In a tight race in the Eastern Conference, the Ottawa Senators are right in the mix and climbing back up the standings. They have won four games in a row and are five games above .500, sitting one point back of the final playoff spot with a game in hand. The team has over $3.75 million cap space to work with at this time.
That isn’t enough for a larger upgrade that they have reportedly been eyeing for a while though. According to Bruce Garrioch, “The Senators have shown interest in Ryan O’Reilly in the past, but would need to make room for him.”
O’Reilly has a cap hit of $4.5 million AAV and he has one more year left on his contract, but he could be a very good 2nd/3rd line center for the Senators that is more defensively focused. While saying that, I recognize that O’Reilly has been the top line center for the Nashville Predators, plays nearly three minutes on the power play per game, and nearly two minutes on the penalty kill per game. He also has 10 goals and 30 points in 35 games, but his offensive impact wouldn’t need to be as great on the Senators who have multiple players that can produce offensively.
Nashville has now worked their way back into the mix in the West, which is much less competitive around the final spots of the playoff picture. They are still a game under .500, but are five points out with three games in hand. It will still be a lot of work for the Predators to make strides and stave off a retool/rebuild, so I think they are going to be given more time considering the team has won seven of their past 10 games.
If trading O’Reilly and players like Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos indicates a shift in the team getting even younger, then younger talent is part of what the Predators are going to want in return for their assets. While also moving money, the Senators could fit in pieces like Ridly Greig or Fabian Zetterlund as the main piece going back.
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