Ottawa Senators: Wheelin' and Dealin' with the Carolina Hurricanes

There was a trade this afternoon in the NHL—and it didn't involve anyone named Hossa, Sundin, Campbell, or Emery.

At the mention of Ontario's other "Razor" however, this trade did involve the other Ontario team—the Ottawa Senators.

In a move that could very well open up the floodgates for the next 15 days, the Ottawa Senators sent Patrick Eaves and Joe Corvo to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman.
 
The Sens are able to pick up an extra scorer in Stillman who should be able to alleviate some of the pressure on the top line of Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson, and Jason Spezza.

Stillman is a proven producer, scoring more than 20 goals eight times in his career, and he brings two cup rings (2004 in Tampa and 2006 in Carolina) with him, offering this Sens team some much-needed experience (Martin Gerber is the only other player on the Sens roster with a Stanley Cup ring).

The big knock on the Senators this year has been their secondary scoring. Although it's shown up in spurts throughout the season, the production hasn't lasted consistently, as shown by Mike Fisher's 42 points on the year—21 points shy of third place on the team (Antoine Vermette is fifth on the team—10 points behind Fisher—with 32 points).

The Sens also pick up the rugged Mike Commodore, who can provide them with a gritty presence on the blueline. His 74 penalty minutes are now tops amongst Ottawa defensemen, and at 6'5" 228 lbs. he becomes the largest Senators defenseman.

As well as another Stanley Cup championship, Commodore brings the larger defenseman that Ottawa could have used last year in the Stanley Cup finals against the Anaheim Ducks.

But are the Sens losing too much for a couple of players whose contracts are up at the end of the season?

Joe Corvo is a 30-year-old puck-moving defenseman, an asset that Carolina has long coveted. Their initial interest was in John-Michael Liles from Colorado, but Corvo is much less taxing on the Canes' resources, and—eventually—their bank account.

Although Corvo's only season with 40 points or more was in 2005-06 with Los Angeles (Liles has two already), he was Ottawa's seventh-leading scorer (Stillman becomes Ottawa's fourth-leading scorer, so it balances out) and he now becomes Carloina's top-producing defenseman.

Ottawa also loses 2003 first-rounder Patrick Eaves.

Despite being bitten by the injury bug this season, Eaves has been able to provide the Sens with four goals and six assists. Before that, he appeared to be developing quickly posting 29 points in his rookie season (2005-06), and improving on that total by three (for 32 points) in 2006-07.

Eaves goes to a Carolina team laden with talented scorers (Justin Williams, Eric Cole, Eric Staal, and Matt Cullen) and veteran leadership (Rod Brind'Amour and Ray Whitney) who should help him develop as a leader and a scorer over the next few years.

In all honesty, this has Toronto written all over it—trade one of your promising young players for a few veterans who know how to get it done—then sit back and watch as the young kid comes back to spite you every so often while your veteran bolts for another club in the offseason.

Although Ottawa isn't in any foreseeable danger at the moment of becoming like their provincial rivals, they should heed Leafs Nation's advice and keep these kinds of deals to a minimum (Trust us, it never turns out well).

Depending on how Ottawa finishes this year, both teams can profit from this deal:

The Senators could achieve their goal of a Stanley Cup championship—as hard as that is for Leafs fans to deal with—and the 'Canes get a couple of players to help them both down the road and today.

However, if Ottawa fails to win a championship, then—no matter how much secondary scoring the Sens receive from Stillman—this season can be seen as a failure, especially with the giant step forward they took last season.

And if they can't re-sign Stillman or Commodore? Well, Patrick Eaves is a pretty steep price for a rental player I'd say.

And that's coming from a Leafs fan.