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Trade: Hurricanes get Paquette and Galchenyuk; Senators bring back Dzingel

Trade: Galchenyuk, Paquette, Dzingel, Hurricanes, Senators

The Hurricanes and Senators put together a change-of-scenery trade on Saturday, with Carolina receiving Cedric Paquette and Alex Galchenyuk, while Ottawa brought back Ryan Dzingel.

Trade: Paquette and Galchenyuk to Hurricanes; Senators bring back Dzingel

This trade involves players who’ve seen better days, particularly Galchenyuk and Dzingel. You might argue that it’s telling that Paquette got more of a mention than Galchenyuk in the Hurricanes’ generic GM blurb:

“Cedric is a strong, physical forward who won the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay last season,” Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said. “We’re excited to add both of these players to our forward group.”

All of Dzingel, Galchenyuk, and Paquette are pending unrestricted free agents after the 2020-21 NHL season. Neither team retained salary in the trade, so here’s how their cap hits look:

Dzingel, 28: $3.375 million
Galchenyuk, 27:$1.05M
Paquette, 27: $1.65M

J Fresh provided a useful breakdown of what each player brings to the table, from an all-around/analytics perspective:

A look at the three players involved

In a nutshell, Paquette could carry some defensive use for the Hurricanes. Naturally, they’ll find his experience winning a Stanley Cup -- and his snarl -- useful when things get nasty.

If Galchenyuk and/or Dzingel bring much to the table in this Hurricanes - Senators trade, it will be by turning back the clock.

In Dzingel’s case, he’s going back to the Senators team where he enjoyed some of his greatest success. Dzingel scored 20+ goals two seasons in a row for Ottawa. That included reaching 22 goals in just 57 games back in 2018-19 before the Senators traded Dzingel to the Blue Jackets for a significant deadline return.

Unfortunately, Dzingel couldn’t replicate that magic with the Hurricanes. It will be interesting to see if Dzingel can get his career back on track with the team where it took off. (If nothing else, it might be a pleasant balm for Senators fans, as this season figures to continue to be rough.)

For all we know, the Senators might try to sell-high(-ish?) on Dzingel again if he revives his scoring touch.

While Dzingel fell pretty far in the last couple seasons, it’s almost jarring to think of Galchenyuk’s plummet down the ranks.

As the third pick of the 2012 NHL Draft, Galchenyuk peaked with a 30-goal season while being a regular with the Canadiens from 2012-13 through 2017-18. From there, Galchenyuk bounced from the Coyotes to the Penguins, Wild, Senators, and now the Hurricanes. Galchenyuk only managed a single goal and zero assists in eight games with Ottawa this season.

If his journeyman status doesn’t inspire some sympathy for Galchenyuk, consider that he turned 27 on Friday.

Then again, if Galchenyuk can find a niche with a strong team with the Hurricanes, it could be quite the birthday present.

On paper, this Hurricanes - Senators trade seems mostly like a change of scenery. Maybe Paquette brings the safest value. Could one team end up enjoying surprising rewards, though?

(That might boil down to making additional moves. Maybe rent instead of buying, Alex. Sorry.)

James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.