2025–26 NHL team preview: Ottawa Senators

LAST SEASON

The Sens are back in session! No, it wasn’t a perfect season for the Ottawa Senators, but it sure was a good one, especially because it ended with them ending their eight-year playoff drought. Although they bowed out of the postseason after just six games, it was a ton of fun to see the likes of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, Jake Sanderson, and Drake Batherson taking part in the postseason for the first time. Difficult as it undoubtedly was for them to be eliminated by the Toronto Maple Leafs, this Sens team is a good young group that is only scratching the surface of what it can become in the future.

They aren’t Cup contenders just yet, but the Sens have shown that they can compete on a nightly basis — and we know that their star players can do even more than what they displayed last season. Stützle finished with 24 goals, a far cry from the 39 he managed in 2022-23. Tkachuk is certainly capable of scoring more than 55 points in a season. Trade deadline acquisition Dylan Cozens has more to give. And if one or both of Shane Pinto or Ridly Greig can take a step or two beyond the 30-to-40 point range, the Senators could become one of the deepest offensive teams in the Eastern Conference.

The fundamentals in Ottawa are reasonably strong. This is a team that finished at or near the 50 percent mark in every major 5-on-5 puck possession category last season — they certainly weren’t getting caved in. General manager Steve Staios has done a solid job of building upon the foundation laid by his predecessor, Pierre Dorion, making smart bets on young talent and respectable veterans. After many years of mismanagement under former owner Eugene Melnyk, these Sens are finally going about things the right way (and a new arena seems to be on the horizon).

KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES

Additions

Lars Eller, C
Jordan Spence, D
Arthur Kaliyev, RW

Departures

Adam Gaudette, RW (SJ)
Travis Hamonic, D (DET)
Matthew Highmore, LW (NYI)
Anton Forsberg, G (LA)

OFFENSE

Despite boasting an impressive collection of young talent, the Senators didn’t score all that much last season. They finished 10th in the East and smack dab in the middle of the league with 243 goals in 82 games, although their power play operated at a very respectable 23.7 percent clip (tied with the Edmonton Oilers for 11th overall). Stützle, their leading scorer, finished with 24 goals and 79 points — solid, but hardly overwhelming — and, for the first time since the pandemic-shortened seasons, they didn’t have a single 30-goal scorer.

All of this is to say that the Sens are well positioned to regress upwards to the mean. Assuming that Stützle is able to further cement himself as one of the premier centers in the East (and with Cozens providing more stability behind him), Ottawa should continue to have one of the better-looking forward groups on paper among the teams in their class. Their roster checks most of the key boxes of a contender, but it’s simply a matter of most or all of their players reaching that top level at the same time.

For the time being, we have Fabian Zetterlund pencilled in alongside Stützle and Tkachuk on Ottawa’s top line. Acquired from the San Jose Sharks at the most recent trade deadline, Zetterlund managed just two goals and five points in 26 games with the Sens split between the regular season and playoffs. He’ll need to provide a whole lot more. The same goes for veterans Claude Giroux and David Perron, who were both good but not great in 2024-25 and will be leaned upon to play significant minutes again this season. There isn’t much else in the pipeline if those guys don’t meet expectations.

Greig and Pinto are the X-factors here. Both players have shown flashes of brilliance in their young NHL careers, and it’s not a stretch to imagine either of them joining Tkachuk, Stützle, and Batherson as full-fledged members of the team’s core group. But if they can’t escape the 30-point range, the Sens might end up having to look externally for more secondary scoring. This upcoming season should do a lot to answer all these questions.

DEFENSE

The Sens are better defensively than you might think. They tied the Colorado Avalanche and finished one spot ahead of the Oilers with just 234 goals allowed in 2024-25, putting them firmly in the upper half of the league in that category. Sanderson and Thomas Chabot obviously deserve plenty of credit for that, but arguably even more should go to Artem Zub, who has consistently delivered for this Sens team through good times and bad and against basically any level of competition. Zub doesn’t get nearly enough recognition for being one of the very best shutdown defenders in the entire league, but he’ll get more and more respect as Ottawa continues to make its presence felt in the postseason.

Funny enough, one of Ottawa’s biggest moves of the summer was one they didn’t make. In not re-signing Travis Hamonic, the Sens finally moved on from a once-strong defender who has gradually become one of the least effective players in the league, with his regression particularly evident during his four seasons in Canada’s capital. Hamonic’s departure opens the door for Jordan Spence, who posted excellent results last season in spot duty with the Los Angeles Kings, as well as Tyler Kleven, a solid young lefty who should get more PK time going forward. It’s a clear-cut case of addition by subtraction, and it should help Ottawa a great deal.

For the first time in a while, the Senators have a genuinely formidable defensive group from top to bottom. Chabot and Sanderson are two very strong and well-rounded cornerstones; Zub and Nick Jensen are rock-solid veterans; Kleven, Spence, and Nikolas Matinpalo are promising upstarts. On top of that, everything could change if 2024 first-round pick Carter Yakemchuk makes a serious push for a roster spot out of training camp. We’ll have more on Yakemchuk in a bit, but even if he doesn’t make it in Ottawa right away, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him recalled by the holidays if he starts strong with the AHL’s Belleville Senators. Exciting times!

