Ottawa Senators Fail Their Fan Base After Erik Karlsson Trade

After trading their captain Erik Karlsson, the Ottawa Senators are letting down their passionate fan base.

The Ottawa Senators have failed their fan base after the recent dismal Erik Karlsson trade as it’ll take years before the club ever recovers. Sending Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a weak return is just the latest move in a 16-month tailspin for the franchise.

The club was one goal away from the Stanley Cup Final in May of 2017. They opened the 2017-18 season as one of the hottest teams despite numerous injuries, looking primed to build upon their playoff run.

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Then the Senators took a two-game trip to Sweden after they acquired Matt Duchene in November of 2017. They haven’t been the same since. In the following months, key players have departed left and right.

Kyle Turris was moved for Duchene. Defenseman Dion Phaneuf was moved for the contract of an injury-prone winger in Marian Gaborik. Center Derick Brassard, wing Mike Hoffman, and now Karlsson have all left town and the Senators don’t have much to show for it.

It’s been a free fall quicker than anything seen in decades and it’ll only continue to get worse. The Senators are going to be very bad this season as they turn the team over to inexperienced youth. To make matters worse, they also don’t own their first-round draft pick as part of the Duchene trade.

Speaking of Duchene, his contract expires at the end of the season when he’ll become an unrestricted free-agent. Given Ottawa will be rebuilding and rebuilds have been the only thing he has ever known in his NHL career, it’s unlikely the center re-signs with the Senators.

This makes him a perfect candidate to be moved prior to the trade deadline. Unfortunately, Duchene’s value is at an all-time low and he’ll need to get off to a tremendous start to the season despite having the least amount of talent surrounding him he’s ever had in his career.

If anyone could help raise Duchene’s value it would be another pending unrestricted free-agent Mark Stone. Stone is another trade deadline candidate as there’s little reason to see why he’d re-sign long-term in Ottawa as well. In an ideal Senators world, both Duchene and Stone play extremely well raising their trade value in hopes of acquiring additional future assets, along with replacing the assets lost when the club traded for Duchene.

The Senators are a mess and there is no light at the end of tunnel coming any time soon. The club panicked and made the same move the Montreal Canadiens did just days before. Both clubs made questionable trades involving their captains for weak returns instead of holding out for more once the season started.

Both teams had their captains on the trading block dating back to at least last year’s trade deadline yet remained patient for months. To make panic moves hours before training camp opens in order to avoid distractions is what sets teams back years in rebuilds.

Every year a strong Stanley Cup contender gets off to a slow start and looks to make a splash via trade to salvage their season. Or a surprising team gets off a strong start and thinks they are a piece away from securing the playoffs.  This would have been the ideal time to deal Karlsson, not when his value was at his lowest in September. They had nothing to lose given the weak return they received in the end.

Everybody knew Duchene wanted out of Colorado last year, yet the Avalanche remained patient and made a great deal. Everybody knew the Anaheim Ducks had a surplus of defensemen last year and couldn’t afford them all, yet they remained patient and made a great deal moving Sami Vatanen.

Now Ottawa has angered their fan base with the Karlsson trade. Their first-round draft pick belongs to Colorado at a time when they’ll likely finish in the bottom five of the league.  Leaving, the 2018-19 season’s only hope revolving around the two best remaining players competing well enough to raise their trade value prior to their inevitable in-season trades.

Not to mention, Jean-Gabriel Pageau is expected to miss four to six months after hurting his Achilles during a team physical upon arriving at the opening day of training camp. The Senators may be cursed.