Ottawa Senators acquired Derek Stepan in a late night trade.

Details inside.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Ottawa Senators acquired Derek Stepan in a late night trade.
AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes

There had been rumblings about this deal for a few days and in the final hours of boxing day the Arizona Coyotes and the Ottawa Senators actually got the deal done, a deal that has left many scratching their heads.

Late on Saturday night the Ottawa Senators officially acquired veteran forward Derek Stepan from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a second round pick at the 2021 National Hockey League Entry Draft. It was the return for Stepan, that second round pick, that left so many wondering why the Senators had paid so much for Stepan in an era of the NHL where teams normally have to pay to get aging players on big money deals off their roster. 

Stepan, a 30 year old centerman on the final year of a 6 year deal that carries an average annual value of $6.5 million, is exactly the kind of player that teams would normally have to pay a premium to unload onto a rival, but in this instance the Ottawa Senators were a perfect fit for the Arizona Coyotes. The reality is that this was in no way a hockey trade for the Senators but was instead all about money and reaching the salary cap floor, while doing so as cheaply as possible for Senators owner Eugene Melnyk.

Although Stepan will count for $6.5 million against the cap this season he will cost the Senators significantly less in terms of real money, with total earnings of just $5 million for the 2021 season. It gets even better from there however as Stepan has already been paid his $3 million signing bonus by the Arizona Coyotes, which means that the Senators now only have to pay Stepan $2 million in actual cash while having his cap hit of $6.5 million help them reach the salary cap floor.

Stepan is currently coming off the worst season of his NHL career, he appeared in 70 games for the Coyotes during the pandemic shortened season of 2019 - 2020, one in which he recorded 10 goals and 18 assists for a combined 28 points and a plus minus rating of -4 on the season. Another sign that points to the fact that this was by no means a hockey trade.

I suspect he will feature prominently on the 2nd or 3rd line for the Senators this season and will likely be the kind of player they look to move at the trade deadline.

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