Thomas Chabot is the new face of the Ottawa Senators’ leadership group.
The club announced Tuesday that the 29-year-old defenceman will wear the captain’s “C” for the 2026-27 season, filling the vacancy left by Brady Tkachuk’s off-season departure. Claude Giroux, Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson will be the alternate captains.
For Chabot, the appointment lands on top of a career that has been built almost entirely in Ottawa. He is the team’s longest-serving active player, a native of Sainte-Marie, Que., who came into the league after the Senators picked him 18th overall in the 2015 NHL draft. He debuted in 2016-17 and spent seven seasons with the club before Ottawa finally broke through to the post-season in 2024-25.
“Ottawa’s home for us. We bought our first house here, we’ve had our first child here,” said Chabot, whose wife, Marion, gave birth to their baby daughter last week. “Ottawa will always be close to our heart, no matter what.”
He also made it clear he sees a group that believes in where it’s headed.
“Every organization goes through different times, and we’re looking ahead in what we have here,” he added. “We’re excited of the team we have. We have tons of guys that are happy to be here and want to play and want to wear this jersey every night.”
Chabot’s role in the community has long extended beyond the ice, especially with francophone fans in the Ottawa-Gatineau region, where he has often served as a team ambassador. Now he becomes the 11th captain in franchise history after Tkachuk was dealt to the Florida Panthers in June following his trade request.
Tkachuk had worn the captaincy for parts of five seasons after taking over on Nov. 5, 2021.
The numbers behind Chabot’s Senators tenure are substantial. In 569 career games with Ottawa, he has 78 goals and 257 assists. Last season, he posted seven goals and 24 assists in 57 games.
He is under contract through the 2027-28 season with a salary cap hit of US$8 million.
General manager Steve Staios said the choice felt natural.
“The players gravitate to him. The way that he plays the game, the way he commits to the game is inspiring for his teammates,” Staios said.
“I think for a long time we knew who it was going to be. We had the very fortunate ability to look at a number of players on our group to be able to lead us, but clearly Thomas is the guy.
“He doesn’t have to do anything different than what he’s already done to lead this group.”
The Senators open their 2026-27 season Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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