Team: 2021-22 Ottawa Senators

Initial Creation Date: May 19, 2021

Published: May 19, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

According to his comments on a podcast today. I don't agree, I think we're better off riding out the rebuild, but there are a few options out there for both.

For the 1C, the two obvious ones are Eichel and Kuznetsov, but Eichel would be very expensive and is somewhat of a question mark for his surgery and Kuznetsov has supposed character issues which is the opposite of what Dorion's been looking for throughout the rebuild. This leaves us to pursue a free agent, and the closest thing to a 1C this offseason looks to be Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Signing him would be a long shot for Ottawa, but maybe Dorion can offer him a slight overpayment on a three-year deal, so that once the cap starts increasing again he can look for his big payday.

For the defensive RHD, the two that stand out to me in free agency are David Savard and Adam Larsson. I think the Sens are better off going after Larsson since he's two years younger. Either one would work though. Similar to Nuge, Larsson goes for a short-term deal on a bit of an overpayment so that he can get a nice long-term contract when teams are looking to spend more money. Leaving Edmonton also gives him the opportunity to finally stop being looked at as "the guy we traded Taylor Hall for."

Looking at this team as a best-case scenario of Eugene Melnyk's plan for the team (why he has any say in the team on the ice is beyond me), it looks like this would cause the Sens to have cap issues in two seasons as Batherson, Stutzle, Norris, Pinto, Formenton, Brannstrom, Mete, Gustavsson and maybe C. Brown, Paul, and Zub will all be looking for raises between now and then.

The moral of the story is that Melnyk is gonna screw everything up again and owners shouldn't be hands-on in the NHL.