Steve Ott traded to the Montreal Canadiens for a 2018 sixth round pick

(Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports)

When you are trying to sell off some players, it doesn’t matter if it takes place in the middle of the night. You’ve got to get your deals done. Ken Holland obviously knows this as he made a deal right after midnight on the east coast.

Holland sent Steve Ott to the Montreal Canadiens for a 2018 sixth round pick. Ott was brought in this past off-season as insurance down the middle. He also brought lots of grit and sandpaper as well. If you’re looking for a rough and tumble player, this is the one you want on your team.

Ott played in 42 games this season and only had 6 points on the year. Dealing with some injuries of his own, he was in and out of the lineup. For those that are down on his game, he was always willing to do what his coaches needed of him. There is a reason he gets signed year after year.

Taking a look below the surface, Ott’s underlying numbers aren’t great. He has some of the worst numbers in the league actually when it comes to even strength CF%. He also takes a fair amount of penalties considering his ice time. He does kill penalties which may be a boon for the Canadiens but considering their set of players, they don’t really need him there.

He had some years in which he was serviceable but those years have long past Ott. It was cringe-worthy when the Red Wings signed him because he seemed like a redundancy. Now that they are selling him off for an asset, maybe it was the right move. After all, they have been losing all year and Ott was just pushing that along. 

This may be late night Sam talking. I want the conspiracy theory to be true. In reality, it is good to see Holland recognizing that a trade needed to be made when he had the chance. 

Now that they have moved Brendan Smith and now Steve Ott, who are going to be the next handful of players on the trading block? 

Whoever it may be, the Red Wings may already get to declare this trade deadline a success. Flipping expiring contracts for assets should make Wings’ fans happy. Holland seems to finally see the writing on the wall.