Senators Still Looking To Buy At Trade Deadline

An inconsistent season for the Senators hasn’t turned their management group off from positioning themselves as buyers heading into the deadline. While general manager Steve Staios didn’t have anything close lined up before the Olympic roster freeze, he “would still like to add to his roster rather than subtract” when action gets going again, Bruce Garrioch wrote for the Ottawa Citizen last week.

His targets are impact pieces, too, not depth ones. Multiple league executives told Garrioch they’ve received calls from the Sens seeking a top-six winger and a top-four right-shot defenseman.

Of course, that’s most any contending team’s wish list heading into trade season. Contending is the operative word in that sentence, though, and Ottawa has rarely even occupied a playoff position throughout the year.

It’s hard to do much of anything when you’ve had the level of goaltending the Senators have dealt with. Linus Ullmark and Leevi Merilainen have combined to allow a disastrous 34.8 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck. They’ve individually allowed 17.5 and 17.3, respectively, the third and fourth-worst figures in the league ahead of Samuel Ersson (18.1) and Jordan Binnington (24.9).

On the flip side, Staios’ optimism for his team to get back into the playoff race if they can just get a few more saves is palpable. They’re still six games above .500 and six points back of a playoff spot with three teams to leapfrog. That’s far from insurmountable with 25 games left on their schedule.

Goaltending aside, Ottawa’s skater core has largely played well enough to fuel even a potentially deep playoff run under the right circumstances. At 5-on-5, the Sens rank fifth in the league in Corsi share (53.6%), third in scoring chance share (55.0%), and third in high-danger chances (55.0%). In that regard, they’re far closer to powerhouses like the Avalanche than the teams they’re chasing for a wild-card spot like the Blue Jackets, Bruins, and Capitals.

With few goaltending upgrades available and an understandable unwillingness to give up on Ullmark and his $8.25MM cap hit for three more seasons, Ottawa’s only path forward to improve is to try to outscore and outdefend its problems between the pipes. They’ve largely gotten quality depth scoring, but veteran David Perron‘s injury leaves a tangible hole in their top nine. They’d also do well to find a longer-term insurance policy in the 2RD slot alongside Thomas Chabot to succeed pending UFA Nick Jensen, who’s 35 years old and has seen a significant reduction in ice time this season.