Senators land lottery protected 1st-rounder for Jean-Gabriel Pageau
With his team out of the playoff picture, Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion picked up a lottery-protected, first-round draft pick from the New York Islanders for Jean-Gabriel Pageau ahead of Monday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline.
The conditional pick would slide to 2021 if it falls in the top 3 of this year’s June draft in Montreal. The Senators also acquired a 2020 second-round pick and 2022 third-rounder, the latter only if the New York Islanders will the Stanley Cup this season.
Pageau, who has scored a career-high 24 goals in 60 games this season, has agreed to a six-year contract extension with the Islanders. He was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Pageau topped the Senators with 40 points this season, three shy of his career best of 43 in 2015-16.
Ottawa (20-30-11) currently has the third-worst record in the league. But the Senators should have two lottery picks this year — their own and the one acquired from the San Jose Sharks in the Erik Karlsson trade in September 2018 — and could have as many as 13 selections, including seven in the first two rounds.
The Ottawa native, who is good on the draw — averaging over 50 per cent on faceoffs in each of the past five seasons — and a strong penalty killer, likely will slot in as third-line centre in New York behind Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson.
In eight NHL regular seasons, Pageau has 87 goals and 182 points in 428 games, all with the Senators.
He has 12 goals and 16 points in 35 playoff games, including 10 in 19 outings, in Ottawa’s run to the Eastern Conference final in 2017.
Also Monday, Dorion moved forward Vladislav Namestnikov, another pending UFA, to Colorado for a 2021 fourth-round draft pick.
Last October, Ottawa sent a fourth-round pick and minor-league defenceman Nick Ebert to the New York Rangers to acquire the 27-year-old Namestnikov.
«He’s excited about the prospects of joining the Avalanche,» said Dan Milstein, Namestnikov’s agent. «He definitely feels this team has every ingredient to win the Cup.»
Senators, Habs swap forwards
In another move, Dorion shipped forward Aaron Luchuk of Kingston, Ont., and a 2020 seventh-round pick to Montreal for forward Matthew Peca.
Luchuk, 22, has played four games in the AHL this season with Toronto and Belleville after recording 19 goals and 50 points in 45 games with the Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL.
Peca, whom the Canadiens signed for two years on July 1, 2018, had 10 points in 44 games with the big club the last two seasons. The 26-year-old from Petawawa, Ont., tallied 13 points in 34 games this season with Laval of the AHL.
