In November 2023, the NHL came down hard on the Ottawa Senators, announcing they would have to forfeit a first-round draft pick due to the mishandling of their July 2021 trade of Evgenii Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights. As a result of the Senators' screw-up, the subsequent March 2022 Dadonov trade between the Knights and the Anaheim Ducks was invalidated, embarrassing everyone involved. Tim Stutzle discusses areas he'd like to still improve on (Senators on YouTube) Carter Yakemchuk Ranked 26th Overall In Magazine's New NHL Prospect Rankings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/ottawa-senators/latest-news/carter-yakemchuk-ranked-26th-overall-in-magazine-s-new-nhl-prospect-rankings] Ottawa Senators Make More Front Office Changes [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/ottawa-senators/latest-news/ottawa-senators-make-more-front-office-changes-on-thursday] Ottawa Senators Prospect Parts Ways With Organization And Signs Back Home In Sweden [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/ottawa-senators/latest-news/ottawa-senators-prospect-parts-ways-with-organization-and-signs-back-home-in-sweden] The league gave Ottawa the choice of forfeiting its first-round pick in either the 2024, 2025, or 2026 Draft. New owner Michael Andlauer questioned how this had become his problem, and why the league or the former Sens ownership hadn't disclosed the issue before he bought the franchise. The mistake occurred on Pierre Dorion’s watch, and he was immediately removed as GM, a move that was probably coming down the pike anyway. At the time, the question was which pick the Senators would give up: 2024, 2025, or 2026? We now know the Senators will forfeit their 2026 first-round pick. The Sens kicked the decision down the road last year, selecting defenseman Carter Yakemchuk in round one. GM Steve Staios suggested they would probably defer the forfeiture again this year. "It's highly likely we'll keep our pick," Staios told reporters at the Senators' end-of-season availability on May 5. In reality, their official decision had to be made at least two days earlier. According to NHL.com, if the Senators were going to forfeit this year’s pick, they had to decide within 24 hours of the conclusion of the May 2 NHL Draft Lottery. So on May 5, keeping the pick was more than just “highly likely” at that point. The announcement, though oddly coy, was the right decision in every way. Will RFA Fabian Zetterlund Get Paid On His San Jose Numbers Or The Ones In Ottawa? [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/908b6567-65ef-49e0-b644-d47d40c10e56.jpeg] Will RFA Fabian Zetterlund Get Paid On His San Jose Numbers Or The Ones In Ottawa? Fabian Zetterlund has only been an Ottawa Senator for a couple of months, and he’s already asking the club for a raise. That wouldn’t fly in a normal workplace, but that’s how it goes in the NHL when you bring in a pending restricted free agent at the trade deadline. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/ottawa-senators/players/will-rfa-fabian-zetterlund-get-paid-on-his-san-jose-numbers-or-the-ones-in-ottawa] The Senators are a team on the rise, so, in theory, their first-round pick will be less valuable next season. And forfeiting the pick this year would have sent a poor message to the team and its ticket-buying fan base, who head into the summer with great expectations for next season. There’s also the strategy of dragging things out in hopes that time heals all wounds. In short (pun intended), the Sens are hoping Commissioner Gary Bettman has a change of heart. When people discuss this possibility, they frequently harken back to the precedent of the New Jersey Devils getting their forfeited first-round pick back 11 years ago. That happened, but here’s why that was a very different situation, and probably not a good comparison for the Senators. The league punished the Devils in 2010 for cap circumvention after signing Ilya Kovalchuk to a wild 17-year contract that would have taken him into his mid-40s. They ruled that the Devils would have to give up a first-round pick in either 2011, 2012, 2013, or 2014, along with a third-rounder in 2011 and a US$3 million fine. The Devils did what the Senators are doing, delaying the forfeiture as long as possible. But two big things happened in the summer of 2013. First, Jersey traded their 2013 first-round pick to Vancouver for goalie Cory Schneider. At that point, the die was cast, and the Devils would be forced to give up their pick in 2014. But two weeks after the Schneider trade, Kovalchuk surprised the hockey world by retiring from the NHL with 12 years still left on his contract. The 2012–13 NHL season was a lockout year, and Kovalchuk, who had spent half the season playing in the KHL, apparently got homesick. Shortly after his announcement, he signed a lucrative four-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg, with an eye on playing in the 2018 Olympics. So the Devils had to carry on without Kovalchuk in 2013–14, and the league appeared to sympathize with that. In March 2014, the Devils applied to the NHL for reconsideration and relief from their earlier penalty. Towering Utah Defenceman Would Be Ideal Senators Trade Target [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/4e4f6dd3-6a79-4cf3-a7ce-ff6ae86fdcae.jpeg] Towering Utah Defenceman Would Be Ideal Senators Trade Target Injuries to Artem Zub and Nick Jensen highlighted the Ottawa Senators' need for greater quality of depth on the right side throughout the 2024-25 season. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/ottawa-senators/latest-news/towering-utah-defenceman-would-be-ideal-senators-trade-target] The NHL agreed. "The Devils recently applied to the League for reconsideration and relief from a portion of the original penalty, citing primarily changes in circumstances which, in the club's view, changed the appropriateness of the sanctions initially imposed," the NHL said in a statement. "After due and thorough consideration, the League has decided that a modification of the original circumvention penalty associated with the Kovalchuk contract is warranted and, accordingly, has amended the sanctions." The Devils got their pick back. They were awarded the 30th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, the final selection of the first round. Plus, their $3 million fine was also cut in half. The league still took its pound of flesh. The 30th pick could not be traded, and naturally, the Devils were ineligible for the draft lottery that year. The Devils missed the playoffs that season and likely would have selected around 11th overall. At that point, players like Dylan Larkin, Alex Tuch, and David Pastrnak were still on the board. Instead, with the 30th pick, the Devils selected John Quenneville. So that’s the backstory on why the league reduced the punishment and gave the first-round pick back to the Devils. The star player in question had left the club with 12 years remaining on his contract, and, in a nutshell, the league took pity on them. So in the unlikely event the Senators do get their pick back, it won't have anything to do with the Kovalchuk precedent. That 2014 decision required a major shift in circumstances, and it's wildly different than anything that's happened (or could happen) in Ottawa. Steve Warne The Hockey News - Ottawa [http://thn.com/ottawa]
