Senators look to move on after Tkachuk trade

OTTAWA – The Ottawa Senators are determined to prove they are bigger than one player, even when that player was their captain.

Ottawa’s trade of captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in June dramatically altered the lineup and identity of a team coming off back-to-back playoff appearances.

Rather than dwell on what they’ve lost, the Senators want to focus on who remains.

“We certainly feel very good about the direction of our group,” said general manager Steve Staios. “The players we have continue to get better and we learn. We’ve been through a lot as a group and a couple of years in the playoffs and we hope that experience helps.”

The Senators open their 2026-27 regular season Saturday on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Ottawa needs to replace Tkachuk’s offensive contributions, but that responsibility won’t fall on just one player. Scoring by committee was a Senators theme to start the season.

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Ottawa will count on Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Dylan Cozens and the newly acquired William Eklund to be at their best, with contributions throughout the lineup.

Stutzle’s 34 goals led the team last season. Batherson, who signed an eight-year extension in early September, scored a career-high 33 goals.

Cozens posted his best season since 2023 with 28 goals. Eklund, acquired from San Jose, had 15 goals and 53 points with the Sharks.

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The difference could be how much secondary scoring Ottawa gets from Shane Pinto, Fabian Zetterlund, Claude Giroux and Andre Burakovsky, who was acquired from Chicago in June.

While questions remain about Ottawa’s offence, defence should be a Senators strength with a solid blue-line.

Led by Jake Sanderson, who established himself among the NHL’s top young defencemen last season with 54 points in 67 games, veteran Thomas Chabot, Artem Zub, Jordan Spence and Tyler Kleven give Ottawa depth at that position.

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The biggest question to start the season was who would be Ottawa’s sixth defenceman?

Carter Yakemchuk, drafted seventh overall in 2024, wants to be an NHL regular. His pre-season performance indicated he might not be ready for a full-time role.

But with Zub still recovering from the knee injury he suffered in the first game of the playoffs, and not expected to be ready to start the season, the 20-year-old Yakemchuk will get an extended audition.

After reaching the playoffs the past two seasons, and ousted in the first round each time, the Senators look to build off past experience.

Much of that could be dependent on the play of goaltender Linus Ullmark.

After struggling through the first half of last season, which led to a leave of absence to deal with a mental health issue, Ullmark returned to post a 14-4-3 record down the stretch and give the Senators the goaltending they needed to claim the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot.

Ullmark wasn’t happy when he arrived in camp last fall, but said his mindset is better this season.

“It’s nice (to) work through the positives and not feel like you have to catch up on things,” said Ullmark. “So, that’s a big step up from last season.”

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But the back-up position will be critical for Ottawa. In an effort to shore up its goaltending, the Senators signed free agent Samuel Ersson to a two-year, US$4.4-million contract.

Staios acknowledged at the end of last season that he hadn’t done a good enough job addressing the backup goaltending position or providing Ullmark with adequate support.

Ottawa was poised to start the season with Ullmark, Ersson and Leevi Merilainen, but Merilainen was claimed off waivers by the Vancouver Canucks.

That move could force Staios to look for additional goaltending depth, so the team doesn’t end up in a similar situation to last season.

Ottawa would also have first right to reclaim Merilainen if the Canucks were to try and send him to their AHL affiliate.

READY FOR BIG SEASON

Sanderson has emerged as one of the league’s elite defencemen at 24. The Senators are counting on a big season from Sanderson to anchor the blueline.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN

The Senators have yet to name a new captain to replace Tkachuk, but there are several candidates from Stutzle to Chabot to Sanderson.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2026.