With the Victoria Day long weekend now in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to return to the second round of the Pierre Dorion’s Best Trade Tournament. Last time around, the acquisition of Anders Nilsson beat out the acquisition of Mike Condon in a battle of the goaltenders. While the Nilsson trade is unlikely to be a contender in this tournament, today’s matchup might include one:
Tyler Ennis looked to be on his last NHL legs before he joined the Senators, but he turned things around in Ottawa red. Dorion was able to take that resurgence from the pending UFA and turn it into draft capital for next season. It’s the kind of underrated move that needed to happen, and one that teams are often reluctant to pull off for “veteran presence” or other sentimental reasons. It’s also the kind of deal that shrewd, soon-to-be-good teams are known to make.
After a convincing first-round win, this deal established itself as a contender in the contest. Simply put, Dorion hit the jackpot with this deal.
The Columbus Blue Jackets went all in last year, and this was one of the moves they made to do it. Dzingel was one of the most sought-after commodities on the trade market, which resulted in Ottawa being able to charge them a premium to acquire him. The payoff was huge. Anthony Duclair immediately came in and became a first-line offensive threat for the Senators, and the addition of two second round picks provided an immense amount of draft capital for Dorion’s rebuild. While Duclair’s emergence makes this trade look even better now than it did when it was made, the fact remains that this return looked good from the start.
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