Proposal: Free agency edition Trade Rumours/Proposals - 2025/26 Part II

[Gil Gunderson]

Erik Karlsson had 66 points in 75 games last year. He's a large upgrade on Spence.

I’m so glad we’ll be getting him right before he enters his prime.

 

[Masked]

Bruce dropped some bombs on his video podcast thing.

Has his incontience gotten that bad?

 

[commentsense]

I’m so glad we’ll be getting him right before he enters his prime.

Depending on the price, why not?

Certainly not trading 9OA for him. But 25OA? Absolutely.

Spence is a nice player. That's it. Karlsson drastically improves our offense.

 

[Sensmileletsgo]

Yeah, McTavish isn't very good. But he's going to be the guy they trade for and I'm going to hate it.

He’s interesting because he’s still young and has a lot of upside. He got lost in the shuffle in Anaheim and might do well with a fresh start in Ottawa. We also might be able to land him without giving up the 9OA.

Can he play LW or is he strictly a centre? He would likely play LW if he came here.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Erik Karlsson had 66 points in 75 games last year. He's a large upgrade on Spence.

Yes but if he's kicking Sanderson off the #1 powerplay, Sanderson's production will drop by 10-20 points.

And if Sanderson is QBing the 2nd PP, where does that leave Chabot? What about Yakemchuk?

Spence is a better fit because he doesn't need a lot of PP time to succeed, he's solid defensively and can produce quite well at even strength.

There's definitely diminishing returns with adding another top OFD to this roster, which presumably is why they are hesitant to sign Spence in the first place.

I love EK and think he's one of the best D all-time, but I just don't see a fit.

 

[Micklebot]

Very low chance we are able to make these types of moves, but the extra assets and cap space really give us a lot to play with. They could add multiple pieces while still holding on to some of the futures they got from the BT trade.

DeBrusk for 2026 3rd rounder.

Ristolainen + Michkov for 9OA + Zetterlund + Matinpalo

McTavish for 25OA + Hensler

Greig - Stutzle - Michkov
McTavish - Cozens - Batherson
Foegele - Pinto - Amadio
Halliday - Giroux - DeBrusk

Sanderson - Risto
Chabot - Zub
Kleven - Spence
Yak

Ullmark
Skinner

Very meh, but if they are signaling they want to stay competitive, we are going to see moves like this in the next few days. 9OA should only be traded for a proven top line player or a young player with high upside. It will be tragic if they use it to acquire a guy like McTavish, who at this point has shown he probably caps out as a 50-60 winger. Fine with spending a late first on that kind of player, but not 9OA.

very odd to go out and get DeBrusk and put him on the 4th line...

 

[Very Stable Genius]

After preaching patience to a fault, Staios trading the 9th overall for Healthy Scratch Mason Mactavish would be so on brand for this franchise

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Depending on the price, why not?

Certainly not trading 9OA for him. But 25OA? Absolutely.

Spence is a nice player. That's it. Karlsson drastically improves our offense.

He’s going to be free next summer, and his play can fall off a cliff any second.

I’d much rather stay the course with Spence who is young and getting better every year.

 

[Sensmileletsgo]

Erik Karlsson had 66 points in 75 games last year. He's a large upgrade on Spence.

Would Pittsburgh want to trade him after the season he just had? They still have Crosby and signed Malkin to another year. Seems like they still want to remain competitive even though we all know the rebuild is coming soon.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

After preaching patience to a fault, Staios trading the 9th overall for Healthy Scratch Mason Mactavish would be so on brand for this franchise

This is patience. He’s been after Mactavish for a long time. We’re going to be expecting a Zegras like breakout and we won’t get half of that.

 

[Loach]

If you can get a legit first line player I think it makes sense.

But if we’re adding the likes of like McTavish and DeBrusk, I still think it’s a step back from last year’s Brady. So either there are some interesting names out there that will make for a good combination of additions, or there’s a big one coming.

DeBrusk is what people talked about for playing with Timmy before Brady got traded. Right? Trade Zett and maybe we can make another add? All that buisness. If we get McTavish and DeBrusk we'd still have space to add another forward I think. Trade Zett and we could get the RD too. This could be a bigger shake up than people think. Foegle - Halliday - Amadio could be 4th line next year if enough is added to push Amadio down. Greig gets pushed to the 3rd with G and Pinto. 3 new top 6 guys.....maybe. maybe not?

 

[Masked]

The 25th pick didn't even buy Mackie Samoskevich by itself - Seattle had to add a 2nd on top just to get him. This is pretty much in line with what late 1sts tend to buy you as the draft closes in. You can look at the Alex Newhook trade as a guide.

You aren't getting McTavish, who has been far more productive and has 3rd OA pedigree, for it. They're going to trade 9OA for him and they're going to add pieces on top of that to make it happen.

Mackie is pretty much what you'd expect to get at a 25th pick. Seattle had to add to make up for Mackie playing now while a 25th pick won't be contributing for a few years at least

 

[Hale The Villain]

Would Pittsburgh want to trade him after the season he just had? They still have Crosby and signed Malkin to another year. Seems like they still want to remain competitive even though we all know the rebuild is coming soon.

