Sens Writer: Senators Trade Chychrun, Sign Perron Ottawa Senators UFA

That return for Chychrun seems like a D grade at best. Potentially F depending on how Jensen plays.

What is Chychrun worth to in market that was flooded with quality defenders?

I am not sure it is as bad as most have made it out to be. I think Senators fans over valued JC. To be fair, every fan base does to some extent. Staios was never going to get what Dorion paid for JC. I am not saying it was a good trade but a necessary trade. Hear me out.

Not only was there a need for a defensive RD on the roster, it sounds like that JC was not going to be signing an extension with the Senators and I am not sure there was a desire for the team to resign him. I think this is a player Jacques Martin would have given a failing grade to and I would wager his advice was to move the player prior to the start of the 24-25 season or at the earliest opportunity. JC was -30 last season. Almost twice as bad as the next worst Senator at -17 (TS). I suspect that there will be more of these "Jacques Martin" trades to come. Buckle up.

In terms of the trade mechanics / timing, I would also note that this was JC's very first season where he played 82 games. His GP in descending order in the NHL are 82, 48, 47, 56, 63, 53, 50 and 68. JC has has knee surgery in 2017, ACL surgery in 2018, and missed two months of the start of the 2022 season with a wrist injury. If it was going to happen, the trade needed to be completed now, before an almost guaranteed injury happened over the summer or into next season. I think it is fair to say that Staios looked at the situation, considered Jacques advice, and decided that holding out for more of a return or banking on moving him at the deadline would be a fools wager. He took what was offered versus potentially having no return at all and keeping him on the roster for the start of the season. With the RD need and all else being factored in, Staios took care of business and moved the player.

Ouch. That’s a brutal return

What is Chychrun worth to in market that was flooded with quality defenders?

I am not sure it is as bad as most have made it out to be. I think Senators fans over valued JC. To be fair, every fan base does to some extent. Staios was never going to get what Dorion paid for JC. I am not saying it was a good trade but a necessary trade. Hear me out.

Not only was there a need for a defensive RD on the roster, it sounds like that JC was not going to be signing an extension with the Senators and I am not sure there was a desire for the team to resign him. I think this is a player Jacques Martin would have given a failing grade to and I would wager his advice was to move the player prior to the start of the 24-25 season or at the earliest opportunity. JC was -30 last season. Almost twice as bad as the next worst Senator at -17 (TS). I suspect that there will be more of these "Jacques Martin" trades to come. Buckle up.

In terms of the trade mechanics / timing, I would also note that this was JC's very first season where he played 82 games. His GP in descending order in the NHL are 82, 48, 47, 56, 63, 53, 50 and 68. JC has has knee surgery in 2017, ACL surgery in 2018, and missed two months of the start of the 2022 season with a wrist injury. If it was going to happen, the trade needed to be completed now, before an almost guaranteed injury happened over the summer or into next season. I think it is fair to say that Staios looked at the situation, considered Jacques advice, and decided that holding out for more of a return or banking on moving him at the deadline would be a fools wager. He took what was offered versus potentially having no return at all and keeping him on the roster for the start of the season. With the RD need and all else being factored in, Staios took care of business and moved the player.
- HoweHatrick

the mental gymanstics going on here is amazing.

the mental gymanstics going on here is amazing.
- wingz4life

I am sure Staios had several better offers. He just decided to take the worst of the lot for poops and giggles. Seems legit.

It’s really hard to be optimistic with any of these moves.

I get Staios and management wanted veteran presence but that shouldn’t translate to literal old players.

-In Jensen we get an older defensive minded player who’s not even that much better defensively than chych..who gets paid literally the same as chych. We’re gna have management tryna convince us the value of RHD now justifying this move which is a complete joke.

-Perron at 4 per is rich for a 36yr old. Is this supposed to be our tarasenko replacement?

- Amadio is ok, but locking up a bottom line (maybe a 3rd liner) to a 3yr deal when this squad is rumored to want to deal Joseph’s deal is another strange move.

