Ottawa Senators acquire Derek Stepan, more trades expected
Anthony Scultore
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The Christmas season has passed and the Ottawa Senators made a move they were rumored to be making.
Center Derek Stepan was acquired for a second round pick in the 2021 draft. He scored 28 points in 70 games last season. The 30 year-old is expected to provide depth and leadership to a young group.
Ottawa Senators trade for Derek Stepan
Stepan has a cap hit of $6.5 million, but is only owed $2 million in actual salary. Sens GM, Pierre Dorion was thrilled with the acquisition.
“Derek’s acquisition provides us with important stability at centre heading into the season,” Pierre Dorion said in a statement on the team’s website. “He plays a 200-foot game and has proven to be a reliable special teams’ player throughout his career. His addition to our lineup will also represent a valuable leadership presence within our group.”
Coyotes making moves for the future
New Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong is doing his best to shed older players and high cap hits for the future. “Putting in some picks and letting our scouts go to work. I think that’s one of the things you see the good teams do, where they acquire some picks and slowly keep chipping away at it and adding some prospects to the pool,” he said after the trade.
Don’t forget, Armstrong started the job by asking Oliver Ekman-Larsson to waive his no trade clause. The rumor mill has OEL and the Boston Bruins still connected and likely revisited later this season.
What trades are next?
There’s been a lot of reported chatter that teams are now working the phones to make moves before camps open on 12/31 for non-RTP teams.
The next likely trade will likely include the Tampa Bay Lightning who are trying to shed some salary to become cap compliant. Steve Yzerman is said to be willing to take on Tyler Johnson and his cap hit of $5 million.
Another team that has been active in trade talks are the Vegas Golden Knights. While they claim they aren’t trading Max Pacioretty, his name is still out there. They are also trying to move Jonathan Marchessault and Alec Martinez.
Get ready for more moves in the coming days.
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