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The Purge begins...Brassard dealt to Pens

February 23, 2018, 5:16 PM ET [96 Comments]
Jared Crozier
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
So it begins....my apologies for not posting a game recap earlier today but computer issues delayed my getting to it, and then on my way home I got the news of the trade...

So a quick recap, goaltending issues buried the Sens in a hole they couldn't get out of, with Craig Anderson allowing three goals (at least 2 of them of the yucky variety) on the first 9 shots he faced, and a couple of late goals made it close but the Sens dropped a 4-3 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Par for the course for this season.

Now, onto the top story.

After some re-juggling to satisfy the NHL, Derick Brassard has been dealt to the Penguins along with Vince Dunn and Ottawa' 2018 third round pick for Pittsburgh's first round pick in 2018, a 2019 third round, goaltending prospect Filip Gustavsson and pending UFA defenseman Ian Cole. As part of a three-way component to the deal, Pittsburgh sends Ryan Reaves to Pittsburgh and Tobias Lindberg goes from Vegas to Pittsburgh. I think there is some retained salary in there somewhere, but I don't think it is by Ottawa from what I have read in the confusing proceedings.

While you could argue that last week's Dion Phaneuf trade at least had a bit of a hockey component to it, this is largely a monetary decision, which will not go over well and is expected to be just the first domino to fall in what could be a landscape-changing 72 hours ahead of Monday's trade deadline.

If your name is not Mark Stone or Thomas Chabot and you play for the Ottawa Senators, don't make dinner plans for Monday.

The Senators bring in a first round pick, which could be a late one if the Penguins get their way, and a top end goaltending prospect that led Sweden to a Silver Medal at the World Juniors six weeks ago or so. Cole won't be around long and will likely be dealt before the deadline.

Rumors about an apparent lack of respect for the GM in the dressing room that is necessitating a "culture change" and an alarming lack of season ticket renewals are now making the rounds and most insiders are saying more changes are on the way.

Bob McKenzie reporting that Karlsson talks are in full swing and the insistence of the attachment of Bobby Ryan in any deal is a real thing. He identified 3 scenarios in a series of tweets earlier today, none of which had Karlsson signing an extension in Ottawa. Attaching Ryan to a trade is purely financially motivated and doing that and the resulting limiting of the return is almost as bad as dealing Karlsson at all in a lot of fans' eyes. I can get the willingness or need to trade him, because either you don't think he is going to re-sign or that he isn't going to be worth a deal he will command, but not getting full return because you need to dump a salary is inexcusable and won't go over well in the waning fan base that is already on the verge of jumping ship because of the ownership.

This is going to get ugly and will be an eventful 3 days...stay tuned!
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