"In the last few days, Ottawa popped up and I thought it would be a good fit," Burrows said. "They have a great team, a lot of good pieces. That's the good part. The sad part is I care a lot about this team. I've been here for 12 years. They gave me my first chance. I have lots of good memories, lots of good friendships in the locker room."

The Canucks received forward prospect Jonathan Dahlen, 19, who was selected by the Senators in the second round (No. 42) of the 2016 NHL Draft.

With top-six forward Clarke MacArthur out for the season because of a concussion, Senators general manager Pierre Dorion knew he'd eventually have to replace him.

"I made a list of potential candidates that could come and take [MacArthur's] spot in the lineup and I feel Alex is going to do that with the intangibles, the character that he brings, the leadership that also Clarke had," Dorion said. "We hope [MacArthur] can be back at some point in time next year. Until then if we could add somebody like Alex ... we had to do something like this."

Burrows, a pending unrestricted free agent, signed a two-year, $5 million contract worth an average annual value of $2.5 million on Tuesday, the Senators announced. It also includes a 10-team no trade list. Burrows has 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) and 53 penalty minutes in 55 games this season.

A native of Pincourt, Quebec, Burrows said he welcomed the chance to move closer to home.

"I wanted to go to a team that was a good fit for me hockey wise, but at the same time, family wise," Burrows said. "There wasn't really a perfect situation, but I think Ottawa is pretty close to perfect for me. Close to home, back east, my parents will be able to watch games at 7 instead of 10 o'clock. It's going to be an easy drive for my friends and my family to come down to Ottawa and cheer me on.

"It's a Canadian city, a Canadian market and I like their team and I really believe they have a shot at winning. Their window is just opening right now. They have a lot of pieces. They seem to have a total buy in of what [coach] Guy Boucher is selling. They're playing well, they're playing the right way. That's really interesting for me. I could really see the Sens and myself come out of the division if we get to the playoffs and everything goes accordingly."

Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Canucks, Burrows has 34 points (19 goals, 15 assists) in 70 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"We're elated," Dorion said. "The fun for me is when I have three of four, I think it was five key veterans in our locker room come up. One wanted to hug me and the other three shook my hand and felt this was a great move for our organization today.

"I think we have become a tougher team to play against [this season], but with the acquisition of Alex Burrows today we've become an even tougher team to play against."

Video: Hradek breaks down Burrows for Dahlen deal

Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning talks with the Senators had been ongoing for three or four days.

"There was a lot of interest," Benning said. "A lot of teams called on [Burrows] to see if he would be willing to move his no-trade. I talked to him about a week ago and he wanted me to keep him in the loop as to which teams had called. We did that through his agent. It was this morning that he made the decision, when I came into the office this morning that he would agree to move his no-trade to go to Ottawa.

"It's been a hard day. Alex Burrows has been the heart and soul of our franchise for a long time. He's given us everything that he's had. He's been so good with our young players this year, but given where we're at right now we just felt it was time to make the move. We got back, we feel, a good, young player in Jonathan Dahlen so we're excited about that."

Benning said the Canucks like Dahlen's competitiveness.

"He's a player we've had our eye on," Benning said. "He's a goal-scorer, he's good around the net, he's sure-handed, he's got a good nose for the net and he'll pay the price to get there. At the [2017 World Junior Championship] this year he scored seven goals [for Sweden]. We watched him through that and we thought the parts of his game we worried a little about last year had improved. I think at the end of the day where we're at right now and Ottawa's at, it was a fair deal for both teams."