The 2020 NHL trade deadline saw the Ottawa Senators ship yet another veteran out of town. Last year it was Mark Stone to Vegas — just days after trading Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel.
On Monday, they sent Jean-Gabriel Pageau to the New York Islanders for a bunch of draft picks. It was a move long-expected, but there was chatter recently that Pageau may remain a Senator. Now, he's heading to an Islanders team shaping up for a deep playoff run.
Here's how teams did.
Senators received from New York:
2020 conditional first-round pick, 2020 second-round pick and 2022 conditional third-round pick.
Pageau is an excellent add for the Islanders. But, this is an incredible return for Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators. https://t.co/hsd6CmWnxC
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) February 24, 2020
Islanders received from Ottawa:
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (C)
Senators grade: A
Ottawa isn't going anywhere this year and general manager Pierre Dorion is well aware of that. A young team that has a solid core with the likes of defenseman Thomas Chabot and forward Anthony Duclair, they now have stockpiled draft picks for the next few years.
The 2020 draft is shaping up to be one of the best seen in quite a while and the Senators now have seven picks in the first two rounds — three in the first round alone. Next year they have four, with three of those being in the third round. Obviously the big fish in 2020 is Alexis Lafreniere and the Senators are definitely in the mix to acquire the next NHL superstar, but the draft also could have the next big-game defenseman in Jamie Drysdale or goalie in Yaroslav Askarov.
Islanders grade: A-
This initially was a rental move for New York, and a much-needed one, but then the always crafty Lou Lamoriello signed the upcoming UFA to a long-term deal. According to Newsday's Andrew Gross, Lamoriello confirmed the deal was for $5 million AAV.
The team recently lost Casey Cizikas for a bit to injury and have a hole to fill up front. Pageau is having a career-year with 40 points (24 goals, 16 assists) in 60 games and in the last five, he has six points (three goals, three assists). A solid two-way center, who has averaged over 50 percent on faceoffs in each of the last five seasons, he also has three shorthanded goals and six shorthanded points and should be a nice addition to a team that ranks 16th on the penalty kill (80.6 percent).
Potential #Isles healthy lineup:
— Brendan Burke (@brendanmburke) February 24, 2020
Lee-Barzal-Eberle
Beauvillier-Nelson-Brassard
Bellows-Pageau-Bailey
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck
The Islanders currently sit in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference but are one of the lowest-scoring teams (23rd) with just 173 goals on the season. Pageau should give a nice offensive boost to a team that desperately needs one; he's bringing 24 goals with him, which leads all Islanders this season. Over the course of eight seasons with Ottawa, he's had 182 points (87 goals and 95 assists) in 428 games. He is also a known quantity for most of his teammates. Pageau played with Derick Brassard with Ottawa and Mathew Barzal, Jordan Eberle, Josh Bailey, Anthony Beauvillier and Ryan Pulock on Canada's 2018 IIHF World Championship roster.