What the Ottawa Senators Should Do With Jacob Bernard-Docker

We are one week away from the NHL Trade Deadline. While I’ve already gone over a few forwards that the Ottawa Senators should consider trading for, what about players that should be looking to trade away? Enter Jacob Bernard-Docker. The 24 year old right shot defenseman is at the end of a two year contract, although he will remain a restricted free agent at the end of the season. With Bernard-Docker nearing a return from injury, the former first round pick has recently been mentioned in trade rumours. Let’s dive into the details on why the Ottawa Senators should trade Jacob Bernard-Docker.

READ MORE: Travis Hamonic or Nikolas Matinpalo 

Eighth on the Depth Chart

Bernard-Docker started the year as the seventh defenseman. He played 25 games, scoring 1 goal and 4 points while averaging just over 13 minutes of ice-time per game. Last season, he had a slightly increased role, playing 72 games, scoring 4 goals and 10 points while averaging 15:41 time on ice per game. Needless to say, Bernard-Docker offers very little in the way of offense. To go along with that, he’s not a speedster, and he’s not the most physically imposing player, either. That’s what’s left him at the bottom of the Senators depth chart amongst their d-men. Since his injury, Nikolas Matinpalo has impressed enough to push Bernard-Docker one slot further down.

Take a look at the defensemen ahead of Bernard-Docker on the right side- Artem Zub, Nick Jensen, Nikolas Matinpalo, and Travis Hamonic. They are all defense-first players. While Bernard-Docker was more valuable last season with the likes of Erik Brannstrom and Jakob Chychrun involved as offensive-minded d-men, Bernard-Docker is now seen as a redundant piece.

Assessing Bernard-Docker’s Trade Value

Here are Bernard-Docker’s strengths: he has good size, he competes hard, and he won’t make those “tried to do too much” mistakes. His biggest standout ability is his shot-blocking. He led the Senators with 156 blocked shots last season. Even more impressive is that he averaged 8.3 blocked shots per 60 minutes last season. That ranked fifth in the NHL among regular skaters.

Let’s face it, he plays a simple game and doesn’t stand out a whole lot. There’s some good in that, but he won’t have a ton of trade value. His numbers are down this year, in part due to the injury that cost him the last two months. That’s another issue that won’t help his trade value. Given the other players available at this time of year, it might be hard to find the right team to make this trade with. Realistically, if the Senators could get anything for Bernard-Docker, they should take it. That’s most likely won’t be anything more than a late round pick or middling prospect.

Bottom Line

When the Ottawa Senators traded for Nick Jensen as a defensive minded right shot defenseman, that was a blow to Bernard-Docker’s role this season. Since then. Travis Green showed a preference for Travis Hamonic in the early going. Then, Nikolas Matinpalo played well with Bernard-Docker injured. Bernard-Docker offers very little in the way of upside, so this doesn’t seem likely to be a deal that comes back to hurt the Senators.

Steve Staios was left with a weak prospect pool and a lack of draft picks. Matinpalo’s play should be seen as a big benefit for two reasons. First, he’s a right shot defenseman that has upside going forward. Second, it gives Staios a chance to add a draft pick if he can make this Bernard-Docker trade happen. While it won’t be a high pick, it’s still nice to add some draft capital for a team that hasn’t made a ton of picks over the last few seasons.