-Gregor is a meh signing. I agree there’s upside, but what are we really expecting from someone who’ll play in the bottom 6?

There’s still moves to be made and ironed out. As of now, I’m not very happy and I can’t help that it’s mainly to do with chychrun’s return.

Side note: We should not be discussing extension with Ullmark until we actually see the guy play. Goalies are voodoo. We’ve had a bad history with netminders. Let’s see how this team looks on the ice and how he plays behind them before giving him a lucrative deal that can potentially damage our future.

If I were a betting man, I would put money on Ullmark either being traded before the end of the season or walking as a UFA.

If I were a betting man, I would put money on Ullmark either being traded before the end of the season or walking as a UFA.
- HoweHatrick

ill raise you that Brady and or Chabot are no longer OTT senators by the starts of the 2025/2026 season

That return for Chychrun seems like a D grade at best. Potentially F depending on how Jensen plays.
- jfkst1

Objectively, as a self-contained trade I might agree. But you kind of have to factor in the requirement of including a veteran RHD who can play a 2nd pairing role. The draft resulted in nothing, and the UFA market effectively had no answers (e.g. Pesce, Montour, Roy, Tanev, Walker, etc.). Chychrun was their only major remaining trade asset, and so this was the last quasi-acceptable solution on the board.

Also, given the culture shift that Staios has put on full display, I have to wonder if Chychrun wasn't pretty central to the highly-disappointing team response to firing DJ Smith. The most compelling evidence for this being his Jekyll/Hyde season, where he had 24Pts/-1 rating in his first 29GP (up to Christmas), and then had 17Pts/-29 rating in his last 53GP.

It's highly speculative, but this is the second NHL team that Chychrun has left under questionable circumstances, and that may have affected the interest among other GM. It's not quite Dubois-level toxicity, but players that give up on their teams are poorly regarded, and it may not be entirely coincidental that WSH is the team involved with both trades.

ill raise you that Brady and or Chabot are no longer OTT senators by the starts of the 2025/2026 season
- Mithos

I would bet the Sens looked at trading Chabot and simply couldn't find any takers. His contract versus performance is questionable and may be difficult to move.

Brady is under contract and would bring a huge return. The Sens would not want to go that route.

This is the second NHL team that Chychrun has left under questionable circumstances, and that may have affected the interest among other GM.
- khawk

Jacques Martin

Jacques Martin
- HoweHatrick

And yet the team had a better record under Martin, and many other players had perfectly respectable seasons. Now I sympathize with Chychrun being asked to play the RHD side, but that doesn't explain the overt downward spiral his season took, or the disheartening attitude he showed throughout the second half of the season.

And yet the team had a better record under Martin, and many other players had perfectly respectable seasons. Now I sympathize with Chychrun being asked to play the RHD side, but that doesn't explain the overt downward spiral his season took, or the disheartening attitude he showed throughout the second half of the season.
- khawk

Apologies. I was referring to my previous post suggesting Jacques Martin advised this was a player to move before the season started. There will be more to come on this front.

I would bet the Sens looked at trading Chabot and simply couldn't find any takers. His contract versus performance is questionable and may be difficult to move.

Brady is under contract and would bring a huge return. The Sens would not want to go that route.
- HoweHatrick

Raymond, Holl and 2025 1st (top-10 protected) for Tkatchuk

Apologies. I was referring to my previous post suggesting Jacques Martin advised this was a player to move before the season started. There will be more to come on this front.
- HoweHatrick

Fair enough - and I think it's increasingly clear that Staios is the kind of GM that values team culture as much as any statistic. Now I still think the trade return should have been higher, but this team will only make the playoffs when they get the best out of Tkachuk, Stutzle, Batherson, Pinto, Sanderson, and Chabot. If these roster moves set the team up in a better position to hit the ground running out of training camp, then so be it.

