On Chris Tierney: I think Tierney's value has definitely fallen from where it should have been this past off season. I think part of that is just a result of him now having just 1 year left compared to him being an RFA/ having two full seasons on his deal. Another part of his value dropping is that it's becoming more and more clear that he's probably not getting protected in the expansion. The sens have shown that they have guys who can/will replace him in his role as a shutdown option and more importantly as a PK forward next year. I think he'll still have value this offseason, but I think they missed the chance to really cash in on his value as a 40 point PK 3C, because that's just not what he was this year.

As for the rest of it, I don't know that Nick Leddy is the Vet D Ottawa needs. I think they need to add someone to play with Chabot, and help settle him down defensively. I also think that if Nikita Zaitsev is still on this team heading into next year, they've made a mistake. He's not good enough, and at this point he's the biggest thing holding this team back. I don't think they're close to being competitive, but I don't think they can take that next step until he's gone.

As far as trading Logan Brown, I think unfortunately, the way you get the most possible value back for him at this stage is to use whatever value he has left to convince Seattle to take Zaitsev's deal. Something like Brown, Abramov and a 2nd maybe gets it done, and that's probably about as much as he's worth at this point. I think they waited too long, and I don't think he has much value at all at this stage.

Re: Zaitsev-Are you thinking buyout? I don't know if it'd be worth giving up assets to move him at this point in the rebuild.

I think this is exactly the time to be willing to trade assets to improve the team. The Sens don't need to keep hoarding picks and prospects at this stage. The Sens are looking to get back to being competitive as soon as next season, and I just don't think Zaitsev has a place on a team trying to be competitive. I think Ottawa has the assets to move him without really subtracting from the long term future.

As far as a buyout is concerned, it's not my preferred option, but I think it's totally manageable. It's a 6 year cap hit, but it's only a hair over a mil for most of it. Things might get tight in years 2 and 3, where the hit is around 3mil, but even then it's workable.

Zaitsev is fine doing what he does and definitely isn't the problem with the team, losing him would be a disaster for our already thin defense.

Lots of Sens fans have this absurd notion that if you get the right partner for Chabot he will magically become a Norris calibre defenseman just like Karlsson. But that ignores the fact that Karlsson won his first Norris with Kuba as his partner before Methot was traded here. Zaitsev is a lot closer to Methot than Chabot is to Karlsson, and if you don't recognize that soon you are going to be very disappointed with Chabot.

There is no incentive for Winnipeg to downgrade to Brown. The Jets would just keep the younger, better player that has shown more in his time in the NHL.

I don't necessarily disagree, I just see it this way-Can you replace him with someone better for the same price or cheaper? I honestly think he's a not-so-bad depth option that should be playing 17-18 minutes a night. Overpaid for that role? Sure, but unless you're taking a major leap up in the standings, why waste the assets or future space? If the time comes when you have the opportunity for a major upgrade, absolutely get rid of him. Until then, I'd roll with him.

I totally disagree that he's "a not so bad depth option". He's legitimately one of the worst regular NHL players in the entire league, and has been for about four years. Cutting back his minutes might limit how much he hurts you, but he still doesn't do anything to help the team. Also I don't think you can even cut his minutes down to 3rd pair minutes next year. I don't think it's reasonable to expect Jacob Bernard-Docker to come in and play like 20min a night to cover for Zaitsev. If they move on from him, they can replace him with a better option.

Also say it costs roughly L.Brown, Abramov and a 2nd to move Zaitsev to Seattle. How much does that actually hurt Ottawa? Logan Brown is probably done in Ottawa anyway, and I like Abramov but I doubt he has much of a future in Ottawa.