Senators GM Steve Staios stirs the pot at NHL trade deadline

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Steve Staios continued to put his stamp on the Ottawa Senators at Friday’s National Hockey League trade deadline.

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The Senators’ president of hockey operations and general manager finally struck at the core by acquiring centre Dylan Cozens and defenceman Dennis Gilbert from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for centre Josh Norris and blueliner Jacob Bernard-Docker.

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Postmedia had reported that Staios had been aggressive in making a move and had dangled both players to see what return he could get.

But Staios didn’t stop there.

He also acquired winger Fabian Zetterlund along with minor-league defenceman Tristen Robins and a fourth-round pick from the San Jose Sharks for Zack Ostapchuk, Noah Gregor and a second-round selection.

“We had a plan going in and we feel like we’re a stronger team now,” Staios said Friday night. “And we balanced out the roster.”

Cozens was the feature piece for the Senators. Selected by Buffalo with the No. 7 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, Cozens has 77 goals and 120 assists for 197 points in 341 career games.

The Senators are trying to make the playoffs for the first time in eight years and something had to change. Cozens is a hard player to play against and getting into the post-season means you have to play hard-nosed.

Ottawa went into Friday’s action sitting in the second wildcard spot in the East and has a massive matinee against the New York Rangers on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

Cozens and Gilbert are expected to face the Rangers. The club wasn’t sure if Zetterlund would be able to make it to Ottawa from San Jose in time to suit up but the Senators may have to recall a forward if he can’t.

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Many believe Cozens will be able to thrive offensively with better players around him. It would be no surprise if he skates between David Perron and Drake Batherson against New York.

“That trade, in particular, with Dylan Cozens coming changes the dynamic a little bit and also allows us to acquire Fabian Zetterlund,” said Staios. “That was the plan and the process all along if we were able to do it.”

Staois felt he wanted to improve the team because this group had earned the right to be a buyer but he didn’t get the sense until he got to work on Friday morning that this deal might become a reality.

“It wasn’t like I would feel like I needed to do anything with the group, but an opportunity for me to help support the group, because they’ve taken the step,” said Staios. “It’s a credit to the players and coaches. We look at it as a staff, and the scouts did an amazing job setting it up so we could make these changes.”

Acquired from the San Jose Sharks in Sept. 2018 as part of the Erik Karlsson deal, Norris scored his 20th goal this season against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night, but the Senators felt they needed someone to make them tougher to play against.

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Norris was part of a group — including captain Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot, Drake Batherson, Tim Stutzle, Ridly Greig and Jake Sanderson — that this team was being built around. Staois said he didn’t intentionally want to strike at the core, but did want to change the mix.

“You always go into these opportunities at the trade deadline to bolster, tweak or take a step with your group,” Staios said. “I don’t think there was anything I needed to do to strike at the core.”

That’s not a bad decision because sometimes you need to make changes, but that didn’t make it easy for Staios to send Norris packing. Everyone saw the television pictures of captain Brady Tkachuk in tears after the deal.

“Ultimately (the personal side) can’t affect my decision, but it was really hard on me,” Staios said. “I love Josh Norris. I love him as a kid and as a player. He’s a great teammate. These are difficult decisions.

“I take time to think about how it’s going to affect the group, but in my position, I can’t let that get in the way of trying to make our team better. That’s really what it comes down to. We’re certainly going to miss Josh. He’s a joy to be around, he’s a great kid. If I let those emotions get in the way of making these decisions I’m not doing my job.”

Zetterlund, a restricted free agent, scored 17 goals and posted 36 points in 64 games with the Sharks. He had a plus-8 rating on the second-worst team in the NHL, which is tough to achieve.

That deal was completed only 27 seconds before the 3 p.m. deadline. It was a buzzer-beater and wasn’t official until about 6 p.m. after the NHL’s Central Registry approved it.

“He’s a player that goes to tough areas of the ice. He’s a strong kid and he can shoot it,” Staios said. “He’s going to help us five-on-five.”

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