Last night Dion Phaneuf left the Ottawa Senators game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. People joked about it being for a trade -  like when Mike Cammaleri was traded by the Canadiens mid-game - and then it turned out to be true.

The Ottawa Senators traded Dion Phanuef and Nate Thompson to the Los Angeles Kings for Marian Gaborik and Nick Shore, with the Senators retaining 25% of Phaneufs salary.

This is a bit of a head scratching trade. Initially the Sens are saving over $7 million in salary with Phaneuf, but retaining cuts that down. Thoughts are being shared that Gaborik is going to LTIRetire are this season, but that won’t work because he’s not on the Maple Leafs.

Phaneuf-Gaborik trade is big, underwhelming, and downright strange

Phaneuf is moved five days after the second anniversary of him being traded to the Senators by the Maple Leafs. The Leafs acquired Colin Greening (Marlies), Jared Cowen (bought out), Tobias Lindberg (traded for Calvin Pickard), Milan Michalek (left as UFA) and a 2017 2nd round pick (Eemeli Rasanen) from the Senators for Phaneuf (traded to LA), Matt Frattin (kept on the Marlies, now in Switzerland), Casey Bailey (left as UFA, with Islanders), Ryan Rupert (unqualified RFA, in ECHL), and Cody Donaghey (ECHL).

The Sens aren’t great at trades eh?

Here are your links.

Everything is Terrible: Kings Trade for Dion Phaneuf - Jewels From The Crown
This isn’t what we meant when we asked for a Senators defenseman.

Some Thoughts on the Dion Phaneuf Trade - Silver Seven
By swapping one bad contract for another, the Sens saved some cash and jump started the rebuild

Dion Phaneuf Traded to the Los Angeles Kings for Marian Gaborik - Silver Seven
Nate Thompson is also heading to Los Angeles.

Seattle Expansion Team Moves Closer to Reality - Last Word on Hockey
Countless name predictions, jersey concepts, and mock expansion drafts were made before the Vegas Golden Knights finally came to be. Since game one, they’ve taken the league by storm. Now, it’s Seattle’s turn.

The case for keeping James van Riemsdyk - Centre of Leafs Nation

Down Goes Brown: Introducing the all-time Almost-a-Leaf roster
Did you hear that John Tavares is going to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer? They just have to figure out how to work in his cap hit after trading for Drew Doughty and Erik Karlsson.

Factors of Rasmus Ristolainen’s Struggles - Die By The Blade
Ristolainen’s stuggles can be tied to a laundry list of issues that he can and cannot control.

Brian Elliott expected to miss 5-6 weeks - Broad Street Hockey
Things are not great, folks.

The Senators Use the Media to Drive Up Their Deadline Prices | The 6th Sens
Even though Bryan Murray is no longer with the Ottawa Senators, general manager Pierre Dorion is a borrowing a page from his predecessor’s playbook.

Enjoy the day!

From The Branches