GOALTENDING

Linus Ullmark is back for his second tour of duty in Ottawa. The big Swede had a perfectly solid first year with the Senators, posting a 25-14-3 record and a .910 save percentage in 44 games, but he missed significant time due to injury and should be able to outdo himself now that he’s accustomed to his new surroundings. If the defensive group in front of him lives up to its sky-high potential, Ullmark should be in a fantastic spot to find greater success. The Sens need him to perform, especially now that he’s making $8.25 million per year.

Of course, with Ullmark in his 30s, the Sens already need to be thinking about a potential succession plan between the pipes. At this point, handing the reins to Leevi Merilainen in a few years sounds like a pretty good plan. The 23-year-old Finn performed admirably in 12 games with Ottawa in 2024-25, going 8-3-1 with three shutouts and a .925 SV%. Merilainen was Belleville’s workhorse in the AHL, far surpassing what fellow prospect Mads Sogaard has ever achieved at that level, and he looks to be the heir apparent to Ullmark in the NHL crease. With Anton Forsberg no longer in the picture, the backup gig in Ottawa is Merilainen’s to lose.

COACHING

Travis Green led the Senators back to the playoffs in his first season behind the bench in Ottawa. Considering that his predecessor, D.J. Smith, had five cracks at it and never made it once, that’s a decent accomplishment. Of course, Green’s Sens are quite a bit better from top to bottom than Smith’s teams ever were, but there’s still something to be said for bringing in a new voice with slightly more of an NHL track record.

Green, 54, appeared in 970 NHL games during his playing career with the New York Islanders, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (and, in a separate stint, the Anaheim Ducks), Phoenix Coyotes, Boston Bruins, and the Maple Leafs. After retiring as a player in 2008, Green spent the better part of a decade coaching at lower levels before being named head coach of the Vancouver Canucks in 2017. He spent parts of five seasons in that role, helping the Canucks win two rounds (qualifiers included) in the 2020 bubble playoffs, before being replaced by Bruce Boudreau in 2021.

After briefly resurfacing as an associate and interim head coach with the New Jersey Devils in the 2023-24 season, Green joined the Senators in May 2024 and hasn’t looked back since. He’s a well-respected and reasonably experienced coach with room to grow alongside a young team.

ROOKIES

Right now, it’s all about Yakemchuk, who stood out for the Sens in a big way at their recent prospect tournament. Selected by Ottawa with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, Yakemchuk scored 30 goals in his draft year with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen but took a small step back offensively in his first season as a Senators prospect. Still, he’s a 6’4″ right-handed defender with plenty of pop in his game. The Sens desperately need a quality player who matches that description. Yakemchuk might get a look with the big club right out of training camp, but with AHL action also an option for the 2005-born rearguard, don’t be surprised if he spends significant time at both levels in his first year of pro hockey.

It’s also worth keeping an eye a few of the young forwards in Ottawa’s system. Chief among them is Stephen Halliday, a 6’4″ center who led Belleville with 51 points last season. The 2022 fourth-rounder has gotten better and better each year since he was drafted and could challenge Lars Eller in training camp. On top of that, don’t be too surprised if Tyler Boucher finally pushes for his first NHL cup of coffee this season. He almost certainly won’t ever live up to his billing as the No. 10 overall pick in 2021, but Boucher plays a pro-style game and should have just enough offense to make it as a bottom-six winger at some point.

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. How will Dylan Cozens perform? The longtime Buffalo Sabres pivot was good, but not great, after joining the Senators down the stretch. Ottawa will miss Josh Norris, whom they traded for Cozens, but they likely won’t miss Norris’ inflated contract. Meanwhile, Cozens is younger, more durable, and arguably more consistent. But the Sens are paying him $7.1 million a year to be a bona fide top-six center, not to put up 47 points. Cozens scored six goals in 27 games after the trade, including just one in six playoff contests. There’s a lot riding on his first full year in Ottawa.

2. How much does Claude Giroux have left? The 37-year-old forward is entering his fourth season with his hometown team, but his point totals have declined each year since he arrived in Ottawa back in 2022. Giroux scored 79 points in 2022-23, 64 in 2023-24, and 50 in 2024-25, missing just one game in total over those three years. It took the Sens a while to come to terms on a new deal with Giroux for the 2025-26 season, but he’ll be back on a bonus-laden one-year contract. The Sens could really use that 2022-23 version of Giroux once again.

3. How will the kids replace the vets? It’s a year of internal promotions in Ottawa. Kleven, Pinto, Greig, and Merilainen will be tasked with taking on responsibilities previously held by much older and more experienced players, and it’ll be sink or swim. All four players had their fair share of success in 2024-25, but they’ll be expected to do more going forward. If they can’t hack it, Staios might have to go shopping.

PREDICTION

There’s always the risk of a sophomore slump after a team breaks through and clinches a surprise playoff berth, but that applies much more to the Montreal Canadiens than it does to the Senators. What we saw from this Ottawa team in 2024-25 should be the baseline for how it performs going forward. Staios and Co. have built a strong team with no obvious weaknesses aside from a few question marks on the wings. The core is intact and it should remain that way for years to come.

It’d be awfully presumptuous to say the Sens will displace the Florida Panthers or the Tampa Bay Lightning at any point in the near future, but they should be able to stake a decent claim to the No. 3 spot in the Atlantic Division in the 2025-26 season. With Montreal due for regression and the other three teams in the Atlantic still on a lower rung, Ottawa’s only competition will be the Maple Leafs, who just lost one of their top players. It should be a good battle for that final divisional spot, and don’t be surprised if the Sens take it in the end.

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