A closer look at the Senators’ Atlantic Division matchups

Beginning with their season opener on Oct. 3 in Toronto and concluding with their final game of the regular season on April 10 vs. Montreal, the Ottawa Senators will have plenty of Atlantic Division matchups to look forward to this season.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Season Series: On Saturday, Oct. 3, the Senators will open their season against the Maple Leafs for the ninth time in franchise history. In 33 openers all-time, 

The Sens will make another trip to Toronto on March 27, in the midst of a four-game all-Atlantic road trip. They’ll host the Leafs at home on Wednesday, Jan. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 13.

Offseason Activity: It has been a summer of major change in Toronto. On May 3, the Leafs hired John Chayka as general manager and former star Mats Sundin as senior executive advisor of hockey operations. 

Just two days later, they won the NHL Draft Lottery and ultimately used the first overall pick to select Penn State standout Gavin McKenna. On May 13, head coach Craig Berube was fired, replaced in June by former Kings coach Jim Hiller.

Additions: Gavin McKenna, Sergei Bobrovsky, Darren Raddysh, Nick Paul, Emil Andrae, Colton Sissons, Jack Roslovic, Teddy Blueger, Brendan Duhaime

Subtractions: Joseph Woll, Brandon Carlo, Mattias Maccelli, Nick Robertson, Simon Benoit, Dennis Hildeby

Boston Bruins

Season Series: The Senators will head to Boston immediately after playing in Toronto to prepare for a Monday night clash with the Bruins on Oct. 5.

Ottawa will host Boston on Thursday, Jan. 28, and Thursday, March 4. They’ll head back to Boston for another Thursday night game, on March 25.

Offseason Activity: After a first-round exit, the Bruins were active this offseason, flipping the 23rd pick in the draft and a 2028 first-rounder to Utah for J.J. Peterka. 

The winger will become the second German to play for a German head coach in NHL history — Marco Sturm, hired before last season, is the first German-born head coach the league has ever had. Lukas Reichel became the first to play for Sturm when he suited up for 10 games with Boston last season after a deadline deal from Vancouver.

Additions: J.J. Peterka, Will Borgen, Ivan Ivan, Connor Clifton

Subtractions: Viktor Arvidsson, Joonas Korpisalo, Andrew Peeke

Detroit Red Wings

Season Series: After stops in Toronto and Boston, Ottawa will cap off its first road trip of the season in Detroit, on Tuesday, Oct. 6. The game also serves as the latter half of the team’s first back-to-back of the season.

On Thursday, Feb. 25 and Sunday, April 4, Ottawa will host Detroit. They’ll make their second trip to The Motor City on Tuesday, March 30.

Offseason Activity: Like Toronto, the Red Wings made major changes to team management after missing the playoffs. Former star Steve Yzerman stepped down as general manager and moved into a new position as a senior advisor to CEO and governor Chris Illitch.

Before stepping down, Yzerman signed Viktor Arvidsson, Jacob Bryson, Daniil Tarasov, and traded for Keegan Kolesar.

Additions: Viktor Arvidsson, Keegan Kolesar, Jacob Bryson, Daniil Tarasov

Subtractions: Patrick Kane, David Perron (unsigned), James Van Riemsdyk (unsigned), Sebastian Cossa

Buffalo Sabres

Season Series: The Senators will cap off a four-game road trip spanning late October and early November with a trip to Buffalo on Wednesday, Nov. 4. They’ll return to Buffalo on Friday, Feb. 26 (the second end of a back-to-back).

The Senators will welcome the Sabres to Canadian Tire Centre for a Monday afternoon game on Dec. 14, after which they’ll depart to Germany for their two-game set with Chicago. They’ll also host Buffalo on Sunday, March 7.

Offseason Activity: Coming off their first postseason appearance since 2011, the Sabres were busy. They re-signed Zach Benson (seven years), Beck Malenstyn (six years), Peyton Krebs (four years), but lost Alex Tuch to the Capitals ahead of free agency.

They then traded Bo Byram to Chicago for a package that included the fourth overall pick in the draft, flipped Devon Levi to Edmonton, and acquired Olen Zellweger from Anaheim. In free agency, they brought back Dennis Gilbert and Conor Sheary, who both previously played in Buffalo.

Additions: Olen Zellweger, Conor Sheary, Dennis Gilbert, Louis Crevier

Subtractions: Alex Tuch, Michael Kesselring, Luke Schenn, Logan Stanley (unsigned), Tanner Pearson (unsigned), Devon Levi, Jordan Greenway

Florida Panthers

Season Series: The Florida Panthers will head to Ottawa on Wednesday, Oct. 21, which serves as the return for former Senators captain Brady Tkachuk. They’ll return to Ottawa on Thursday, March 18.

The Senators will head to Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 25, and on Monday, Jan. 18. The game in November serves as the first game of a four-game southern road trip, when the Sens will also stop in Tampa Bay, Carolina, and Nashville.

Offseason Activity: After back-to-back Stanley Cups, the Panthers battled through a season marred by major injuries to Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Dmitri Kulikov, Brad Marchand, and Seth Jones.

In the offseason, they traded for Tkachuk and also for netminder Jacob Markstrom, whom they drafted in 2008. They also acquired Radko Gudas from Anaheim and re-signed Eetu Luostarinen to an eight-year deal.

Additions: Brady Tkachuk, Jacob Markstrom, Radko Gudas, Lars Eller, Alex Petrovic, Garnet Hathaway, Sam Lafferty

Subtractions: Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist, Mackie Samoskevich, A.J. Greer, Sergei Bobrovsky

Tampa Bay Lightning

Season Series: The Senators will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, March 20 at 7 p.m.

The Sens will play two afternoon games in Tampa this year. On the Friday of American Thanksgiving, they’ll play the Lightning (Nov. 27 at 3 p.m.) And on Saturday, Jan. 16, they’ll play the Lightning at 3:30 p.m.

Offseason Activity: The Lightning took the Canadiens to seven games in Round One of the playoffs before being eliminated. With Raddysh gone to Toronto, they moved quickly to replace his offensive output, signing free agent John Carlson.

They also flipped Nick Paul to Toronto, signed Ilya Mikheyev to a four-year deal, and Jeffrey Viel to a five-year deal.

Additions: John Carlson, Dennis Hildeby, Ilya Mikheyev, Jeffrey Viel

Subtractions: Darren Raddysh, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Nick Paul, Corey Perry, Declan Carlile

Montreal Canadiens

Season Series: The Montreal Canadiens will visit Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday, March 13 and again on Saturday, April 10, which will serve as the final game of the regular season for both teams.

Ottawa will travel to Montreal for a 7 p.m. meeting on Sunday, Dec. 6, the day after they play Tampa Bay at home. They’ll make their second trip to Montreal on Wednesday, March 24.

Offseason Activity: Last season, the Canadiens reached the Eastern Conference Finals before bowing out to the eventual champions, the Carolina Hurricanes. Their roster remains largely the same heading into next season.

The Canadiens locked up Ivan Demidov for eight more years, Jakub Dobes for three more, and flipped Brendan Gallagher to Vancouver.

Additions: Sam Poulin

Subtractions: Patrik Laine (unsigned), Joe Veleno

You can sign up to become a Season Seat Member here and sign up to become a member of the Sens On Demand program here. Single game tickets will be on-sale closer to the beginning of the season.

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