The Ottawa Senators have had a middling start to the 2023-24 campaign, going an even 4-4 over their first eight games of the season. While there have been some positive developments for them early on this year, the Sens surely won't be happy with the NHL's final decision when it comes to their punishment for the Evgenii Dadonov voided trade.

For those who need a refresher, Dadonov was traded from the Senators to the Vegas Golden Knights after the 2020-21 campaign. The problem was that Ottawa never disclosed that Dadonov has a ten-team no team trade list in his contract, which became an issue when the Golden Knights tried to trade Dadonov to the Anaheim Ducks, who were on that list, midway through the 2021-22 season. The Senators were viewed as the guilty party for that mishap, and the NHL has now opted to strip them of a future first round pick.

Via Darren Dreger:

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“NHL announces the Senators forfeit a 1st round draft in either 2024, 2025, or 2026 for their role in the voided trade of Dadonov from Vegas to Anaheim.”

This is a very steep price that the Senators are paying, and it remains to be seen whether the pick they are forfeiting will be in 2024, 2025, or 2026. Still losing a pick of that caliber, especially for a team that is still working on rebuilding their roster, is a killer, and it presents a significant roadblock that the team is going to have to deal with in the future. Ottawa will remain focused on trying to win in the present, but their future just got a bit murkier with this crushing decision from the NHL.