Ottawa Senators acquire Andy Sutton from NYI
Defenseman Andy Sutton has been traded to the Ottawa Senators for a second-round pick (San Jose's pick that was received in the Heatley deal). Full analysis below:
Pros:
- Ottawa badly needed some defensive help for the playoff run, and they got it without losing any roster players.
- As you can see from what has been provided, Andy Sutton is a hulking defensive defenseman (6'6"! 245lbs!). He leads his team by a huge margin in blocked shots (153) and hits (155). In case you're curious, that's more blocked shots and hits than Anton Volchenkov. He's second in blocked shots to only Dennis Seidenberg. Yeah, this guy is a warrior.
- He averages over 20 minutes of time on ice per game.
- If you compile his last four years, he has an even plus/minus, despite playing on the Atlanta Thrashers and New York Islanders during that span. Not bad.
- New York Islanders fans seem to think that they did not get nearly enough for Sutton, which makes me feel good inside.
Cons:
- The Ottawa Senators have now burned two second round draft picks on UFAs (Matt Cullen being the other one). It's a fairly high price for Sutton, and it's bad news for a team that is already lacking in surefire prospects. It's even worse news for the AHL's Binghamton Senators who continue to struggle.
- Ottawa already has Matt Carkner, Chris Phillips, and Volchenkov as stay-at-home defensemen, and may have been better off with a more versatile player.
- Sutton is not very quick on his feet, which can be dangerous in the playoffs.
- The last time the Ottawa Senators grabbed a defenseman from the New York Islanders at the deadline, it was Chris Campoli.
Overall:
Sutton will make the Ottawa Senators hard to play against in the playoffs, and the Senators now have one of the most punishing blue-lines in the East, if not the league. Teams will fear coming into the Ottawa Senators' zone or getting anywhere near the goalies. Sutton's shot-blocking will also have positive effects on the other weak link of the Senators: goaltending. It also was likely the best defensive option for Murray to pick up without giving up too much at the deadline.
I'm still not convinced this was a great deal, but it was probably necessary for any sort of playoff run. My complaint is that the greatest strength of the Ottawa Senators organization under Murray seems to be drafting, but we've now lost two of our top three picks on rental players. Sure, they're second rounders, but that's where the Senators picked up much-heralded prospects like Robin Lehner and Patrick Wiercioch. Unless Murray restocks the cupboards by moving some players for picks (probably from our abundance of forwards), then he has definitely sacrificed a decent chunk of the future in order to make this playoff run. Then again, isn't that the Ottawa Senators way?