On trade deadline day, the Senators' only deal was a waiver claim from Chicago.
The NHL Trade deadline has come and gone and the 28th-place Ottawa Senators were unable to pull off a trade to improve their team.
In the final hour before the deadline, the Senators did make a waiver claim, pulling in depth forward Boris Katchouk off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks.
"He's a dynamic, competitive player with offensive upside," GM Steve Staios said in a media Zoom call this afternoon. "I think that, for our group, he'll have an opportunity to come in and give us what he's got. With our situation, with some of the injuries, I think Boris is a good fit.
"He plays with a lot of competitiveness and things that we're looking for."
Katchouk was once a highly regarded prospect, playing for Team Canada at the World Juniors five years ago as a teammate of Drake Batherson's. Katchouk was also a teammate of Mathieu Joseph's in both Syracuse and Tampa Bay.
Th 25-year-old plays with good energy and forechecks well. He had five goals and nine points in 38 games this season. His cap hit is $758K and he's an restricted free agent at the end of the season. He's en route to San Jose to join the big club for tomorrow's game and will wear number 14.
With Vladimir Tarasenko gone, and Josh Norris, Matthew Highmore and Zack MacEwen hurt, and Parker Kelly possibly suspended for a hit to the head in LA, another NHL body is welcome.
But at the end of the day, Katchouk is a fourth-liner that the worst team in hockey had planned to send to the minors.
The Senators' only other deal during the trade deadline season was dealing away pending unrestricted free agent Vladimir Tarasenko. Tarasenko had a no-trade clause and was only willing to waive it to go to the Florida Panthers. The Sens could only get a couple of mid-tier draft picks as a result, probably a third and a fourth rounder. If the Panthers win the Cup, the fourth becomes a third.
On the upside, with this season being another lost cause, GM Steve Staios still has plenty of opportunities – draft day, free agency and the off-season – to make impactful moves for this fall.