Jets Acquire Sanford from Senators for Fifth-Rounder

The Ottawa Senators continue to make minor tweaks as the trade deadline approaches. 

The Senators made another depth move on Monday, trading forward Zach Sanford to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft. 

Sanford will give the Jets some very minor offensive presence at the bottom of their lineup for the rest of 2021-22, with the 27-year-old having racked up 17 points in 62 games with the Senators so far this season. 

With the Jets likely preparing to sell a number of key players in the remaining minutes before the 3 PM EST deadline, with many reports pointing to Andrew Copp and Paul Stastny heading out the door, it's unclear as to why GM Kevin Cheveldayoff would spend draft capital to add a player at this moment. 

Sanford doesn't move the needle much when it comes to Winnipeg's playoff odds. The Massachusetts native has averaged a little bit above 14 minutes per night on a bad Senators team this season, and has produced middling underlying results in a third-and-fourth-line role. 

Not to mention, Sanford is set to become an unrestricted free agent at year's end, making him a likely rental player heading to a team that does not seem certain to earn a spot in the playoffs. 

While a fifth-round pick is not a high price by any means, the decision to trade away draft picks for a rental player while your team is in sell-now mode doesn't seem to line up from a logic standpoint. 

Perhaps the Jets have another move hidden up their sleeve. But for the time being, their moves today have been somewhat head-scratching.