And yet the team had a better record under Martin, and many other players had perfectly respectable seasons. Now I sympathize with Chychrun being asked to play the RHD side, but that doesn't explain the overt downward spiral his season took, or the disheartening attitude he showed throughout the second half of the season.
- khawk

This is a bit of a misleading take:

- We had terrible goaltending
- Chabot wasn’t healthy

Despite those issues: chychrun led all d in points, and was 3rd on the team in minutes played (second if you take into account he played more than chabot).

I personally didn’t want to deal him, but understood him and chabot together weren’t working, and that he would demand a big raise. This return, is extremely underwhelming and the need for a natural RHD shouldn’t justify this..especially when there were ufas like Jake bean available that could fill that spot.

This is a bit of a misleading take:

- We had terrible goaltending
- Chabot wasn’t healthy

Despite those issues: chychrun led all d in points, and was 3rd on the team in minutes played (second if you take into account he played more than chabot).

I personally didn’t want to deal him, but understood him and chabot together weren’t working, and that he would demand a big raise. This return, is extremely underwhelming and the need for a natural RHD shouldn’t justify this..especially when there were ufas like Jake bean available that could fill that spot.
- Trilla

When Chabot was healthy, he outscored Chychrun in terms of Pts/GP scoring pace, and Sanderson nearly matched Chychrun's point totals in just his 2nd NHL season. Plus, if the goaltending was so bad, how is it possible that Chabot had a -3, while Zub/Sanderson combined for a +13? In fact, the second/third worst D-men in terms of +/- were Hamonic at -10 and Bernard-Docker at -7... Chychrun was a bloody -30, and his offensive production dropped off a cliff in the last ~50GP of the season.

There's absolutely nothing misleading about any of that. Plus, Jake Bean is just nothing close to being able to play the role they need on this team... at best, he could replace Brannstrom as the #3LD, but I assume they're trying to open that roster spot for Kleven.

Objectively, as a self-contained trade I might agree. But you kind of have to factor in the requirement of including a veteran RHD who can play a 2nd pairing role. The draft resulted in nothing, and the UFA market effectively had no answers (e.g. Pesce, Montour, Roy, Tanev, Walker, etc.). Chychrun was their only major remaining trade asset, and so this was the last quasi-acceptable solution on the board.

Also, given the culture shift that Staios has put on full display, I have to wonder if Chychrun wasn't pretty central to the highly-disappointing team response to firing DJ Smith. The most compelling evidence for this being his Jekyll/Hyde season, where he had 24Pts/-1 rating in his first 29GP (up to Christmas), and then had 17Pts/-29 rating in his last 53GP.

It's highly speculative, but this is the second NHL team that Chychrun has left under questionable circumstances, and that may have affected the interest among other GM. It's not quite Dubois-level toxicity, but players that give up on their teams are poorly regarded, and it may not be entirely coincidental that WSH is the team involved with both trades.
- khawk

Washington is the team involved in a lot of high-risk/high reward moves because their objective is to just stay competitive in the short term to get Ovi the goals scored record. Both those players have a lot of upside relative to their most recent season and were acquired for very little. I hate the org., but they are doing great this off-season IMO.
If you compare the package that was used to acquire Chychrun, much line Debrincat, it's a major net negative in assets. Jensen is also a mediocre at best 2RD so I'm skeptical he is even better than Chychrun on his off hand. So requiring a 2RD to come back in the return it's probably very short sighted and should have been worked around in conjunction with this player trade. Maybe Ottawa is such an undesirable location they had no other player possible for that role, but if that's the case they probably have a lot bigger problems than just this trade.

