Senator Bondra Heads To Ottawa

Faced with a rash of injuries at forward, the Ottawa Senators summoned the very best help available. Already the most offensively gifted team in the East, Ottawa has added the Washington Capitals’ all-time leading scorer, Peter Bondra. It’s a one-sided deal that costs the Senators nothing more than a minor-league player and a draft pick.

Bondra has 825 points in 961 career games, all with Washington. He’s a textbook goal scorer, with tremendous speed, a deadly wrist shot and unerring instincts. He also has a reputation as a smart veteran who will backcheck and kill penalties.

At 36 years old, some say his skills are fading. But this year’s numbers – 21 goals and 14 assists for the dismal Capitals – suggest Bondra still has much to offer. He has been injury-prone throughout his career, but has missed only five games this season.

The trade has a coals-to-Newcastle look about it – adding a sniper to the NHL’s highest-scoring team, and a power play specialist to the league’s number-one ranked power play. But the Senators, like most Stanley Cup contenders, have injury trouble. Center Todd White will miss four-to-six weeks after breaking a foot in last night’s 1-1 tie with the Capitals. Center Radek Bonk suffered a similar injury last week: broken foot, four-to-six weeks. Center Mike Fisher and wingers Antoine Vermette and Vaclav Varada are also laid up, and might not play again this season.

Coach Jacques Martin is left to juggle the lines. It appears the natural destination for Bondra is left wing, though he can play either side.

The Capitals, obviously bent on starting from scratch, are no doubt happy just to be rid of Bondra’s $4.5-million salary. From Ottawa, they receive a second-round pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft and Brooks Laich, a 20-year-old forward. A sixth-round pick in 2001, Laich has 15 goals and 18 assists this season with the Senators’ AHL team in Binghamton.

More on the Peter Bondra deal.