The Ottawa Senators have acquired defenseman Jordan Spence from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick and a 2026 sixth-round pick. (The Kings then traded the third-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2025 fourth-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick.)

Spence is a 24-year-old defenseman with offensive upside, having reached 28 points while averaging just under 17 minutes of icetime and second-unit power-play duty in his second full season with the Kings. A fourth-round pick of the Kings in 2019, Spence has posted strong scoring numbers in both the QMJHL and the AHL.

Spence can't catch a break with this trade. Moving from Los Angeles to Ottawa won't effectively change his value much. With the Kings, Spence had to battle Drew Doughty and more highly pedigreed Brandt Clarke for power-play minutes. It's a similar situation with the Senators, only with Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, and Carter Yakemchuk (when he's ready). Sanderson in particular would block the way for any PP1 icetime for Spence, as he finished second among all NHL defensemen with 30 power-play points in 2024-25.

Spence could also be battling for even-strength minutes in Ottawa, as the Sens already have Artem Zub, Nick Jensen, and Nikolas Matinpalo on the right side. Jensen is recovering from a hip injury, and he isn't 100% certain to be ready for training camp. Spence also has a chance of bumping Matinpalo, who averaged only 12:37 of icetime in 2024-25. Spence played only 2:55 in Game 3 of the Kings' first-round series against Edmonton, and he was a healthy scratch for Game 4 of the same series. Despite Spence's ability to score, rostering him in fantasy leagues seems somewhat risky at this point.

Players this helps, in order:

Clarke

Doughty

Players this hurts, in order:

Yakemchuk