Washington is the team involved in a lot of high-risk/high reward moves because their objective is to just stay competitive in the short term to grt Ovi the goals scored record. Both those players have a lot of upside relative to their most recent season and were acquired for very little. I hate the org., but they are doing great this off-season IMO.
If you compare the package that was used to acquire Chychrun, much line Debrincat, it's a major net negative in assets. Jensen is also a mediocre at best 2RD so I'm skeptical he is even better than Chychrun on his off hand. So requiring a 2RD to come back in the return it's probably very short sighted and should have been worked around in conjunction with this player trade. Maybe Ottawa is such an undesirable location they had no other player possible for that role, but if that's the case they probably have a lot bigger problems than just this trade.
- jfkst1

Well, I don't think anyone can suggest they didn't lose a lot of value in the trade, given the price they paid to acquire Chychrun. And it was maybe unreasonable to expect the Chychrun trade to solve their RHD need (vs. just getting draft picks, etc.). However, I think part of the perceived value that Jensen brings to the table is to model the expected day-to-day conduct and game-to-game consistency of a top-4D for the benefit of younger D-men like Sanderson, Kleven, etc. It sounds remedial, but I think that's exactly what Staios/Martin discovered about this team when they fired DJ Smith mid-season. So I think you could find the addition of veteran maturity is a key objective of many of theses moves.

It's also why I suspect there's zero chance of a Hamonic buyout just to save a portion of $1.1M. In many ways I suspect he's pretty much exactly the kind of veteran RHD-partner Staios wants to have playing with Kleven as he transitions to the NHL.

When Chabot was healthy, he outscored Chychrun in terms of Pts/GP scoring pace, and Sanderson nearly matched Chychrun's point totals in just his 2nd NHL season. Plus, if the goaltending was so bad, how is it possible that Chabot had a -3, while Zub/Sanderson combined for a +13? In fact, the second/third worst D-men in terms of +/- were Hamonic at -10 and Bernard-Docker at -7... Chychrun was a bloody -30, and his offensive production dropped off a cliff in the last ~50GP of the season.

There's absolutely nothing misleading about any of that. Plus, Jake Bean is just nothing close to being able to play the role they need on this team.
- khawk

And stutzle was a -17
Giroux a -14

It’s a damn fact the goaltending was horrible. -30 is bad, but +- is a flawed stat anyways. Would it shock anyone if he was better next year? No.

And anyone who watched chabot this year saw he was off..practically terrible on most nights The moment he picked it up, got hurt. As for Sanderson, we’ll see how he plays once he’s the main guy defending the other teams top players.

I guess this is why I’m confused: the role this team needs their d to play is apparently with an overpaid 33yr old.

Looking forward to seeing Perron crosscheck Zub in the face in practice after Joseph hits him from behind

And stutzle was a -17
Giroux a -14

It’s a damn fact the goaltending was horrible. -30 is bad, but +- is a flawed stat anyways. Would it shock anyone if he was better next year? No.

And anyone who watched chabot this year saw he was off..practically terrible on most nights The moment he picked it up, got hurt. As for Sanderson, we’ll see how he plays once he’s the main guy defending the other teams top players.

I guess this is why I’m confused: the role this team needs their d to play is apparently with an overpaid 33yr old.
- Trilla

Sanderson did play against the other team's best players. He led the team in both total and SH ice time among D-men, and Zub is undeniably the primary defensive RHD. And for whatever issues Chabot had last year, I'm not sure why they're regarded as more problematic than Chychrun's... given that Chabot outperformed him both offensively and defensively by a pretty clear margin when they were in the lineup.

The only thing last year proved is that Chychrun was most effective when Chabot was out of the lineup, and he could play his natural LHD position - which brings into question why he was ever traded for in the first place (i.e. they already had Chabot/Sanderson playing his role). It also underscores why having natural RHD in the top-4D is so important, especially if they're expected to be the defensive conscience of the D-pairing. Despite his age, Jensen should be able to help with that at least, and hopefully keep the game a bit cleaner in front of Ullmark.

Jensen fell off a cliff last season, but the years prior to that he was a steady finesse type of defender. Will occasionally whoa you with his skating or a deke.

Also, be prepared for him to fall down a lot. Like, a lot.

Maybe Ottawa is such an undesirable location they had no other player possible for that role, but if that's the case they probably have a lot bigger problems than just this trade.
- jfkst1

I believe the inability to attract top tier talent is Ottawa's biggest problem.