Inside look at Ottawa Senators

NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, the Ottawa Senators.

The Ottawa Senators will begin a new chapter in team history this season, one they hope will result in the team’s first Stanley Cup since returning to the NHL in 1992.

Forward Tim Stutzle and defenseman Jake Sanderson are now co-faces of the franchise after Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa’s captain since the start of the 2021-22 season, was traded to the Florida Panthers on June 21 for the No. 9 and No. 25 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft plus a conditional first-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. 

Two days after the franchise-altering trade, the Senators moved the No. 9 pick to the San Jose Sharks in a trade that brought 23-year-old forward William Eklund to Ottawa. That move was followed by the addition of veteran wing Andre Burakovsky in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on June 26. According to general manager Steve Staios, that’s just the beginning.

“I wasn’t done after the Brady deal, and I’m certainly not done now,” Staios told a gathering of season ticket holders on Aug. 13. “We’re determined to bring a championship here to Ottawa.”

Eklund and Burakovsky combined for 86 points (26 goals, 60 assists) last season and will attempt to fill the offensive void created by Tkachuk’s departure. The 26-year-old is the Senators’ fifth all-time leading scorer with 463 points (213 goals, 250 assists) in 572 games.

The goal is to have postseason success, something that eluded Ottawa even when Tkachuk was there.

The Senators ended a seven-year postseason drought in 2024-25 by qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs but were eliminated by the rival Toronto Maple Leafs in six games in the Eastern Conference First Round. Ottawa claimed the final wild card from the East with a 44-27-11 record last season only to be swept in four games by the eventual Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, a series in which Tkachuk was held without a point.

And now he’s gone, but Staios insists, “This team is moving in the right direction. I have no intention of this team taking a step back.”

Stutzle is the alpha up front, leading the team in scoring last season with 83 points (34 goals, 49 assists).  The speedy wing, who is 24, has 409 points (149 goals, 260 assists) in 447 games since being selected No. 3 by Ottawa in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Meanwhile, Sanderson has entered the conversation as one of the elite defensemen in the NHL, racking up 54 points (14 goals, 40 assists) in 67 games with the Senators last season. He also won gold with Team USA at the Winter Olympics in February. Like Stutzle, he’s 24 and has the prime years of his career ahead of him.

There also is a sense of familiarity within the team’s core. Stutzle, fellow forwards Drake Batherson, Shane Pinto and defenseman Thomas Chabot are entering their seventh season together and share the mindset of unfinished business in Ottawa.

"We have a bunch of guys here that have been here for a while," Pinto told Ottawa radio station The Team 1200. “I think we're all growing together with Timmy, Drake, and ‘Chabs’ … and I think that's the (focus) now.”

Ottawa’s immediate focus prior to the start of the season is locking up Batherson, who is entering the final season of a six-year, $29.85 million contract ($4.975 average annual value) signed on Sept. 3, 2021, and was eligible to sign a new contract as of July 1. The 28-year-old set NHL career highs in goals (33) and points (71) last season.

On the leadership front, the Senators were thrilled to welcome back 38-year-old forward Claude Giroux for a fifth season in Ottawa after he signed a one-year, $2 million deal on July 7. Giroux is a former captain of the Philadelphia Flyers and is an important voice in the Senators dressing room, especially with Tkachuk gone.

There could be major changes off the ice for the Senators too, specifically when it comes to plans for a new arena in downtown Ottawa. Team president Cyril Leeder told season ticket holders this month that the team hopes to update fans on the progress of the proposed project in the new year.

Put it all together, and it’s clear the Senators plan to step on the gas pedal and move forward in all aspects of their operation.

“We can't look at the team right now and be like, ‘Oh, we're sure going to make the playoffs,' or 'We're for sure going to go to the second round' ‘ Giroux said. "It just doesn't work like that. Teams are going to be waiting for us now.

“But it's a challenge that (we're all) looking forward to.”