Senators
A preview of the 2025-26 NHL season for the Ottawa Senators, including predictions from VSiN NHL Expert Jonathan Davis. For all other NHL team previews, check out our NHL page.
Key Additions: Lars Eller, Jordan Spence
Key Departures: Adam Gaudette, Anton Forsberg
Overview
The Senators’ run of missing the playoffs for seven straight years finally came to an end last season. It lasted just six games, as they looked overmatched in the first three games of the series before winning the next two. “Once you’ve been part of it, you have an even greater hunger to keep doing it,” Brady Tkachuk told NHL.com. “No, we didn’t get as far as we wanted and that was disappointing. But to be part of it, to learn from it, you can’t get experience like that unless you’ve been through it.”
Ottawa’s 27 home wins in the regular season were third-best in the Eastern Conference. They were 19-10 as home favorites and 7-3 as home underdogs.
Offense
The Sens’ 242 goals scored ranked 18th last season, but their 139 goals scored at 5-on-5 were 31st. Ottawa made up for those struggles with a league-high 64 power play goals. Sens games averaged a combined 5.82 goals per game, which helps to explain why only 35 of their 82 games went Over the total.
It was a bounce back season for Tim Stutzle. The third overall pick from the 2020 NHL Draft saw his overall goal total go from 18 to 24 and his 55 assists and 33 power play points were 13 more than the season prior, as he led the Senators in scoring with 79 points. Tkachuk led the Senators in goals (29), power play goals (14), tied for first in game winners (5), led in overtime goals (4) and shots on goal (296; averaged 4.1 shots/game). Tkachuk had at least four shots on goal in a game 38 times last season and five or more 28 times. He had a league-best 10 games with seven or more shots on goal, including twice putting up 12 shots in a game.
Defense
The Senators gave up 49 fewer goals last season than in 2023-24, highlighted by 35 fewer goals at 5-on-5. The acquisition of goaltender Linus Ullmark to go with a change in style of play under new head coach Travis Green’s emphasis on defense can’t go unnoticed. Ottawa’s 22 wins in one-goal games were eight more than they had the previous season and trailed only the Oilers, who had 23.
Acquiring stay-at-home defenseman from Washington for the offensive-minded Jakob Chychrun also helped to change the makeup of the blue line. Jensen and Artem Zub provided the defensive support that allowed Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot to generate offense from the back end. Sanderson put up career highs in goals, assists, points and power play points. He plays in all situations leading the Sens in shorthanded, power play and overall average of time on ice. Sanderson has the skillset to one day be a top-10 defenseman in the league.
Goaltending
Ottawa’s trio of goalies tied for the league lead in shutouts (10). Ullmark’s 25 wins were the most since Craig Anderson put up 25 in the 2016-17 season and his .910 SV% was tied for sixth-best among goalies that played at least 40 games last season. The one hurdle for Ullmark is to replicate his play in the playoffs,where he has a record of 5-10, with a 3.28 GAA and .885 SV%.
Merilainen, who started 11 games for Ottawa, had eight wins, three by way of a shutout. Last season, he put up some gaudy numbers in limited action with a 1.99 GAA and .925 SV%. As the backup with Forsberg gone, he will likely get most of the back-end of back-to-backs. He was 3-0 last season in that spot, as Ottawa was 7-7 overall in the back-end of games on consecutive days. Ten of Ottawa’s 14 back-to-backs this season will come when the calendar flips to 2026.
Player to Watch
The Senators are poised to take another step this season and for that to happen, Dylan Cozens needs to establish himself as a true top-six center. You need to have a solid 1-2 punch down the middle. Ottawa has one in Stutzle, and the question is whether or not Cozens can be legit No. 2. He had 16 points in 21 games with the Sens following the trade from Buffalo. For Ottawa to return to the playoffs and win a round, they need Cozens to be a player that puts up a minimum of 65 points.
Outlook
I like Ottawa to go Over their projected point total of 95.5 (-110), but not enough to put my money where my mouth is. Tkachuk has finished fourth in shots on goal each of the past three seasons. At +600 to lead the league, it’s worth a quarter unit play in my opinion.
Team Futures
Regular Season Points: 95.5
To Make the Playoffs: -200
To Miss the Playoffs: +160
To Win the Atlantic Division: +800
To Win the Eastern Conference: +1600
To Win the Stanley Cup: +3000
2024-25 Recap
Record: 45-30-7, 97 points (4th Atlantic, East Wild Card #1)
Over/Under: 35-41-6
Home Favorite: 19-10 // Home Dog: 7-3
Road Favorite: 8-9 // Road Dog: 9-14
Win Score 4 or more: 24 of 45 // Lose Give Up 4 or more: 28 of 37
Puck Line Wins: 23 of 45 // Puck Line Losses: 24 of 37
Front End Back-to-Back: 10-4 // Back End Back-to-Back: 7-7
Points Leader: Tim Stutzle – 79
Goal Leader: Brady Tkachuk – 29
Assist Leader: Tim Stutzle – 55
Shots on Goal Leader: Brady Tkachuk – 296
Blocked Shots Leader: Jake Sanderson – 163
Depth Chart
Forwards
Brady Tkachuk / Tim Stutzle / Fabian Zetterlund
David Perron / Dylan Cozens / Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig / Shane Pinto / Claude Giroux
Nick Cousins / Lars Eller / Michael Amadio
Defense
Jake Sanderson / Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot / Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven / Jordan Spence
Goalies
Linus Ullmark / Leevi Merilainen
Power Play Unit 1
Brady Tkachuk, Dylan Cozens, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Jake Sanderson
