The Ottawa Senators enter the coming NHL season firmly focused on improving their results in the 2024-25 campaign.
While the Sens made a couple of additions, they’re only going to go as far as their core of young talent carries them.
The good news in that regard is that Ottawa’s players are firmly capable of taking that next step instead of falling back out of the playoffs for the eighth time in nine years – and they’re not looking for any outside help as they aim to elevate their game.
“I think the next step is in our room,” Senators star center Tim Stutzle said during Monday’s Senators’ Charity Open. “I’ve said many times I believe in this group, I believe in this core and the next step is in our room.
“I think (Senators GM) Steve (Staios) has done a phenomenal job to kind of support our group, and we’ve just got to take the next step. The young guys got to take the next step, and as a group, we’ve got to take the next step as well. Last year, we showed that if we play the way we want to play, we’re a really good team.”
That said, Senators players know the stakes for them are higher.
Missing the playoffs would be an utter disaster, and some tough conversations would have to be had about the future of the core if that happens.
But last year started a new chapter under coach Travis Green, who helped the team mature and play more disciplined hockey. The signs don’t suggest they’ll regress this season.
After being a top-10 team in misconduct penalties from 2021-22 to 2023-24, and a top-10 squad in penalty minutes from 2019-20 to ’23-24, the Sens took just three misconducts in 2024-25, and their 696 penalty minutes were 13th in the league. Even considering they had the fourth-most hits in the league last year, they ranked first in penalties drawn and second in net penalties, showing they can be physical while playing the right way.
Ottawa also finished last season with its best power-play percentage in franchise history, and they were tied for the most wins in the league when they scored first, with 35.
Last season was a step forward overall. Now that the players have adjusted to Green’s system, there are new expectations to take their playoff-quality play to another level.
Their franchise-high power-play percentage only ranked 11th in the NHL last year, and their penalty kill ranked 19th. Their November record was a lousy 5-8-1, so the team is still searching for a points percentage of more than .500 in November for the first time since 2016. And when they trailed after the first period, their record was 4-19-4.
Fortunately for them, the Senators showed strong play more often than not last season, and doing that again will make them a lock for the playoffs this year. Being a notch more consistent can make them an even greater force.
Why The Ottawa Senators Are Ready To Contend In 2025-26
In the last few years of Pierre Dorion’s tenure as Ottawa Senators GM, fans and media would wonder during the summer if this was the year the long rebuild would finally be over. If not last year, was this the year? Is it over now?
To achieve that goal, Staios did make some tactical roster changes – acquiring former Los Angeles Kings blueliner Jordan Spence to be an upgrade on Ottawa’s right side of its ‘D’ – and put together a team that can do some real damage this season.
For his part, Spence knows his profile is about to get a significant boost from Los Angeles to Canada’s capital city. While that might be a stifling pressure for some players, Spence is choosing to embrace the change.
“Obviously, coming back to the Canadian market, I think there’s more eyes on you,” Spence said. “There’s pros and cons to that, but at the end of the day, I’m really excited to be here and get going.”
It would be a particular delight if the Senators not only get back into the playoffs but follow it up by winning a round or two and eliminating the Maple Leafs in retribution for Toronto’s 4-2 first-round series win last spring. At least one Sens star had faith – has faith – that the answer for that is still in the Sens’ dressing room.
“I still believe we had a chance to win that (first-round) series,” Stutzle said. “Now it’s just about us and what we can do in this room. I think that’s going to be really important, that we keep believing in this room and have a good start.”
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