I think their goal is to retool while still theoretically trying to make the playoffs.

Even this year when they were in a playoff spot they dealt Jarry and Kulak to "downgrade" to Skinner and Girard, while picking up picks in the process.

Trading a 36 year old Karlsson and getting a 25 year old Spence back in the same deal would be a Kyle Dubas move to a tee.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

I’m so glad we’ll be getting him right before he enters his prime.

Do you ever not complain?

He's a local legend, a RHD, finished top 10 in Norris voting this year.

Plus after we just had to trade someone who wanted out, would bringing in a HHOF level player who wants to be in Ottawa more than anywhere else really be that bad of a move?

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Do you ever not complain?

He's a local legend, a RHD, finished top 10 in Norris voting this year.

Plus after we just had to trade someone who wanted out, would bringing in a HHOF level player who wants to be in Ottawa more than anywhere else really be that bad of a move?

He’s 36 and will be free next summer. Are we not past this symbolic “local legend” stuff yet? I don’t want to give up on a very good young defenceman for a 36 year old. Can we stop these emotional attachments to players?

 

[Hale The Villain]

There would definitely be an off-ice component to adding EK.

Would help increase ticket sales and after his signing bonus is paid, presumably on July 1st, he'll only make 1.5M in actual salary for 26/27.

We're already hearing talk about not spending to the cap, so people should expect more moves for players with lower salaries than their cap hits.

 

[PlayOn]

There would definitely be an off-ice component to adding EK.

Would help increase ticket sales and after his signing bonus is paid, presumably on July 1st, he'll only make 1.5M in actual salary for 26/27.

We're already hearing talk about not spending to the cap, so people should expect more moves for players with lower salaries than their cap hits.

Only 2M of his signing bonus gets paid July 1st, it’s split in three and the other two payments happen in-season. Friedman reported this a couple months ago. So his salary is actually 5.5M.

 

[commentsense]

Yes but if he's kicking Sanderson off the #1 powerplay, Sanderson's production will drop by 10-20 points.

And if Sanderson is QBing the 2nd PP, where does that leave Chabot? What about Yakemchuk?

Spence is a better fit because he doesn't need a lot of PP time to succeed, he's solid defensively and can produce quite well at even strength.

There's definitely diminishing returns with adding another top OFD to this roster, which presumably is why they are hesitant to sign Spence in the first place.

I love EK and think he's one of the best D all-time, but I just don't see a fit.

It's not a perfect fit. And it wouldn't be my plan A.

But we may have to get creative.

Everyone is saying we need to get better offensively. And they want two top 6 wingers. Well two may not be available.

So if you could acquire Karlsson for a relatively low cost, that's a way to improve the offense. Again, I'm not trading 9OA. But at the right price? Yeah.

A premier puck mover on each pairing (which you could have) is something most teams don't have.

Erik Karlsson was really, really, really good last year. Is it a risk? Of course. But he's still a game changer when he's on.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

He’s 36 and will be free next summer. Are we not past this symbolic “local legend” stuff yet? I don’t want to give up on a very good young defenceman for a 36 year old. Can we stop these emotional attachments to players?

They're not going to give Spence a 5 year deal over 5 years with Yakemchuk coming up. It doesn't make any sense. At least if you bring in Karlsson then you get an upgrade on Spence for at least 1-2 seasons.

 

[Leo2Cutter]

He’s interesting because he’s still young and has a lot of upside. He got lost in the shuffle in Anaheim and might do well with a fresh start in Ottawa. We also might be able to land him without giving up the 9OA.

Can he play LW or is he strictly a centre? He would likely play LW if he came here.

Played LW a lot this season, I’d say both are options for him. But based on a quick look at your roster prob better LW situation for him.

I think sen fans will be happy with mctavish long term(pending price of course) Sen mangement might know mctavish better than Anaheim does… between his dad and staios.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

They're not going to give Spence a 5 year deal over 5 years with Yakemchuk coming up. It doesn't make any sense. At least if you bring in Karlsson then you get an upgrade on Spence for at least 1-2 seasons.

I want to see Yakemchuk actually be a top 4 d-man before we pencil him in there. He still needs to get his skating above junior level.

 

[PlayOn]

I will be SHOCKED if they offer him 14M

 

[OttawaSenators11]

trading for McTavish to replace Brady would be the most idiotic thing I’ve ever seen.

Surely you have to aim higher much higher.

He’s like the last player I’d give our assets up for cmon Staios don’t be silly.

I agree with others he’s definitely going to be our target and I hope we are all wrong

Dorofeyev or Robertson types or bust

 

[Karelia Hurricanes]

He only had a 5 team list.

I mean, with how we're talked about here, you'd assume he'd instantly have us on it.

 

[Sensmileletsgo]

Played LW a lot this season, I’d say both are options for him. But based on a quick look at your roster prob better LW situation for him.

I think obviously (pending price of course) , sen fans will be happy with mctavish long term. Sen mangement might know mctavish better than Anaheim does… between his dad and staios.

What are Anaheim fans looking to get from him realistically? Does he still have a lot of value? I haven’t watched him play much, just heard he has been healthy scratched at time this year.