easily Staios throws up his hands and gives up on players. Not only did he give Joseph away (having replaced him with someone only marginally cheaper in Amadio), he had to include a pick as well. I’m sure ‘sunk costs’ will explain this one locally too, but there’s no excuse for this. I’ve been eager for Joseph to go for a long time (based on the absurd contract Dorion gave him), but to get nothing in a market when talented players can be acquired for Nick Jensen is inexcusable.
Nothing letting Erik Brannstrom walk
I know, I know, ‘sunk cost’ mumble mumble couldn’t find a trade partner. Yet another complete fail without getting anything for an asset. What’s funny is that with both this and Chychrun‘s departure, the Sens are now lacking talent and skill on their blueline. Chabot is unlikely to ever play much more than half a season, Hamonic isn’t an NHL player any longer, and JBD has his own issues. The decision seems to be gambling on Kleven and simply hoping the puck magically moves from the blueline to the forwards.
FA signing Michael Amadio
He was with the org before, but this deal seems almost as bad as the Mathieu Joseph contract. Signed for 3-years, he’s a guy who will get the team 25-30 points a year…hopefully. He’s only achieved that on a very talented Vegas team, being much worse otherwise (0.37 with Vegas, 0.22 elsewhere). If there was less term (or cash) I could give it a pass, but the potential down sides are very unappealing.
FA signing Noah Gregor
The team let Parker Kelly walk (something I approve of) and replaced him with Gregor. The org’s rationale is that he’s quicker, while I’d say he’s marginally better offensively (0.26 per game vs 0.20; it’s almost eerie how similar they are as players). It feels like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
FA signing Hayden Hodgson (2-way)
A pointless goon signing (especially with McEwen on the roster–someone I fully expect to play in the minors where he’s also a productive forward). He’s slightly more talented than Imama (0.34 vs 0.23), so that’s the silver lining, but he’s an unnecessary addition.
FA signing Filip Roos (2-way)
The big Swede hasn’t show much as an AHLer (0.28) and I have no idea where you play him (even with Kleven in the NHL there’s still five d-men on the left side). I find the choice baffling, but at least it’s not a veteran slot.
FA signing Jeremy Davies (2-way)
This makes a bit more sense to me, as the veteran is a puck mover at the AHL-level (0.49). The BSens haven’t brought in a player like him in quite some time (the last time they did it successfully was in 2012-13, with Andre Benoit, but the last time they tried was Michael Kostka in 2015-16), leaning on prospects to do that from the blueline, so I like the idea behind the move.
FA signing Adam Gaudette (2-way)
We’ve seen this movie before, but at least he’s not been signed for the NHL roster. He’s a very productive AHL-scorer and a welcome addition.
Retained AHL vet Garrett Pilon
While his regular season was just average, he was good in the playoffs. I don’t mind the two-year contract, as there’s not much coming through the Sens pipeline now.
The Sens have a few more RFA situations to sort out, but none are of immediate NHL-impact nor do I think any of them will be difficult to sort out. I’m not clear on why they qualified Kevin Mandolese again, but he is insurance at the AHL-level.
There’s not much cap room left, but if Norris is unavailable to start the season (which is my assumption), the team will need two players on two-way contracts to fill out spots on the third and fourth line (there are plenty of options for both). I’m also assuming Kleven is in the mix for the defensemen, so on paper the lineup is set. Is it a good lineup? That’s a different question and I’ll leave that for a separate discussion.
As a post-note, I missed Kyle Betts being re-signed to an AHL-deal with Belleville back in March. It’s a move I’m fine with. Betts won’t blow anyone away with his skill, but he can plug-and-play as a fourth-liner, which is a useful thing for the BSens to have.
The BSens also retained Bell as their head coach while replacing both his assistants with Stefan Legein (from the WHL), and Andrew Campbell (from the OHL). Gone are assistants Chris Dennis and Nathan McIver (I have no idea if the change is a conscious one from the org or if both simply moved on).
This article was written by Peter Levi
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