Following a few days of consistent rumors, the Ottawa Senators announced tonight that they have acquired Derek Stepan from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a 2021 second-round draft pick.
Stepan, 30, appears to have taken a significant step back from being the consistent 50-point threat that he was a few seasons ago, having failed to top 40 points in both 2018-19 and 2019-20 with the Coyotes.
For an Ottawa team that has talked a big game about letting promising prospects earn their spots and providing them with opportunities, this move is truly confusing. The team already went out and acquired a number of veteran space-fillers this offseason; adding another does nothing to achieve the mission of integrating the next generation of Senators. There's quite simply no on-ice need for a player like Stepan on this team at this point in its competitive lifecycle. As pointed out by former HockeyBuzz blogger Trevor Shackles on Twitter, it just became a lot harder for a player like Logan Brown to make an impression up the middle with the logjam this acquisition creates.
Beyond the internal lack of need, it's not as though this particular player can be expected to bring much to the table for the Senators. The team isn't bringing in a Brayden Point, or an Elias Pettersson, or anyone else that comes close to being a difference maker long-term for this group. Instead, this is a 30-year-old forward who has been on the decline for the last handful of seasons:
stepan might be ottawa's fifth best center pic.twitter.com/o0Yfzo5fny
— dom luszczyszyn (@domluszczyszyn) December 27, 2020
Of course, there is one obvious reason that Stepan might be attractive to a team like Ottawa. There's a reason his name has been popping up in rumor discussions throughout the offseason -- and it doesn't have anything to do with his on-ice contributions. He carries a $6.5-million cap hit into this season, despite only being owed $2-million in salary for the year. Without having to commit significant real dollars, the Senators now can say they sit comfortably above the cap floor.
The flip side of the cap discussion here is that the Coyotes needed to make this kind of move. Despite all the budget issues they've been faced with over the years, Arizona somehow finds itself as a cap team heading into 2020-21. With a middling roster, a lack of draft capital, and a dearth of salary cap space, the Coyotes were in desperate need of a move like this. It seems that the Senators were more than happy to oblige, all while giving up a valuable second-round pick in the process. It's reminiscent of when the Vancouver Canucks helped out the Tampa Bay Lightning by giving up a first-round pick for J.T. Miller, except Stepan is a far less attractive target.
So, in summary: The Senators pulled the trigger on an expensive deal for an unnecessary player with a cap-strapped team. It's a terrible trifecta. Even if Stepan comes in and delivers a productive season, it'll be difficult to consider this move a win.
As always, thanks for reading.