Dorion: Series shouldn’t be a referendum on Brassard-for-Zibanejad deal The Senators GM says second-round clash with Rangers won’t decide which team won the swap of forwards made last July.

It would be easy to assume that the winner of the upcoming Ottawa Senators - New York Rangers playoff series will also be declared winner of the trade between the two teams from last summer.

But Senators general manager Pierre Dorion is adamant that this second-round playoff series shouldn’t also serve as a quasi-referendum on who won the Derick Brassard-for-Mika Zibanejad deal that was executed last July.

“I don’t think one series makes a trade. I think you look at the whole picture and everything that comes with making a trade,” Dorion told TSN 1200 on Monday. “Whatever happens in this series, I don’t think will dictate whether it was a good trade one way or the other way.”

But no matter what Dorion believes, the deal will be a major talking point throughout the course of this series for media and fans alike.

Last summer, the NHL was rocked by a pair of seismic trades that shook the entire league to its core in a matter of minutes on a June day.

First, the Edmonton Oilers sent winger Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for defenceman Adam Larsson. Exactly 20 minutes later, the Montreal Canadiens shipped defenceman P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators for fellow blueliner Shea Weber in a deal that signalled the start of a new chapter for the Habs.

A few weeks later, with much less fanfare, the Senators and Rangers completed a trade that also ushered in a new era for Ottawa and their new general manager. On July 18, the Senators acquired Brassard and a 2018 seventh-round pick from New York in exchange for Zibanejad and a 2018 second-round pick.

It’s important to note that Dorion made this trade based largely on the discussions he had with his players during exit meetings in April, after the Senators finished well outside of the playoff picture in a disappointing 2015-16 campaign.

The sentiment from players and management at the time was that the Senators weren’t that far off from being a Stanley Cup contender, but required a veteran forward with pedigree.

“We felt we needed to get more experience and with Derick there was a history of playoff success,” explained Dorion. “For us it was about, what kind of piece can we add if we’re fortunate to get into playoffs?”

While picks were involved in the deal, this was essentially a bold, one-for-one deal made by Dorion. The Senators GM was ushering in his own ‘win-now’ philosophy by acquiring a soon-to-be 29-year old centre with a penchant for delivering in the postseason.

His rationale was simple: The Senators had a core of veteran players and were buoyed by Erik Karlsson – who Dorion felt was the best defenceman in the game. In his media availability on Monday, Dorion summarized Karlsson’s influence on the first round by giving his captain the ultimate praise for playing the series with two hairline fractures in his left foot.

“On the eighth day, God created Erik Karlsson,” Dorion said, gushing about Karlsson’s six-assist performance against the Bruins. “He’s as special of a hockey player as we’ve ever seen. He’s the best defenceman on the planet and there are no ifs, ands or buts about it. To play through the pain that he played through and to lead our team the way he did…we’re fortunate in Ottawa we have something special in Erik Karlsson.”

The praise for Karlsson is nothing new from Dorion, who has long believed this team has a window to compete while his captain is in his prime – and more importantly – under contract with the Senators through the 2018-19 season.

In his first off-season as general manager in the summer of 2016, Dorion felt it was his obligation to surround the captain with talent that could succeed immediately. So he traded away a talented 23-year-old with upside in Zibanejad for the more polished playoff performer in Brassard.

All summer and into training camp, Dorion repeatedly uttered the phrase, “Why not us? Why not now?”

While Brassard earned the nickname ‘Big Game Brass’ for his playoff exploits on Broadway, his first regular season with the Senators left much to be desired. He failed to reach the 40-point plateau, collecting only 39 points – his lowest total since his first full season in the NHL back in 2009-10. Brassard did little to help the Senators struggling power play, generating just seven points on the man advantage.

As Brassard limped down the stretch, Senators management urged critics to hold their opinion on him until the playoffs. At the end of the regular season, Dorion went out of his way during his press conference to state that Brassard had the best season from an analytics perspective, based on their in-house stats.

They stated that based on their metrics, which included zone exits, zone entries and who was first on the puck, Brassard was their most effective forward during the 2016-17 campaign. That assertion was met with collective skepticism, as most observers felt Brassard had struggled to produce offence on a consistent basis.

Heading into the playoffs, nobody on the outside thought Brassard was going to suddenly flip a switch and become the dangerous centreman Dorion acquired last summer. Internally, however, Sens management was steadfast in their belief that Brassard would deliver as advertised.

“When you see someone and there’s a history of someone who has performed well in the playoffs, you know they’ll come through for you,” added Dorion.

Then, magically, ‘Big Game Brass’ appeared in the series against the Bruins. Brassard led all Sens players with eight points in the six-game win over Boston – an impressive stat, considering he never put up eight points in any six-game span during the regular season.

“The credit goes to Derrick. He’s the one that elevated his game to assure us that we’d win that playoff round,” Dorion said of Brassard’s first-round performance against Boston. “He knows what it means for this organization to win a playoff round. He stepped up and he deserves a lot of credit.”

Adding intrigue to this matchup is the fact that Zibanejad also delivered in the clutch for the Rangers in their six-game series win over the Canadiens.

Zibanejad, who had 14 goals and 23 assists in 56 games during his first season in New York, scored the overtime winner in Game 5 at the Bell Centre and then turned around and set up Mats Zuccarello with the tying goal in Game 6.

Now that the two players will be going head-to-head in a playoff series, the comparisons are going to be a major talking point, with the New York media eager to touch on the story of Brassard facing his old team.

“Derick showed in the past that he was one of the Rangers best playoff players in the past. We hope that can continue,” added Dorion, “We know he’s going to get a lot of attention, but he’s got a lot of attention before and he’s thrived on it.”