Breaking Down Recent Trades Between Winnipeg Jets and Senators
The Winnipeg Jets made an interesting trade with the Ottawa Senators at the 2022 trade deadline. How have recent trades between these sides played out?
Looking back to March 21 during the NHL’s trade deadline for the 2021-2022 season, the Winnipeg Jets made an interesting deal with the Ottawa Senators.
The Jets acquired pending free agent forward Zach Sanford in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
There is still no telling whether the Jets won this trade and only time will tell if they did in fact. Some of the factors looking back on this trade to see who was victorious will be: What place did the Jets finish the season in? Did Sanford resign in Winnipeg? What the Senators did with the draft selection they got from the Jets- did they draft someone or did they make another trade?
It will be interesting to look back on this trade in a couple of years and see how it unfolded. With that being stated, it got me thinking, about what has happened in prior trades between Winnipeg and Ottawa.
This article will look at the three most recent trades between the Jets and Senators in chronological order with the most recent one being last and what happened after each of those trades.
Heatley to Ottawa for Hossa and de Vries
For the first trade, we have to turn the clocks back over 15 years ago to 2005 when the Jets franchise was located in Atlanta and they were the Thrashers.
In the offseason before the 2005-2006 season, Heatley requested a trade from the Thrashers who drafted him second overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.
Atlanta honored his request and traded their star forward to Ottawa in exchange for Marian Hossa and Greg de Vries.
Heatley made an outstanding impact for the Senators scoring over 100 points in each of his first two seasons with his new club. While Heatley was having success for the Senators, Hossa and de Vries were a part of a Thrashers team that struggled mightily.
After three seasons, Hossa left Atlanta at the 2008 trade deadline in a trade that sent Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to Pittsburgh for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito, and the Penguins’ 2008 first-round draft choice. Atlanta then drafted Daultan Leville with that pick.
de Vries played two seasons for the Thrashers before signing with the Nashville Predators and he went on to play two seasons with them before retiring.
Heatley went on to play four seasons in Ottawa before going to the San Jose Sharks for two seasons, the Minnesota Wild for three seasons, and finishing his career in 2014-2015 with six games with the Anaheim Ducks.
After seeing where the players in the Hossa to Pittsburgh traded ended up Armstrong played two seasons with the Atlanta Franchise while Christensen played two seasons with the Atlanta. On the other hand, Esposito and Leville never played in the NHL.
Draft Pick Trade at the 2014 Entry Draft
After the Heatley trade, it took nine years before these franchises made another trade and that trade happened during the 2014 NHL Entry Draft in Philadelphia.
During the draft, the Jets made a draft pick for draft pick trade with the Senators that involved the Jets receiving Ottawa’s sixth-round selection in the 2015 draft for the Jets’ seventh-round pick in the 2014 draft.
The Senators went on to select Kelly Summers with their pick while the Jets then went on to make another trade with the selection they acquired during the 2015 season.
In mid-December of 2014, the Jets traded the sixth-round draft pick they acquired from Ottawa to the Carolina Hurricanes for Jay Harrison. During the 2015 draft, the Hurricanes picked David Cotton with the pick they received in the Harrison trade.
First, let’s see where both of the players drafted in this trade ended up. Summers played college hockey at Clarkson University and then after his senior season, he signed in the ECHL. He played two seasons in the ECHL with the Adirondack Thunder while also appearing in nine games in the AHL for the Binghamton Devils. Summers now currently plays in Germany in their second division with Crimmitschau ETC.
On the other hand, Cotton played four seasons at Boston College and now is in his second professional season with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL. This year he has played in 48 games and has six goals and seven assists.
The Jets acquired Harrison for the end of the 2014-2015 season and this wound up being his last season at the NHL level. After he was traded to Winnipeg, Harrison appeared in 35 games for the Jets scoring two goals and adding three assists. The Jets made the playoffs that season in the second Wild Card spot but were swept out of the first round by the Anaheim Ducks. Harrison then played 18 games with the Manitoba Moose in the next season and then retired.
Jets Trade Draft Selection to get DeMelo for the Playoff Run
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and at the 2020 trade deadline, the Jets made a trade to add some defensive depth for a run at the Stanley Cup.
The Jets traded for, pending unrestricted free agent, Dylan DeMelo and sent their 2020 third-round draft selection to Ottawa.
DeMelo went on to play 10 games for the Jets before the pandemic shut down the season and then featured in all of the Jets postseason games before they were eliminated in the qualifying round by the Calgary Flames.
The Jets then went on to sign DyMelo to a four-year contract during the subsequent offseason with a $3,000,000 AAV. During his time in Winnipeg, DeMelo has played in 130 games and has scored one goal while adding 20 assists. He also has a plus-17 plus/minus.
On the other hand, the Senators went to select Finnish goaltender Leevi Meriläinen with the draft pick they acquired from the Jets.
Meriläinen did sign an entry-level contract with Ottawa and is currently playing in his first season in North America after making the jump over from Finland.
The nineteen-year-old plays for the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. He has a 28-15-3 record with a 3.36 goals against average and a .891 save percentage this season.
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Winnipeg Jets Fans: Which team do you think has won the recent trades between Winnipeg and Ottawa? Leave your comments below!
*This is our site’s second article breaking down trades between the Jets and another franchise. You can read our article breaking down the trades between the Winnipeg Jets and New York Rangers by clicking the link here.*
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