Weekly Question: Early Trade Speculation

Since the start of the season, Logan Brown, Nick Paul and Filip Chlapik have all earned spots on the main roster and are trusted by D.J. Smith to play standard NHL minutes. Others, such as Max Veronneau and Jonathan Davidsson have been rotated into the lineup for a few games at a time. As players return from injury, and more prospects carve out permanent spots on the roster, Pierre Dorion will need to move a few veteran players to make room.

There are a lot of players that are certainly pulling their weight, but might not fit into the organization’s long-term plans. For today’s Weekly Question, we want to know who you think is most likely to be the first player traded out of Ottawa. Here are a few candidates:

• One of seven assets that we received from the San Jose Sharks in one of the best most controversial trades in franchise history, Chris Tierney has been a decent player down the middle for the Senators in the past year. With a career-high 48 points in 2018-19, and eleven in 23 games this season, he fits the mould of a third-line centre on a competitive NHL team. With the Senators’ depth at the centre position (Logan Brown, Colin White, Josh Norris), Tierney is definitely expendable.
• Vladislav Namestnikov has cooled off since his hot start with the team, but with twelve points in 20 games thus far, he’s proving to be a shrewd investment for Dorion, who only gave up Nick Ebert and a 2021 fourth-rounder in the trade. He’s also been one of D.J. Smith’s go-to guys on the penalty kill, so someone else will have to step up to fill the void if he’s moved.
• On the complete opposite trajectory is Tyler Ennis, with seven points in his last nine games and eleven in 23 on the year. Of his six goals, three have come on the power play, and even crazier is that he has three out of team’s seven power-play goals!
• Lastly, Ron Hainsey is a likely candidate to be moved to a playoff contender looking for a bit more defensive depth. He’s got five points in 23 games and is holding up defensively, with a 5v5 xGF% of 50.34%. He’s been a great mentor to Erik Brännström, and has helped him look decent in his own end so far. This is likely Hainsey’s last season, so an eventual trade is the only viable option in my mind./

Who will be the first Ottawa Senator to be traded?