The Ottawa Senators finally did an NHL deal now! After signing two players who are more than likely to be Bingo-bound--Niko Dimitrakos and Larry Nycholat--the Senators made a relatively significant move in trading Peter Schaefer to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Shean Donovan.After Schaefer had a relatively poor season, and a worse playoff, it had become necessary to trade him, and most importantly the $6.3M left on his contract, in order to make room for other players (notably Ray Emery).
A lot of fans liked Peter Schaefer. I know I did. But I'm not terrifically disappointed in this trade. The fact of the matter is that Schaefer was signed to an inflated contract, and the Sens are simply not in a position to earmark $2.1M a season to a player who, quite frankly, didn't show up in the playoffs until it was too late.
There seems to be mixed reaction to the addition of Donovan. Personally, I've liked him since his days in Calgary, when he set a career-high in 2003-04 of 42 (18g, 24a), not bad stats for the grinder we've picked him up to be. He certainly strikes me as a Murray player, not afraid to go into the corners and able to make a hit. Schaefer was good along the boards, but he wasn't a regular hitter, and didn't create enough chances off his work on the boards for the price tag he had.
The biggest loss I see from Schaefer is his penalty-killing prowess, but with Dean McAmmond, Daniel Alfredsson, Antoine Vermette, and Mike Fisher still in the fold, the PK units will be alright.
The biggest gain is the $1.15M extra the Sens now have to spend. While it will probably be routed towards a new contract for Emery, if we manage to dump Martin Gerber's salary, there's an opportunity to sign a veteran free agent--perhaps Martin Gelinas or Mike Johnson or, if I'm dreaming, Peter Forsberg--and a back-up goaltender--look at someone like Ty Conklin or Jussi Markkanen.
Anyway, tough to say right now whether or not this was a win for Ottawa or for Boston, but I'm happy with it for now.
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