Senators for Sale: Chris Campoli
Contract status
Pros
Young, mobile, and good vision, Chris Campoli is your standard second pairing puck mover on the blue line. He has decent positioning and isn't out of place on a second powerplay unit. He is a decent skater and has very good vision inside the opponent's blue line, knowing when to pinch low and when to pull back. The most important asset that Campoli has is his age--at 25 years old, he has most of his career ahead of him and has shown signs that he is a legitimate 30-35 point defenceman.
Cons
Campoli always seems to leave us wanting more. Whether that is because he hasn't reached his potential or because he's already peaked, he is one of those players that should have 10 goals already this season but instead just scored his second. The problem is that he isn't good enough to be a top pairing defenceman, but he IS good enough to earn over $2M or $3M on future contracts as a 3-4 defenceman. How that fits in with the Sens going forward remains to be seen. We've seen players like Andrej Meszaros and Filip Kuba get into those $3M-ish contracts and bust, so is it worth the risk keeping Campoli around for a guy that looks like he could plateau?
Trade value
Moderate, although it's ery hard to say what he is worth at the deadline because he isn't a typical deadline-type player. He isn't a UFA next year and he doesn't have a long resume of playoff experience. If Campoli is dealt, the team that acquires him will likely plan on keeping him going forward after he becomes an RFA after the season. At this point, it is hard to see a team giving up too much for him and certainly not as much as the late first-round pick that we gave up to get him from the Islanders (assuming Dean McAmmond for Mike Comrie was a wash in that deal). Safe to say he could get us a forward prospect that is a few years away from the NHL and a mid-round pick, simply because nobody will give up too much value off their roster at the deadline for a guy that won't have a significant impact in a playoff run.
Trade Likelihood
Marginal. As I said above, he isn't the wily old veteran player that contenders typically acquire at the deadline. He also isn't a guy that you build a defence around going forward. If he is traded, it could be to a team that ditches a salary and needs a stopgap on the blue line for a few years. Perhaps we can just look at the career movement of a Marc-Andre Bergeron to forecast Campy's future...
Realistic Return
As a team going into a rebuild, we aren't going to get anything for him that will have an immediate impact on our team. The only way that could happen is if he's packaged with another player to add value, say like a Chris Phillips + Campoli deal, or a Mike Fisher + Campoli deal. In that case, we're looking at some nice players coming back. Otherwise, mid-level pick and a prospect is all. If we were to look at specific teams, Campoli could be a nice addition to a long list of middle of the pack teams in the Western Conference that need scoring depth on the blue line. Only five points separate 4th place and 12th place, so you have to believe there will be a few depth moves to solidify playoff positions of those teams caught in the race.
