The Ottawa Senators have traded defenseman Dylan DeMelo to the Winnipeg Jets for a 2020 third-round pick, Ottawa announced Tuesday.
DeMelo, 26, has zero goals and 10 assists in 49 games this season. He was part of a blockbuster trade in September 2018 when he was moved to the Senators in a deal that sent Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks.
With Ottawa sitting in seventh place in the Atlantic Division and almost assured of missing the playoffs for the third straight year, DeMelo was just one of several pending unrestricted free agents that the Senators could move this month in search of future assets. They already possess two first-round picks (along with the Sharks') in the 2020 draft.
Last season, DeMelo was one of several Senators players caught in a viral video criticizing the club and then-assistant coach Marty Raymond while riding in an Uber.
The Jets are currently only three points out of the second wild card in the West despite seeing their defense decimated in the offseason. They lost Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot and Dustin Byfuglien from last year's blue line.
DeMelo has a solid 53.1 Corsi percentage at even strength this season while having a 51.7 defensive zone start percentage, so he should provide some backbone to the Jets D unit.
