Three snipers linked to the Ottawa Senators but there's a hidden problem
Photo credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
The Ottawa Senators want a sniper. The three names left all carry a catch, but the real obstacle sits on Ottawa's own cap sheet.
General manager Steve Staios told TSN 1200 that Ottawa finished eighth in goals last season and still lacks a finisher.
The Hockey News narrowed the realistic trade board to Brock Boeser, Pavel Zacha and Kirill Marchenko.
Every version of this story lists the same three obstacles: Boeser's full movement protection, Boston's extension talks with Zacha, and Don Waddell's refusal to move Marchenko.
Those are other teams' problems.
Ottawa has one of its own.
The cheapest target is the hardest to get
TSN reported the Senators carry just over $5 million in cap space.
Boeser's $7.25 million hit through 2031-32 does not fit without salary leaving Ottawa first.
Zacha's $4.75 million squeezes in with almost nothing to spare.
Zacha's 30 goals last season came on a 22.9 percent shooting rate that is unlikely to repeat.
Marchenko's $3.85 million is the only one that slots cleanly, and he is the only one with restricted free agent control attached afterward.
That is precisely why the Columbus Blue Jackets are keeping him.
The list runs backwards: the easier a player is to absorb, the less willing his team is to sell.
Next summer is already spoken for
Drake Batherson and Artem Zub both reach unrestricted free agency in July, and Staios confirmed extension discussions with both.
Every dollar committed to a sniper now is a dollar unavailable then.
That reframes the wait. Holding cap space until November or the trade deadline is not indecision, it is the only version of this that protects the roster Ottawa already built.
The Senators were swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in round one before Carolina won the Stanley Cup.
Adding a finisher matters. Keeping Batherson matters more.
Also read on House Of Hockey :
Columbus issues statement on a Kirill Marchenko trade
Columbus issues statement on a Kirill Marchenko trade