The Ottawa Senators have brought back a familiar face to give the club depth on defence.
The Senators finally ended the contract stalemate with restricted free agent blueliner Maxence Guenette on Monday afternoon by sending him to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for veteran blueliner Dennis Gilbert, who finished last season with Ottawa.
The Flyers immediately signed Guenette, 24, to a one-year, two-way deal.
This will be the 29-year-old Gilbert’s second stint with the Senators. He was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres on March 7, along with centre Dylan Cozens, in the deal that sent centre Josh Norris and defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker the other way.
Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, had been scouring the National Hockey League’s trade market to try to find some depth for the left side after the club lost defenceman Donovan Sebrango on waivers to the Florida Panthers last month.
Gilbert is expected to join the Senators in Los Angeles and could be on the ice on Wednesday in Anaheim when they prepare to face the Ducks. The club didn’t want to head West with only six healthy defencemen, so getting this trade done was important.
There became a sense of urgency to make a deal when alternate captain Thomas Chabot, a left shot, was lost for what’s expected to be two weeks with an upper-body muscle injury. He will likely go on the trip to California, but there are no guarantees he will be ready.
Gilbert suited up for only four games with the Senators last season and signed a one-year deal with the Flyers in the off-season that is paying him $875,000 US this season. He has three goals and 17 points in 111 NHL games in his career.
He has suited up for only six games with Philadelphia’s American Hockey League affiliate, Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and has been sidelined with an undisclosed injury. Gilbert has been cleared to play and was expected to return to the Lehigh lineup this week.
The Senators didn’t really have an option to call up from Belleville, which currently has left-side defenders Jorian Donovan, Tomas Hamara and Matthew Andonovski under contract. Veteran Scott Harrington is on an AHL contract and would need to be signed to an NHL deal.
Guennette’s deal with the Flyers
Guenette’s camp turned down an offer and asked for a trade when the Senators signed Lassi Thomson in the summer. The 24-year-old Guenette had been skating near his home in Quebec City, while waiting for the club to get a trade done to give him an opportunity elsewhere.
His deal carries a salary of $775,000 in the NHL and $225,000 in the minors.
It was important for the Senators to get Guenette’s situation resolved before Dec. 1. If he had remained unsigned, he wouldn’t have been able to play in the NHL this season and Guenette had been considering options in Europe, including Switzerland.
“We’re happy to get this situation resolved,” said Guenette’s Ottawa-based Dominic DeBlois, who also represents Chabot, in a text message. “It wasn’t an easy situation and now both sides can move on from this.
“It was most important to get Max back to playing as quickly as possible. We’re thankful that Steve Staios and the Senators were able to get this done and Max can continue his career.”
The focus for Staios on the trade front will now likely turn to trying to move the rights to restricted free agent forward Alex Formenton. If he isn’t traded by Dec. 1, he won’t be eligible to play in the NHL this season.
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The Senators are trying to deal Formenton elsewhere after he was among five players on the 2018 Canadian world junior team found not guilty of sexual assault in July in London, Ont.
Staios told reporters in September that he and Formenton’s Toronto-based agent, Darren Feris, both agreed that it would be best for both sides if the club’s second-round pick in the 2017 NHL draft got a fresh start elsewhere.
Formenton signed a deal with HC Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss league, which will run through to the Christmas break in December because he’s hopeful the Senators will trade his rights.
He has three goals and five points in 15 games with Ambri-Piotta. At this point, the Senators will hold to Formenton’s rights until he’s eligible to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2026-27 campaign.