Sens failed to trade Smith despite two different offers!

No wonder Sens players are reacting to Smith being placed on waivers...

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Sens failed to trade Smith despite two different offers!
Zuma Press

In case you missed it, the Ottawa Senators have placed veteran forward Zack Smith on waivers earlier today, for the purposes of assigning him to the American Hockey League. 

The 30-year-old forward is the Sens’ longest serving player, having played 542 games in a Senators' uniform and scoring 85 goals and 165 points along the way. The gritty forward is just two seasons removed from a breakout 25-goal, 36-point campaign back in 2015-16, but he had a dreadful campaign in 2017-18, scoring just five goals and 19 points in 68 games. 

While today’s news may come as a surprise to Sens fans, word around the NHL is that Sens general manager Pierre Dorion has been trying, unsuccessfully, to trade Smith for awhile now. Later on Tuesday, NHL insider Darren Dreger revealed on the air on TSN 1200 why the deal fell through, leading to Smith being placed on waivers today, as recounted by Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey. 

“I was a bit surprised for sure,” indicated Dreger. “Originally when word was starting to percolate that Smith wasn’t on the ice, your Spidey Senses start tingling a little bit and you start poking around. It would be no secret to anyone listening to know that the Ottawa Senators have tried to trade Zack Smith dating back to the trade deadline, and perhaps even before that.

“My sense is that there was interest - legit interest - in Zack Smith, but the Ottawa Senators would have preferred draft picks, they didn’t want to have to take a contract back. When you’ve got this year plus two more remaining on a contract at $3.25 million, that’s a tough one for even the most interested team.

“So I think that based on all of that, the Ottawa Senators maybe, simply to just unload that contract, felt that the best option was to place him on waivers and see if someone bites.”

Dreger also revealed which teams had interest for Smith closer to the deadline. 

"I mean, if we want to go back prior to the trade deadline, Calgary I think kicked tires, maybe Edmonton had some interest. It was legit, but nothing that I think went too far down the path.
“Again, when you look at the money that Zack Smith is still owed contractually - even though he’s regarded as a decent centerman, and on good teams is going to give you that gritty edge in your third/fourth hole - at 3.25 that was a tough sell, especially if Ottawa had no interest in Ottawa taking a contract back.”

Smith has three years left on a deal that pays him $3.25 million annually. Some of his teammates were shocked about the news; Matt Duchene had the best line of the day saying this about his teammate being place on the waiver wire: “I’ll be honest, it’s a kick in the balls for us."

Let's see how the revealed failed trade attempts feel now for the Senators...

Source: TSN