Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Is Daniel Alfredsson going to get the Ray Bourque treatment?

Ottawa Senators v New York Islanders

UNIONDALE, NY - FEBRUARY 05: Daniel Alfredsson #11 of the Ottawa Senators skates during an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on February 5, 2011 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Daniel Alfredsson has been the heart and soul and best player the Ottawa Senators have had the past 15 seasons. He’s the team captain, he’s their most talented goal scorer, and he’s brought them to a Stanley Cup final in 2007.

Now in his 16th season and turning 39 years-old in December, there’s a possibility that the miserable Senators could deal Alfredsson by the trade deadline to give him a shot at winning a Stanley Cup.

If that storyline sounds familiar, it’s nearly identical to the one Raymond Bourque had as a Boston Bruin. Bourque was traded at age 39 to Colorado where he eventually won the Stanley Cup in 2001, his final season in the NHL.

Could Alfredsson follow in Bourque’s footsteps and wind up somewhere else by the end of the season? Ottawa Sun beat man Bruce Garrioch says it could... But there are a lot of things a Cup-chasing team would have to do to make it work.

Summing up what Garrioch says, if when the Senators are so far out of things in the East, if Alfredsson wants out to try and win, the Senators will try to make it happen for him. The problem there is Alfredsson’s cap hit of $4.875 million this year and next. While his actual salary is low, the cap hit is the thing.

Alfredsson’s desire (or not) to stick around while the Sens try to figure things out is the other half of the story. Seeing a team captain jump ship to win elsewhere hurts to see, but seeing him don another team’s sweater is a distinct possibility for Sens fans to deal with before the year is out. A veteran scorer with motivation would be valuable to get at the trade deadline in February.