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UPDATED:
(I'm going to say that Jerabek doesn't play 49 more NHL games this season).
For the longest time I thought the right-handed defenseman the Oilers would acquire from the Senators would be Cody Ceci. And that still might happen, but Chris Wideman went first. I can't say I'm surprised at all that he ended up getting traded, and for two reasons:
A) He is a UFA at the end of the season and I didn't think he was going to fit in with the long-term plans of the team (even if he maybe should).
B) The Uber video. Wideman was clearly the most vocal player in the video, and although I'm not going to blame him for blowing off some steam like everyone does after work, I can't imagine Pierre Dorion and the coaching staff were too happy with his comments. He is also the most expendable of the players in that car, so the Senators might be able to spin this as getting rid of a "problem" in the dressing room.
The good news about this trade is that at least they did not lose him for nothing like they did with another serviceable 3rd pairing defenseman in Fredrik Claesson. It's always good to accumulate more picks, even if it is as late as the 6th round. The bad news is that a 6th rounder is a pretty meagre return. It's not the end of the world, but I was hoping and expecting a 3rd or 4th round pick.
For comparison, at last year's deadline, defenseman Mike Reilly went for a 5th rounder, Nick Holden went for a 3rd rounder and Rob O'Gara, Jakub Jerabek went for a 5th rounder, and Brandon Davidson went for a 3rd. None of those defensemen are significantly better than Wideman (if at all), yet the return was at least better than a 6th. Peter Chiarelli took a good gamble with Wideman, and Dorion didn't get much value in return. Obviously it's not like a 4th or even 3rd round pick is going to have massive value either, but I would've been totally fine with that.
I've never understood the desire to group Wideman with other problematic players on the team (in terms of on-ice product), because the fact is that he's been one of the most effective 3rd pairing defensmen in the league since 2016-17. Here is his shot impact since he came into the league in 2015, which is pretty much average, but average for a 3rd pairing player is better than you could hope for (click on the tweet to see more of the data):
He certainly hasn't been himself in 19 games this season, but if you want to talk small sample size, then you have to also look at the insane start he had to the 2017-18 season before he got injured:
He was winning dominating the shot battle despite playing with Mark Borowiecki. Now that's impressive. Sure, perhaps he has some lingering effects from that injury, but it'd be odd at this stage to conclude that he is no longer a good defenseman at the age of 28.
I really think he was the perfect 3rd pairing defenseman, and it is going to be hard to upgrade from him. If you don't believe me, take a look at the depth charts around the league and look at the bottom pairing. Wideman had his limitations, but so does every depth defenseman. It's sad that the Senators never really trusted him at all as his average TOI was just 13:41 in 175 games...that's 58 seconds less per game than Borowiecki. Because of that lack of trust, he probably didn't have very high value around the league despite putting up solid results in that time.
Here is what Dorion had to say on the trade:
Although there are a lot of bodies vying for spots on the blueline, Ottawa doesn't have enough quality yet, especially on the right side. They have Dylan DeMelo, Cody Ceci, Christian Jaros, and Ben Harpur (when he plays on his off-side). Out of that group, I'm really only confident in DeMelo, as I'm not quite confident that Jaros is an NHL-caliber defenseman
just yet. There was talk about this opening up a spot for someone like Christian Wolanin, but the thing is that he is a left-handed shot. If anything, this opens up a spot for Harpur, who still inexplicably has admirers in the organization.
It's all well and good if you move somebody like Wideman in order to give other players more ice time, but it's a pointless exercise if those players coming in are Borowiecki and Harpur. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about having Chabot, Wolanin, and Lajoie on the left side for years to come, but I have no faith that Ottawa wants to give up on their three weakest defensemen in Ceci, Borowiecki, and Harpur. The treatment of Wideman in his tenure in Ottawa doesn't make it any better, either.
At the end of the day, moving on from Wideman makes total sense. I'm not completely against that, even though I think he'd still be a useful piece for the next few seasons. The emergence of the Uber video made it seem like a trade was even more inevitable than before. But the return was definitely underwhelming, and it's sad to see another Senators player leave while at their lowest value.
Let's hope that trend doesn't continue for other players.
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I’m currently out right now and will provide analysis in a few hours, but here is the news of the day from the Senators: Chris Wideman is on his way to Edmonton.
The Senators acquired a 2020 6th round pick that originally belonged to the St. Louis Blues. Suffice it to say, if you’re familiar with my work, you’ll know I’m not happy with the return. Analysis to follow.
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