Staios guides Senators to solid offseason

The Ottawa Senators have continued their upward trend with an understated and effective offseason. Though several teams around the league might have caused bigger headlines, president and GM Steve Staios has authored a steady tenure so far. His strong work continued as the Sens addressed several key issues for both the present and the future. Let’s take a closer look at what the Senators have done so far and how it will impact their future.

No holes

With the rising cap and growing expansion ambitions many feel the league is being watered down. Perhaps the equalizing force of the salary cap prevents, or at least deters super teams. While the growth of the game worldwide does counteract this, a look around the league shows that most teams have questions headed into next season. Save for the Florida Panthers these questions linger to varying degrees across even some of the league’s best teams. How many ifs and buts, how much imagination is required for a team to be complete?

While the Sens are hardly unanimous favourites, they have the rare advantage that their roster is fairly accounted for. With high end forward talent, a strong centre core, a rising and balanced blueline, not to mention a Vezina Trophy winner in net, the Sens lineup checks a lot of boxes. Of course the Sens are not perfect, but on paper the team is without a fatal flaw.

Spence

Perhaps the biggest addition of the offseason, the Sens added Jordan Spence to the blueline. A young, puck moving right shot, Spence has consistently battled for icetime and role with a defensively sound Los Angeles Kings team. He gives the emerging Tyler Kleven a natural partner, potentially forming a duo that could push for more minutes.

The injury to Nick Jensen remains an uncertainty, but Spence joining not only improves the Sens blueline if Jensen is not ready as well as the group at full health. With Artyom Zub and Nikolas Matinpalo on hand, the Sens now boast an impressive depth at right defence. Not only does Spence fit into the team’s age group, right between Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle, but he allows the team not to overextend themselves hoping that Matinpalo continues to grow.

Matinpalo burst onto the national consciousness with an appearance at the Four Nations Face-off, and might well continue to expand his influence. While older than most would consider a prospect, Matinpalo has all the tools to become an NHL regular. Instead of relying on him to do so, Spence allows the Senators to only count on Matinpalo replicating his past season rather than needing him to take a step forward.

The position has long since been an issue for the team, and Staios has put a lot into upgrading this area. In essence it gives the rest of the roster to succeed or fail on their own merit.

Hensler

Staios has not only rebuilt the current right side, but he has also improved their future at the position. Drafting a very loud prospect in Carter Yakemchuk last season, a high upside, heavy hitting, high flying agent of chaos, the Sens doubled down with a very different style of right defenceman in this year’s draft. While Logan Hensler is a great prospect in his own right, often expected to have gone higher than the Sens took him, his fit alongside Yakemchuk is harmonious.

Hensler has a strong size and skating combination, but is more quietly effective to contrast Yakemchuk stylistically. There does appear to be more of an offensive game than his stats let on, but primarily Hensler seems to excel in functionality on both ends of the ice. The Sens last two top picks play the same position, but they complement each other well. As much as a balance of left and right shots is key to building a blueline, so too is a balance of different talents, aptitudes, and dispositions.

Signings

The Sens did some good work getting veterans to take favourable deals despite the rising salary cap. For starters, Claude Giroux returned on a very team friendly deal. Lars Eller joins as a fourth line centre on a cheap deal as well. With the recent additions of Arthur Kaliyev and Fabian Zetterlund, two forwards in their mid 20s, the Sens forward depth is much healthier than it was en eye ring last season.

In net, Leevi Merilainen passed Mads Sogaard despite being younger. Hunter Sheppard has authored some impressive results in the AHL, which further insulated the team from relying on goalies who are not ready. While Sheppard is not a big name signing, these types of depth moves provide a great deal of stability and legitimacy to the operation as a whole.

Next season

Without a first-round pick in 2026, the Sens will be full speed ahead on their quest to win now. The team still has three third-round picks, perhaps an excess that they can use for some modest buying. Given the stack of Yakemchuk and Hensler at right defence, the Sens will now be able to target other positions through the draft more freely going forward. This team is looking promising, but so too does its sustainability as the core comes into their primes.

Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven seem destined for continued improvements on the left side, as do many players throughout the forward group. Adding Dylan Cozens and Fabian Zetterlund was solid work by Staios, as the duo joins a cohort of players of a similar age.

Whether Cozens has what it takes to become a true second line centre is to be seen, but Shane Pinto offers depth if not hope. Behind Tim Stutzle, Cozens and Pinto offer complementary traits of a high quality. Zetterlund, meanwhile, joins Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, and Ridly Greig as younger wingers. Once again, Merilainen offers as much hope as one might want behind Linus Ullmark.

In short, the Sens have what it takes to reprise if not expand on their playoff appearance of last season. Perhaps, in time, an infusion of skill will be required as Claude Giroux ages, but the Sens are deeper and better constructed heading into this upcoming season. There are far less areas where imagination is required.

The biggest hurdle will be the competition. The Florida Panthers reign supreme, and might well sleep walk through the regular season. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs have had to start reinventing their rosters, but remain fearsome opponents. Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens appear to have arrived, adorned with a wealth of emerging stars. The Senators join these four Atlantic Division teams as having playoff expectations. Never mind the potential upswings for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, or Buffalo Sabres. The Atlantic Division might well be the league’s toughest next season.