Even before last week’s trade announcement that the Senators had acquired Artem Anisimov from the Chicago Blackhawks for Zack Smith, it was easy to recognize the pattern that has characterized every trade that the Ottawa Senators have made over the past few years.



Deals have been architected principally with an intent to save the organization money.



In the realities of a hard cap financial system, saving money is an intrinsic principle. Efficient spending and cap flexibility allows teams to spend more money on better players and address positions of weakness. Teams that spend poorly bear the burden of bad contracts and will inevitably have less money to spend to improve their roster.



Barring some trades, the only piece of unfinished business left for Senators general manager Pierre Dorion is Colin White’s contract negotiation. Having discussed what kind of term and numbers the Senators could be aiming for with White earlier this summer, it feels...