The Ottawa Senators continue to prove the drama surrounding the franchise is far from over with the team’s latest incident of placing Zack Smith on waivers.
Just when you think the dramatics may have subsided in Ottawa after the Erik Karlsson trade, the Ottawa Senators caused a major stir by placing Smith on waivers. Smith has since cleared waivers and head coach Guy Boucher has said he’ll return to the lineup centering a line with Mark Stone and Brady Tkachuk.
When news broke of Smith being placed on waivers, Boucher could be seen visibly bothered by the move while saying it was a management decision, not a coaching decision. By the coach instantly placing Smith on what could easily be the Senators’ top line, his actions prove he strongly disagreed with management’s decision.
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Along with Boucher, several players voiced their displeasure over the move, highlighted by Matt Duchene relating the news to being hit where the sun don’t shine. Stone and Mark Borowiecki noted how Smith was a player they respected and looked up to when they entered the league. All three players also spoke to how much of a leader Smith is in a locker room in desperate need of one.
The move reeks of trying to get rid of Smith’s contract which has a cap hit of $3.25 million for the next three seasons. However, the timing of the news couldn’t be any worse as it fails to make any sense from an on-ice or off-ice standpoint.
On the ice, Smith is the exact type of player the Senators will need this season as they play out the year on a bad team without it’s 2019 first-round draft pick. When his teammates fail to the find the motivation and aren’t able to play to their full capabilities, Smith is the type of player who’ll be working as hard as anyone, grinding out every contest he competes in.
The club should have taken advantage of this by showcasing Smith’s heart and determination, especially if they were going to play him with Tkachuk and Stone. The two wingers could easily be the team’s best wingers this season and as a result could have made Smith look more attractive to opposing teams. Now that the entire league knows Smith is available, no opposing general manager will offer anything more than a bad contract in return.
From an off the ice perspective, the Senators are in desperate need of all the leaders they can afford to find right now. After Karlsson’s departure, along with the issue between Karlsson and Hoffman, along with the complete dismantling of a conference finals team, Ottawa is a complete mess. Smith could have provided the tiniest bit of stability as a 10-year veteran of the franchise but now that has been stripped away from him after being placed on waivers.
Unfortunately, this incident seems like only the latest chapter surrounding the never-ending drama of the Senators. With Stone and Duchene heading towards unrestricted free agency at the end of the season, Ottawa drama isn’t going away any time soon.