After ending playoff drought, Senators eye much bigger goals this season

OTTAWA — Good to great.

That’s what the Ottawa Senators are trying to achieve in the 2025-26 season.

The Senators have been a good team many times — including last season when they ended a seven-year playoff drought. But they have been great on only a handful of occasions — 2003, 2007 and 2017, with their lone Stanley Cup Final appearance sandwiched by two runs to the Eastern Conference Final. 

“We’re here not just to make the playoffs either. We’re here to do a lot more than that,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said as the team reported to training camp on Wednesday.

Both Green and general manager Steve Staios were coy about their precise objectives, but just being good this season is not good enough.  

“They (the players) understand that it’s not going to get easier,” said Green. “It gets harder. Everyone says they want to win a Stanley Cup. It’s hard to do. It’s not easy.”

Of course, the Senators GM and coach are not naive. It’s unlikely that this is the year for the Senators to raise Lord Stanley’s cup in the city where it was spawned. Ottawa’s expectations this season should be to build a path toward eventually winning the title.

The obvious question is: how can Ottawa take another step toward its ultimate goal?

Well, firstly by the Senators’ core of young players making more progress. We have not yet seen the best of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle or Jake Sanderson. Ottawa still is one of the youngest teams in the league.

“That’s a big part of our team getting better, is our younger players improving in the NHL,” said Green. “You know, I don’t know if you can look through probably and list off 14 to 15 guys that have maxed out what they are as a player in the league.”

Staios has preached “internal growth” as a big key to success, although his trades for Linus Ullmark, Dylan Cozens, Fabian Zetterlund and Jordan Spence have made the Senators significantly better.

If the Senators miss the playoffs or lose quickly in the opening round, that’s a disappointment. The teams that have won Stanley Cups recently — like Florida, Tampa and Vegas — were routinely going deep in the playoffs before their Cup runs. But those teams also built expectations to win the Cup. For too long, the “Pesky” Sens were a team just desperate to make it into the playoffs.

Ottawa will need to become better offensively after finishing 31st in five-on-five goals last season. The Senators need another top-six forward or two, and maybe another defenceman before they can truly join the elite ranks.

But no matter who is on the ice, Green wants the Senators to have a clear identity.

“We’re not going to deviate from being a 200-foot team,” said Green. “I think there’s a certain style of hockey that helps you win. Teams that are good at both ends of the rink. You don’t have to look any further than the Florida Panthers. They’re not just an offensive team, they’re pretty strong on the puck. They’re strong in their own zone. They’re good defensively, and good offensively as well.”

Formenton won’t be back

A flash of important news from day one of training camp was Staios saying he will not bring back Alex Formenton, a player the Senators have rights to. Formenton was recently acquitted of a sexual assault charge from a 2018 Hockey Canada event in London, Ont., along with four others.

Staios said they would gauge the trade market on Formenton or renounce his rights.

Injuries to Jensen and Eller

A main question mark heading into Senators training camp was the availability of Nick Jensen, who had off-season hip surgery. Green said he wouldn’t be surprised if the defenceman is skating with the main group within a week.

But that doesn’t mean he’s in the clear.

“It’s too early to tell if he’ll start the season,” with Ottawa, said Green.

Jensen’s potential absence could have a domino effect on the viability of top prospect Carter Yakemchuk. Once again, Staios said that Ottawa will be weighing Yakemchuk’s development path. He is eligible for the AHL this season.

“I mean, there’s always that question about the young player and putting him in the best position to be successful. So, we’ll keep that all in mind.”

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If Yakemchuk thrives, it wouldn’t be the worst decision to give him some game time until Jensen returns. Yakemchuk, with his offensive mix of scoring and vision, could help the Senators win games in October more than any other right-shot defenceman not named Artem Zub, Spence or Jensen.

Meanwhile, new forward Lars Eller is coming off a minor procedure on his abdomen, which could delay his start to training camp.

Senators goalie Linus Ullmark never has played more than 49 games in a season and built his stellar reputation with the Boston Bruins in a tandem with Jeremy Swayman. We might see a similar dynamic for Ullmark with youngster Leevi Merilainen this season. When Green was asked how he’d deploy his goaltenders, there wasn’t a clear answer.

“There’s competition for every position on the team, so if it’s Leevi, we’ll see,” said Green. 

Ottawa’s goaltender coach Justin Peters also will have a say in the matter.

“Linus is a good goalie, still project him to play a lot of games, and a lot of that will come down to how he feels,” said Green. “Definitely don’t want to tax them too much. It’s going to be a shortened season (with the Olympics), and if someone else is going to have to play 30 to 35 games I don’t know what the number is exactly (for Ullmark).”

Ullmark has a history of injuries, including last season when he had multiple ailments, Don’t forget, Ottawa’s starter is motivated: Ullmark wants to launch himself into Team Sweden’s crease for the Olympics, a goal he outlined with Sportsnet’s Luke Fox.

Pinto’s extension talks

From the sounds of it, Shane Pinto wants to wait and see about extension talks while the Senators want to sign him sooner rather than later. Staios revealed he had conversations with Pinto’s agent a couple of weeks ago.

“It was positive dialogue,” said Staios. “They (Pinto’s camp) felt like getting the season started and not having a distraction was the way that they wanted to go. They know, I’m open to discuss it at any time.”

Staios said he’s “hoping it’s just a matter of time” to get a deal done. Another 20-goal year for Pinto could mean he’d be up for a big payday.