The Ottawa Senators have traded D Nikita Zaitsev along with a 2023 2nd round pick and a 2026 4th round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks. All in exchange for the low-low price of future considerations.
The Chicago Blackhawks just bought some draft capita from the Ottawa Senators.
Chicago acquires Nikita Zaitsev, a 2023 second round pick and 2026 fourth round pick from Ottawa for 'future considerations' per sources.— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) February 23, 2023
Zaitsev's name has appeared in trade discussions since the start of the season, and Ottawa had to pay to get rid of him. A bottom-pair defenseman, Zaitsev is signed through the 2023-24 season at a $4.5 million cap-hit.
With the trade, Chicago now has 10 draft picks for the 2023 Entry Draft.* Zaitsev had a limited no-trade clause but did not need to waive it for Chicago.
For the Senators, they free up cap space to make key additions at the trade deadline and over the summer. They had to pay to do it, but it could pay off. The Sens sit just six points out of the playoffs with four games in hand on both current Wild Card holders.
They are by no means out of the race for this season.
Who wins this trade?
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