Last Word On Hockey’s Puck Drop Previews are in full effect for the 2025-26 season! As the regular season draws near, we have been and will continue to preview each teams’ current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming season. We will also do our best to project how things will go for each team throughout the campaign. Today, we’re previewing the motivated 2025-26 Ottawa Senators squad, one that would like to improve upon a six-game playoff appearance. It seems this year they want to win (at least) one round in the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Furthermore, it really hammers down a point, that is that it’s now truly a different mindset in the Canadian National Capital. It makes us think there’s no better mental imagery than a skate along a wintery Rideau Canal, a team led out by captain Brady Tkachuk and goaltender Linus Ullmark. What a spot for hockey, what a spot for success. The fans and players, alike, deserve to witness a winner, and they might just have it.
For 2025-26 Preview Let’s Start On a Review of the 2024-25 Season
For the 2024-25 season, everything came together for Ottawa, finally. It seems the plan that, first by owner Michael Andlauer, and then passed along to general manager Steve Staios, had been laid out has been working. One reason the Sens accountability under the Staios and Andlauer regime is made clear, is the current $3.5 million (slightly over) available in cap space. They are at the maximum NHL roster size with 23 of 23 players signed. Therefore, they can still make critical adds via trade or otherwise. The main example would be a potential huge trade deadline acquisition.
Picking up Fabian Zetterlund and Dylan Cozens at the 2025 NHL trade deadline, they have shown they are willing to play ball. But, as we are hinting, it is more than that point that makes them seem like an all-around strong and powerful organization. Besides the added benefit of accountability among management, it is about the talent. As we see above, the 2024-25 season was in the Sens top ten best seasons ever when it comes to team point percentage. Furthermore, the Sens matchup well against the entire Atlantic Division. However, it is interesting that the Florida Panthers seem to really show up against them. They know they aren’t to be taken lightly. So, let’s continue to look forward to see what it means for the Senators.
The 2025 Offseason
Well, the previous season seemed to bleed right into the summer for the Senators. One word to describe the Sens summer, ah….Tinkering. Yes, they lost Adam Gaudette and Matthew Highmore, but they added reliability. Lars Eller, Jordan Spence, and sprinkle in Arthur Kaliyev, that’s what you call depth. A playoff team can never enough of that extra sauce you call veteran leadership. David Perron and Nick Cousins are great examples of the this aspect for Ottawa, that wasn’t always there for the club. Plus, they finally have just enough talent from the prospect group to utilize effectively.
Lineup Predictions Starting With the Top-Six Forward Lines
We will list the top nine, because the third line is possibly interchangeable. Ridly Greig, Claude Giroux, and Shane Pinto could very well be the Sens third line. All three of those guys could play in the top six. Furthermore, of the three, it is most likely is Giroux that gets that assignment.
The top six definitely contains all the usual suspects. Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, and Cozens are all very talented and performers at the NHL level in their respective roles. However, how the Sens exactly round the rest of the lineup out is almost anyone’s guess at this point. Yes, there are some potential lines early at camp, but they could be currently set to play against one another with the extra players on the roster this early in camp. For example, there was an early line of Tkachuk, Pinto, and Giroux. That is to say that’s not necessarily about where players will play in the lineup. Along with Giroux, it seems David Perron and Fabian Zetterlund are the front-runners for the top-six forward lines.
In any sense, the Sens will rely heavily on this group to produce. The good thing for the team, they are very difficult to contain for opposition defenders. They have many of the qualities of a winner.
Bottom Six
First of all, even though we already mentioned the likes of Greig and Pinto, you can’t spell GAP without Michael Amadio. He helps round out the bottom six on Ottawa. The other line is another example of the club’s depth. Ellers and Cousins will fill out the roster. Furthermore, there is lots of competition for these roster spots. We haven’t mentioned Arthur Kaliyev, who is sure to play some NHL games this year. There’s also the potential for callups to help in this regard.
Defence and Establishing the Line in the Sand of the Top-Four and the Bottom Pair
The Sens had a strong three lines of defence last year, and hope to replicate that synergy. The top-two pairs were essentially Artem Zub and Jake Sanderson, along with Thomas Chabot and Nick Jensen. That’s a solid top four, if healthy. We say, if healthy, because the third pair’s dynamic is somewhat dependent on the health.
Last year, Tyler Kleven and Nikolas Matinpalo had the third pairing on lock by the end of the season. In the offseason, the Sens added Jordan Spence. He is there for security, for either of Jensen or Matinpalo. So, it is unlikely the other players move around, but Spence is the bit of a wild card in this scenario. The idea to consider is that Jensen is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season. Therefore, the six defenceman to start opening night, seem to be who was there last year. However, we can interchange Spence for Jensen, at least for the time being.
The Extra Players
The other layer to wrinkle in there is Carter Yakemchuk. He was close in camp last year, and the consensus does appear to be a logical one, that he might be already destined to Belleville for the start of 2025-26. Moreover, the idea is that he needs ice time. There’s no real point in having him up in the NHL, just so he can skate 13-15 minutes a night. He wants reps, if he is going to be the NHL, you need to push for a minimum of 16-17 minutes. If not, it might delay his development. That’s the problem really. However, a pairing of Chabot and Yakemchuk, people might just like that possibility. At this time, it is about their play, on how it all plays itself out. The Sens have plenty of guys in the AHL looking for a shot. Max Guenette remains an unsigned restricted free agent, but could factor in still. Donovan Sebrango had a decent rookie camp, and would like to push those ahead of him in the depth chart.
Last we will say on this, if someone works out, really, it just makes someone else expendable. No harm, no foul in this case. That’s where th accountability and ability to make smart moves comes into play.
Goalies
The goalie situation in Ottawa is perceived to be very strong. However, we want to mention that they need to err on the side of caution. Linus Ullmark will carry the bulk of the load, but beyond that, again, healthy competition. We believe the Sens cap space is reserved for this, if need be. Leevi Merilainen is the front-runner for the back up role. In contrast, we are here to remind Sen fans that he still only has 14 games of NHL experience under his belt.
The interesting situation could very well be reserved for our next section. Mads Sogaard has an NHL contract, yet, he’s not expected to play in Ottawa. The idea is, depending on how he had been playing, if he ends up on the waiver wire, he might end up being claimed. So, it is a very much wait-and-see process at this time.
Players to Watch
Stephen Halliday is the main one to watch. If he does manage an NHL callup, which all signs put to he does currently, he would love to take advantage. He led Belleville in scoring last year, and would love to prove he can carry that over to the NHL.
The other big player to watch for us, is probably Batherson. Whether he plays the first or second power play unit, likely alongside Cozens, we want them scoring. If they end up as 60-80 point guys, oppossed to not, it will make a huge difference in Ottawa’s forward depth.
Prediction (in the Standings)
We are optimistic like the rest of the Sens camp. They have the collective goal of making the playoffs, just like they did in 2024-25. Moreover, they want to not only make it in 2025-26, they want to advance further in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Even though it is not a given, we have them finishing higher, than in last year’s Eastern Conference standings. As it were, they finished in the top Wild Card spot. However, they were only two points away from the fourth most points in the conference. They want to end the year in the top-three of the Atlantic Division, just to give themselves a little extra of a security blanket.
Main Photo Credit: Marc DesRosiers – USA TODAY Sports
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