Ottawa — The leaves — never Leafs — in Ottawa have started to turn. You know what that means? Hockey season has officially begun for Ottawa Senators fans.
The Senators cracked into the playoff picture last season, which was a significant accomplishment for a team and fanbase that hadn’t tasted the post-season in a long time — eight years to be precise.
But encores are hard to pull off in the NHL. And the fans and players don’t just want a repeat.
“It’s not about just getting in the playoffs anymore. We want more,” Senators captain Brady Tkachuk told reporters on Wednesday.
The jump from bad to good is less fraught than from good to great. Ottawa’s core is young and should improve in theory, thanks to the ageing curve. In tandem, general manager Steve Staios is making smart, calculated bets on players. It adds up to allowing the Senators to take the next step.
We will delve into why the Senators could go from playoff newbies to contenders in the 2025-26 season.
Tkachuk’s superstardom
The Senators’ success starts and ends with No. 7. Tkachuk is not only the face of the Senators franchise but also the face of the NHL 26 video game, along with his brother Matthew. Despite having a down year offensively, tallying 55 points last season, he improved immensely defensively, ranking 127th out of 704 skaters in expected goals against at five-on-five according to Evolving Hockey. The playoffs were where Tkachuk truly shone despite being hobbled by injury, leading Ottawa in points with (of course) seven. He was also among the very best at the Four Nations, scoring in the final.
“Those are the games that you love to play in, and you love to (play) when all the chips are on the line, those are the moments that you want to be in.”
Can’t teach the clutch gene when you inherited it from your dad.
Meanwhile, Tkachuk says he is in good health after battling injuries at the end of last season. He says he healed over the summer and that he focused on one key area of his game.
“I think all you guys know how I play. It’s pretty demanding,” said Tkachuk. “But just having the endurance to do it day in, day out, shift in, shift out. (I) worked a lot on my conditioning this summer, and now that’s probably the best I’ve (ever) felt.
Tkachuk mentions that at times last season, “(there were) some games where, going into it, (I) didn’t feel as great as I’d want.”
A healthier and fitter Tkachuk can only be good news for the Senators, especially with the captain entering his prime at age 26.
“For us, it’s about having that Stanley Cup mindset right from day one. The playoffs (were) the most insane thing that I’ve been a part of.”
Tkachuk is ready not just to be a face of the league off the ice but on it this season. Ottawa has a hockey unicorn.
Sanderson will become a Norris trophy candidate
No player on the Senators improved his stock around the league last season more than Jake Sanderson. He had a rough start, playing alongside Travis Hamonic. But when steady defenceman Artem Zub returned in January, everything changed for Sanderson, who provided his usual stellar defensive acumen while exploding to produce the third-most points by a defenceman from Jan. 17 onwards. The 22-year-old also caught the eye of Team USA, sliding into the gold medal final when Charlie McAvoy got hurt and scoring a goal.
In the past, Sanderson has played down his aspirations, telling Sportsnet, “I don’t think my playing style will ever win a Norris. And I’m fine with that.” However, don’t be too surprised if Sanderson is in the Norris conversation. His supreme talent is matched with a notorious work ethic, dedication to his craft, a stingy diet and other health methods that include recovery pants after games.
It’s unclear what Sanderson’s ceiling is, but it will be scratched. Just ask his teammate, Tim Stutzle, who called him a “top-two” defenceman in the world. The captain is an admirer of Sanderson’s game, too. “Sanderson at Four Nations was awesome,” Tkachuk said on Wednesday. “I think it really showed everybody how good a player he is.”
Elite two-way shutdown defenceman don’t grow on trees, but in Ottawa they want to beat the Leafs.
When Staios traded the beloved Josh Norris for Dylan Cozens, it was a bold move. Cozens had been fluttering in Buffalo (like everyone else) with middling to poor results despite his talent. A former seventh overall pick in 2019, Cozens is a rangy, tall, powerful skater with an excellent wrist shot that was on display at the beginning of his Senators tenure: he came out of the gate hot in Ottawa, scoring nine points in his first 11 games in red and black.
However, Cozens tailed off offensively at the end of the season, and the slump continued into the playoffs when he had just two points in six games, notwithstanding a monumental goal in game five. Head coach Travis Green routinely threw Shane Pinto’s line on the ice against Toronto rather than Cozens’ because of his defensive trust in Pinto.
Still, Cozens did have excellent analytics against Toronto in the playoffs. Will he become the defensively responsible two-way second-line centre complementing Tim Stutzle? In the 2022-23 season, Cozens was a 30-goal scorer; in every other season, he’s been below 20 goals. Cozens has all the tools to play well this upcoming campaign, and if so, Ottawa should be roaring to the top of the Atlantic Division. Cozens is Ottawa’s X-factor.
Steve Staios has made some calculated bets in Ottawa during his tenure. Look no further than giving the 22-year-old Leevi Merilainen the backup goaltending role, signing him to a one-year, $1.05 million contract. Merilainen was stellar last season in Ottawa in 12 games, posting a 1.99 goals against average and a .925 save percentage with three shutouts. Those results were similar in Belleville, where he’s been spectacular in his last two seasons, leading the young franchise in career shutouts. A reason to believe is to look at Dustin Wolf, a Calder nominee, who had an excellent track record in the AHL that transitioned to the NHL seamlessly. If Merilainen emulates Wolf by even a smidge, we may have some goalie controversies in the near future in Ottawa.
Yakemchuk’s play will determines his future
Who can forget how Carter Yakemchuk dazzled last September to slither past Mitch Marner in overtime for a majestic goal, leaving the Leafs star in the dust, a foreshadowing perhaps of the Vegas desert.
If it weren’t for the belief that a young player needs to develop, Yakemchuk might have played in his first NHL game last season. It’s been a whirlwind 12 months for the 19-year-old, who wasn’t even invited to the world junior selection camp and struggled at times in the WHL. Yakemchuk told Sportsnet this summer that his goal is to make the NHL this season, and Staios hasn’t ruled out him making the team out of camp. In the end, if Yakemchuk plays like he did last September, he will be playing in the NHL. If not, Belleville is perfectly fine, too, in the Senators’ grand scheme.
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