The NHL’s annual preseason forecast left Ottawa with a clean, unmistakable message: none of the league’s 14 writers and editors see the Senators making the playoffs in 2026-27.
That’s a sharp swing for a team that has reached the postseason in each of the past two seasons, and it’s hard to miss the obvious headline in the prediction fallout. Brady Tkachuk is gone, and that appears to be driving a lot of the national doubt.
NHL.com asked its panel to fill out division winners, wild-card teams and a Stanley Cup champion. Every one of the 14 picked three Atlantic Division teams and two Eastern Conference wild-card clubs, and the Senators were left out of all of it.
Ottawa is coming off a 44-27-11 season that ended with a fifth-place finish in the Atlantic Division and a first-round sweep at the hands of the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. But the roster still has plenty going for it, starting with offense.
The Senators ranked ninth in the league in goals last season. Tim Stützle led the way with 34, Drake Batherson scored 33, Dylan Cozens added 28 and Shane Pinto chipped in 23. Ottawa also brought in William Eklund, who had 53 points with San Jose last season, along with veteran Andre Burakovsky to help offset the scoring loss from Tkachuk’s departure.
There’s strength on the back end, too. Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot remain a strong one-two punch on defense, and that gives Ottawa a real foundation even with the outside skepticism.
Goaltending may be the biggest swing factor. The Senators made the playoffs despite subpar netminding for much of the first half of the season, and that’s being generous.
After the Olympics last season, Linus Ullmark finished 12-4-3 with a .902 save percentage and a 2.51 goals-against average over 19 games, then carried that momentum into the playoffs against Carolina. Ottawa also believes it has better support behind him now with two new Swedish goalies lower on the depth chart.
There’s also the simple reality that this team dealt with plenty of noise last season and still got in. The distractions were real, and the Senators pushed through them anyway.
Injuries have already shown up in camp, but the concerns haven’t been labeled long term. And as with every preseason forecast, health hangs over the whole discussion.
The Atlantic remains a tough division, just as it was a year ago, and some teams will rise while others fall. Still, GM Steve Staios said he “has no intention of taking a step backwards this season.”
That’s the part Ottawa will care about. Not the votes from NHL.com, not the snub, not the noise. When the season opens on Oct. 3, the Senators will be chasing a third straight trip to the playoffs.
In Other News...
Senators Face Two Big Questions Before Opening Night Vs Toronto
Training camp is winding down in Ottawa, and the Senators are still sorting through the kinds of roster choices that tend to define the final days before a season begins. Final forward and defense spots are still up for grabs, and the staff is balancing those decisions with the usual late-camp work on special teams, all while trying to get the group pointed in the right direction for an opener that arrives quickly on Oct. 3 against Toronto.
The uncertainty does not stop with the bubble players, either. Ottawa is also dealing with injuries to key pieces as it heads into the first week of the regular season, which adds another layer to the lineup picture and makes the final roster decisions even more significant. For a team that wants to open on solid footing against the Maple Leafs, the next few days could shape not just the roster, but the tone of the early season. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Roster Battle Just Got Real Before Opening Night
Training camp has been whittled down to the point where the next few days will tell Ottawa a lot about how the opening-night roster is going to take shape. The Senators cut their group nearly in half, moving a large chunk of players out of camp as the organization begins the harder part of the process, separating those who can help now from those who need more time elsewhere.
A mix of forwards and defensemen is still in the picture as Ottawa works toward the NHL deadline, with familiar names such as Claude Giroux, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig among those still in camp. The numbers are getting tighter, the decisions are getting tougher, and the last round of evaluation figures to be the one that really matters. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens-Senators Flashpoint Leaves Ottawa Fans With One NHL Question
The preseason meeting between the Canadiens and Senators produced more than just an early look at two Atlantic Division rivals. The NHL Department of Player Safety fined Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson for roughing Ottawa forward Ridly Greig, a decision that at least gives the flashpoint some formal closure from the leagues side. The money goes to the Players Emergency Assistance Fund, and it lands as another entry on Mathesons long list of discipline-related run-ins during his NHL career.
For Ottawa, the bigger issue is less about the dollar amount than the temperature this kind of exchange can bring to a game before the points even start counting. Greig was at the center of the incident, and Senators fans will be watching closely the next time these teams meet to see whether the edge carries over. The league stepped in on Matheson, but the broader question around how that play gets handled moving forward is still hanging there. [Read more 🡒]