Ottawa Senators Season Preview 2025-26
by Owen Glaude
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Last spring was the first time in eight years that the Ottawa Senators had clinched a playoff spot, and while they lost to their provincial rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, it was a big step in the right direction after years of not being able to make it to the playoffs. The Senators finished the season with a record of 45-37-3 and 4th in the Atlantic division.
The Senators will be looking to improve even more this upcoming season after trading for young Kings defenceman, Jordan Spence, and signing veteran centreman, Lars Eller, to help round out the bottom 6.
The Senators scoring last season was led by C Tim Stutzle who finished the season with 24 goals and 55 assists for 79 points in 82 games. RW Drake Batherson had a career year for points and assists as he notched 68 points in 82 games. (LD) Jake Sanderson also had a career year as he had 57 points, which was 19 more points than his previous seasons total which was 38 in 2023-24.
The identity of the Senators last season; however, was their strong defensive play and stable goaltending with former Vézina winning goaltender, Linus Ullmark, posting a 91% save percentage and in his first season in the nation's capital, had a goals against average of 2.72 between the pipes. The Senators will be looking for more scoring to become a more well rounded team this season, as they were 31st in goals at 5 on 5. Guys like Dylan Cozens will need to take the next step, and captain Brady Tkachuk will need to improve on his 55 point year and hopefully will get back to the 70 point range if Ottawa wants to become a real threat in the Eastern Conference.
(HC) Travis Green is going into his 2nd season as head of the Ottawa Senators. His coaching style was one of the biggest reasons as to why Ottawa made the playoffs, as he had his players playing a tight checking 200 foot defensive game in all three zones of the ice, which is important come playoff time.
The Senators first line has a mix of scoring, speed and physicality with physical bruising captain Brady Tkachuck (LW) who was 3rd in the league for hits in 2023-24 with 293, along with 228 in 72 games this past season. Speedy playmaker C Tim Stutzle tallied 79 points in 82 games for the Sens in 2024-25, and (RW) Fabian Zetterlund who combines great speed with a heavy wrist shot has had back to back 40 point seasons with San Jose and Ottawa.
On the Senators 2nd line they have veteran sniper, David Perron (LW), who’s a good voice for the locker room and is paired with 2 way C Dylan Cozens who Ottawa has been harping on since being acquired by the Senators at the trade deadline. It is expected to be a big year for him. (RW) Drake Batherson is a great offensive player as he has great size, shooting and playmaking and has been improving each and every season with him finishing the 2024-25 campaign with a career high 68 points in 82 games.
The Senators 3rd line is known as their shutdown line as they have Ridley Greig (LW) who is a spark plug giving Ottawa energy when they need, and is a great agitator getting into the head of the opposing team. At the centre, Ottawa has a great defensive centreman in Shane Pinto C who wins faceoffs and has a nose for the net, being able to score from time to time. On the right wing is veteran Claude Giroux, an excellent playmaker who has great hockey sense and is solid on his own. Although he is getting up there in age and his speed has taken a toll, Giroux is still a solid 3rd line guy who can score around 40 points a year.
On the Senators 4th line you have grinder Nick Cousins on left wing who is a pest and is similar to Greig in the sense that he will agitate the opposing team and try to get his team powerplays along with being a total team player who puts his team first. Newcomer Lars Eller is going to play on the 4th line and will be a veteran leader in the locker room, and a smart defensive centre that the younger guys can lean on when times might get tough. Mike Amadio will play on the Senators 4th line (RW) spot, he’s the Swiss Army knife of the team as he can play anywhere in the lineup. He can also play on the penalty kill, is great at winning puck battles along the boards, and is a selfless player who puts winning first.
The Senators first pairing is led by (LD) superstar d-man Jake Sanderson who has silky smooth skating, as well as, great hockey sense and poise with the puck. Last season he put up career highs in goals, assists and points as he tallied 57 points in 80 games. On the right side you have Russian defenceman, Artoym Zub, who is a stay at home shutdown defenceman who makes simple plays coming out of the zone and is a great anchor on the Senators defensive core.
On the second pairing you have Thomas Chabot who is the longest serving Senator as he has been with the club since 2015. He’s a solid puck moving defenceman and can join the rush with forwards from time to time. Chabot had a bounce back year after a couple rough years with his high point totals since 2018-2019. Veteran Nick Jensen will be playing on the 2nd pairing with Chabot. Jensen helped Chabot have a big year last year as he was a stabilizer on the back end and was a reliable guy for Travis Green to go to. Jensen wins a lot of battles in the corners with forwards, has incredible hockey sense and always seems to make the right play.
On the final pairing you have Tyler Kleven who is going into his second season as a pro and is your prototypical big defenceman with a powerful shot from the back end. Kleven improved steadily throughout the season for the Sens and played great in the playoffs, as he played with a confident assertive style and physicality. Former L.A. King defenceman Jordan Spence is the Sens new 3rd pairing defenceman and will be playing on the right side. Spence is known to be a great skater and he can make plays in the offensive zone with his great vision and playmaking. Spence will give Ottawa's 3rd pairing a new element with the ability to create offence as the rest of Ottawa's d-core consists of defenceman d-man or puck moving 2 way defenceman.
Linus Ullmark is going into his 2nd season as a Senator after posting a solid season in the nation's capital, with a save percentage of 91% and a goals against average of 2.72. Ottawa will be looking for more of the same from Ullmark in year 2 and maybe even more if they want to go further in the postseason.
Merilainen was a key part to the Sens making the playoffs last season as in late December to early January he was playing incredibly, winning 5 of his first 7 starts, including a long western road trip which was critical for the Sens trying to make the playoffs. Merilainen flashed lots of potential last season posting a save percentage of 92% and a goals against average of 1.99. It's exciting to see a bigger sample size for Merilainen this year compared to last season when he only got 12 starts because he was the third string behind Ullmark and Forsberg.
This will be a big season for the Sens as they try to capture Lord Stanley in the next 5-10 years with this core. The Senators will be looking to improve on the last season and try to win a playoff series along with wanting to improve their scoring this season as they finished 31st in goals at 5 on 5 in 2024-25. Hopefully this will be a fun and exciting season as a Senators fan and I enjoyed writing this since I’m a big Senators fan, and I love hockey.
I hope you enjoyed this article and as always, Go Sens Go!
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