Report: Senators Interested in Ryan Strome
When the NHL revealed its lists of available and protected players for Wednesday’s expansion draft, the availability of Senators forward Evgenii Dadonov piqued some interest.
Considering he was just one year into the three-year, $15 million pact that he signed last offseason, news that the Senators were willing to protect Austin Watson and just walk away from Dadonov made some waves.
The predominant takeaway from that decision is that the Senators are comfortable knowing they can reallocate Dadonov’s money to address other areas of need.
Of course, it is easy to say that the Senators should simply spend Dadonov’s money on better alternatives, but it’s another thing to put that theory to practice.
A rumour was reported on Sunday however that could shed some light on how the Senators may plan to spend that money.
Ryan Strome just turned 28 this month and offers some positional versatility in that he can play centre or right-wing. He has a year left on his two-year, $9.0 million contract that pays him $5.0 million in real dollars for 2021-22.
On the surface, there is a lot to like. Although Strome may not fit the traditional description of the no. 1 centre that the Senators are allegedly searching for, he has put up 98 points in his last 126 games over the last two seasons. In 56 games this season, he tallied 14 goals and 49 points.
HockeyViz.com shows that Strome’s historically had a positive impact in the offensive zone and a negative impact on the defensive side of the puck.
Adding Strome to one of the first two lines would be an upgrade and would afford Shane Pinto time to develop, but it is not without risk.
Strome has never been a prolific goal scorer. In his eight years in the league, he has never cracked the 20-goal threshold. Over the last two seasons in New York, Strome’s most consistent linemate has been Artemi Panarin.
According to NaturalStatTrick.com’s data, the Strome has spent 1,182 minutes at five-on-five alongside Panarin. When a player’s most predominant linemate is such a dynamic and skilled talent, that player’s production will inevitably spike. Strome’s production splits reflect this.
With Panarin and Strome on the ice together, the Rangers generated 50.8-percent of the shots, 52.3-percent of the shots on goal, 54.2-percent of the expected goals and 53.2-percent of the scoring chances. When Strome played away from Panarin, the Rangers only generated 45.0-percent of the shots, 45.8-percent of the shots on goal, 48.7-percent of the expected goals and 44.8-percent of the scoring chances.
There is a noticeable and consequential difference.
Strome is close to entering the diminished return stage of his career and with one year left on his contract, the Senators really have to look at some of the risks involved and wonder whether it is worth spending some prospect and draft pick capital on acquiring a short-term solution who may experience a decline in production away from Panarin. For as good young players like Tim Stützle or Drake Batherson are, they are not at Panarin’s level. And having just recently experienced the dip in production that Dadonov endured in his first season in Ottawa away from Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, it would be interesting if the Senators choose to go down this road again.
For the opportunity cost to get him combined with Strome’s age, contract status and risk of diminished production, it would probably be in Ottawa’s interests to look elsewhere.
But, if they are going to target a Strome, they should pursue his brother Dylan.