OTTAWA, Ont. — On Canada Day, the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs put the Battle of Ontario aside for a few moments and played Let’s Make a Deal.
A trade that had been anticipated for nearly 48 hours became reality when the Senators acquired defenceman Nikita Zaitsev, forward Connor Brown, minor-league forward Michael Carcon in exchange for blueliners Cody Ceci and Ben Harpur along with minor-league forward Aaron Luchuk and a third-round pick acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2020 draft.
The trade was completed Monday Monday morning before free agency began at noon and after the trade call was completed.
Senators general manager Pierre Dorion and Toronto counterpart Kyle Dubas have been working on the deal for two weeks. Zaitsev and Ceci are the centrepieces of the deal because they’re defencemen that both played big minutes for their teams and there’s no question they were in the need for a change of scenery.
Zaitsev asked for a trade at the end of the season and had to waive his “no move” clause to come to the Senators. It’s believed he agreed to the deal after having a heart-to-heart chat with Ottawa coach D.J. Smith last week. The two were together the last three years in Toronto and that’s a big reason why these talks started in the first place.
The deal had been in the works for the last two days and was all but completed Saturday, but had to wait until a $3 million bonus due to Zaitsev Monday was paid out along with another $500,000 collected by Brown. It made no sense for the Senators make the deal before the bonuses were due and every team in the league would have waited.
Getting Brown as part of the deal will help give the club’s forward ranks some depth. He had eight goals and 29 points last season with the Leafs and also has a relationship with Smith. It makes sense for the head coach to want players he knows and making this deal gives Smith two players he knows and can trust.
“We’re bringing in two highly competitive players that we like as long-term fits for our team. Both are the type of true professionals who match with the culture we want to put in place here in Ottawa,” Dorion said in a statement.
“Nikita is a physical right-shot defenceman who defends hard, fills lanes and blocks shots. Connor has scored 20 goals in the league and is excellent on the forecheck and the penalty kill. We feel both players will add to our depth and fit well within the structure we want our team to play.”
The decision to move Ceci doesn’t come as a big surprise.
While the Senators were hoping to get Ceci signed to a long-term extension going into the off-season, the reality is the two sides were unable to find common ground. The club extended Ceci’s camp a four-year offer worth $4.5 million per-season last month and he wanted a five or six year deal in the $5-to-$5.5 million range.
The Senators didn’t feel they were going to be able to bridge that gap and had no interest in going back to arbitration with Ceci again this summer for a one-year deal. He will be a unrestricted free agent next summer and the Leafs will likely see how he performs in a Toronto uniform before making a decision on whether to extend him.
Make no mistake, this change isn’t the worst to happen to Ceci because he has become a lightning rod for criticism amongst the fan base. The No. 15 overall pick in the 2012 NHL draft, the former 67’s blueliner, who was born and raised in Ottawa, suited up for 440 games with the Senators.
Twitter: @sungarrioch
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
