The Ottawa Senators have done enough to make themselves a more dangerous team, but the road ahead in the Atlantic Division still looks brutal.
The roster upgrades should give Ottawa a real boost, yet the division around them has been loading up too. Tampa Bay, Montreal, and Buffalo are all expected to stay difficult. Toronto has improved and could be a major roadblock, while Boston and Detroit won’t be easy to push aside either.
That leaves the Senators with a simple reality: they’ll have to earn everything.
There’s no guarantee attached to any of this, and Ottawa knows that as well as anyone. This is a team that has shown it can rise to the moment even when the circumstances get messy.
If the Senators are going to get back into the postseason, it won’t happen because of one player or one hot stretch. It will take the whole group.
And the race figures to be tight from start to finish.
The East should be crowded again, with little room to breathe in the standings. Last season offered a preview of how long the fight can drag on, with most teams still in the mix well after New Year’s. This year could look much the same, with only a couple of clubs potentially falling out early while everyone else stays alive.
That’s just where the NHL is right now. Parity has turned the standings into a traffic jam, and Ottawa is going to have to fight through it like everybody else.
The encouraging part for the Senators is that they don’t need anyone’s help. They control their own fate. If they get in, they’ll have the same chance as everyone else to chase the Stanley Cup.
In Other News...
Senators Face A Familiar Trade Dilemma As Staios Protects The Core
The Senators are still working the trade market with a pretty clear shopping list: a scoring winger and a top-four right-handed defenseman. That search has already brought familiar names back into the conversation, including Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, but the bigger takeaway for Ottawa is just as important. Steve Staios is looking to add without touching the center group, which keeps Dylan Cozens, Shane Pinto and Ridly Greig out of the discussion.
That stance says plenty about where Ottawa sees its core, even if it leaves the club in the same familiar spot of trying to improve around the edges without sacrificing the middle. It is the kind of balancing act that can define a season for a team trying to take the next step, and it also means the Senators may have to be patient if the right fit on the wing or the blue line does not materialize quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Fans May Finally Get The Farewell They Wanted
Erik Karlssons future in Pittsburgh is already drawing attention as he heads into the final year of his contract, and the expectation around the league is that the Penguins are unlikely to take the next step with an extension. If Pittsburgh is out of the race, a trade would become a real possibility, which is why his name has started to surface in early chatter well before the season gets rolling.
Ottawa is among the teams being mentioned as a possible landing spot, and it is easy to see why the Senators would be interested in a player who could bolster the right side of their blue line. There is also some parallel intrigue around Vladislav Gavrikov in New York, where whispers suggest he may not be thrilled with the Rangers direction, but for now the focus in Ottawa remains on whether Karlsson ever becomes available at the right time. [Read more 🡒]