The Ottawa Senators have acquired F Cedric Paquette, D Braydon Coburn and a 2022 second round pick from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for G Anders Nilsson and F Marian Gaborik. Both Nilsson and Gaborik were immediately placed on LTIR by Tampa Bay.
I like this move by both teams, especially Ottawa. Instead of paying for LTIR players that mean nothing to them, the team that now has more cap space then all but four teams decided to pay less money, but to players that they will use, and they got a second round pick in the process. Paquette really doesn\’t generate anything offensively, and his no goals and three assists and 25 playoff games proves that. He has been a fourth line center in Tampa for the past few years, and can kill penalties. The Senators have a lot of centers, and today they added both Derek Stepan and Paquette, and the latter can play the wing. Paquette has one year left on his contract with a $1.65 million cap hit, making it compatible to take on. Coburn is entering his 16th NHL season. He could be a third pairing defender in Ottawa, with Christian Wolanin eventually taking over. Like Paquette, Coburn has one year left on his contract, with a $1.7 million cap hit.
Paquette, 27, scored seven goals with 11 assists for 18 points in 61 games for the Lightning last year. In his NHL career, all in Tampa Bay, Paquette has 47 goals with 38 assists for 85 points in 377 games.
Coburn, 35, scored one goal with three assists for four points in 40 games last year. In his NHL career for the Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and Atlanta Thrashers, Coburn has 49 goals with 183 assists for 232 points in 964 games.
This trade actually puts the Lightning over $15.8 million over the salary cap. But, since both Gaborik and Nilsson will go on LTIR, adding $7.475 million to the amount the Lightning can go over the cap, and plus Nikita Kucherov\’s $9.5 million LTIR salary, it\’s a cap compliant team. Whenever Kucherov returns that could change, but for now, they shed over $3 million in used up cap space, and give up a second rounder. Gaborik was an all-star in his prime, but hasn\’t played since the Senators acquired him in 2017-18. Nilsson played in 20 games as a backup last year, but is dealing with concussion issues that will make him miss the season. Both contracts end after the 2020-21 season.
CarterHud 