The Ottawa Senators’ first-round exit looked brutal in the box score: a four-game sweep at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, followed by another offseason of hard questions after the club traded captain Brady Tkachuk. On the surface, it’s been a stretch defined by frustration.
But Elliotte Friedman may have put a different lens on that series.
On the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, the Sportsnet insider said that after talking with people around the Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes, Ottawa might rank no worse than second among Carolina’s toughest playoff opponents this spring. That’s a striking take when you remember the Hurricanes also had to get through the Philadelphia Flyers, Montreal Canadiens and Vegas Golden Knights on the way to the Cup.
It doesn’t change the result. Carolina still won the games and, more importantly, the goals.
But it does line up with what the numbers suggested back in April: the Senators were much more competitive than a sweep usually implies. At five-on-five, Ottawa kept pushing play.
The expected goals, scoring chances and physical tracking data all pointed to a young team that was closer than the final score lines made it look.
The real issue for Ottawa wasn’t that it got blown off the ice every night. It was that it ran into a powerhouse and a goalie locked in at the top of his game.
Frederik Andersen stopped 105 of 110 shots for a .955 save percentage. If there’s a criticism to be made, it’s that the Senators may not have shot enough, averaging 27.5 shots per game in the series.
None of that should be news inside the front office. The Senators have had the data in front of them. The challenge is turning it into something more meaningful going forward.
That’s especially important because this has been a messy offseason. Ottawa moved on from Tkachuk, and while plenty of fans may say “good riddance,” the numbers around his tenure are hard to ignore. Since he was drafted ahead of the 2018-19 season, the Senators have reached the playoffs only twice, and he has seven points in their ten playoff games.
There is still some reason for optimism, though. Ottawa doesn’t have a ton of cap space, but it did bring back Claude Giroux on a relatively team friendly deal. Add in the prospects acquired through the draft and the players brought in through the Tkachuk trade, and the picture looks a little less bleak than it did a few weeks ago.
The Senators have the evidence to believe they weren’t as far off as the sweep suggested. Now they have to make that matter.
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Cousins also made it clear the timing mattered to him, too, because it let him settle in and keep his focus on hockey instead of wondering where he and his family would be next. The Senators have already watched some veteran presence walk out the door, so keeping a player like Cousins around is about more than filling a roster spot. It is about preserving some edge, some familiarity and, perhaps, a little more certainty in a summer that could have gone another way. [Read more 🡒]
Edmontons Savviest Move Somehow Just Became Even More Frustrating
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For the Oilers, the appeal is obvious. Dickinson gives them a dependable two-way center, Murphy brings the sort of shutdown presence they had been missing, and Dach adds a bigger, more physical layer of depth with room to grow. The catch is that all of it comes with long-term weight, and with Bowmans recent track record still being sorted out, this is the kind of move that could look savvy for years or become one more example of a front office betting heavily on certainty it does not fully control. [Read more 🡒]
Claude Giroux Just Gave Senators Fans A Reason To Believe Again
Claude Girouxs decision to stick with Ottawa for another year gives the Senators a familiar face and a steadying presence as they try to build on what they have started. The veteran forward has now reached his fifth straight season with the club, and in a media availability he made it clear the choice was about more than hockey, pointing to family considerations and his desire to keep playing with the organization and teammates he knows well.
Giroux also sounded comfortable with whatever role the Senators need from him next season, saying he is willing to adapt if it helps the team get better. For a group still trying to turn promise into something more durable, that kind of buy-in matters, especially from a player whose value goes beyond the box score and into the day-to-day tone of the room. [Read more 🡒]