The Ottawa Senators’ Canada Day was about as low-key as it gets - and for a few minutes, it even went dark.
Just five minutes into Steve Staios’ end-of-day press conference, the power went out. When the lights came back and the media regrouped, the team president of hockey operations and general manager still didn’t have much of a new update to offer after the Senators signed only their own unrestricted free agents, goaltender Samuel Ersson and veteran winger Nick Cousins.
That left Ottawa with $5.295 US in cap space, and it also fit the way the last 10 days have gone for the club. The Senators have already been busy enough that a quiet July 1 wasn’t exactly a surprise.
Captain Brady Tkachuk was traded to the Florida Panthers on June 22. Two days later, the Senators added winger William Eklund from the San Jose Sharks.
Then on Friday, veteran forward Andre Burakovsky was part of a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. Before the NHL draft on Friday night, defenceman Jordan Spence also locked in a four-year extension at $5 million per season.
Staios didn’t make another splash on Wednesday, but he made it clear the work isn’t done.
“We continue to work at it. Today is just one day,” Staios said. “It’s been a week since I’ve made the trade on Brady, and you have the draft, and so I think it’s a little early to make an assessment on where we’re at.
“We’ve put ourselves in a position now where we have great flexibility and draft capital, and sometimes when you get to the oftentimes in the way I see the market right now is that there could be some opportunities to come.”
A large part of the roster is still in place, with Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, Shane Pinto, Ridly Greig, Drake Batherson, Artem Zub, Tyler Kleven and top goaltender Linus Ullmark among the names still on hand. Even so, Staios said Saturday he isn’t sure exactly how this group will look now that Tkachuk is gone.
He did single out Eklund as a major pickup.
“William Eklund, I think, is a huge addition,” said Staios. “I don’t think we’ve talked enough about it.
What I’m excited to see is he’s a different dynamic than what we had previously, and he’s a great playmaker. I’m excited to see how he does playing with our top players, and I know our players are excited about playing with him, so that’s a different dynamic.
In Other News...
Former Senators Goalie Prospect Is Getting Another NHL Chance
The Lightning kept building out their organizational depth in goal, signing Mads Sogaard, Olivier Rodrigue and defenseman Michael Callahan to one-year, two-way contracts. For Senators fans, Sogaard is the name that jumps out, since the big goaltender was once part of Ottawas pipeline and had become one of the more recognizable young netminders in the system before moving on to his next opportunity.
Sogaards path has been uneven enough to make this a noteworthy fresh start, with his most recent work split between Ottawa and Belleville. Tampa Bay is giving him another chance to push back toward the NHL picture, and the one-year, two-way setup suggests the Lightning want competition and insurance at the position while they sort out how all the pieces fit. [Read more 🡒]
Another Former Senator Is Following Brady Tkachuk To Florida
Another former Senator is heading to South Florida, with Lars Eller agreeing to a one-year deal with the Panthers in free agency and setting up a reunion with Brady Tkachuk. Ellers stint in Ottawa was a short one, but he brought veteran depth and a steady presence before moving on, and now he joins a Florida group that has been busy adding familiar names from the Senators recent roster.
Donovan Sebrango also landed a one-year contract with the Panthers after reaching free agency, giving Florida another Ottawa connection after he was previously claimed off waivers from the Senators. The Panthers have also brought in former Senator Boko Imama, making the pipeline from Ottawa to Florida even more noticeable as the two teams continue to cross paths in the offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Claude Giroux Decision Could Change Everything For The Senators
The first day of NHL free agency brought plenty of movement around the league, but Claude Giroux was still sitting there as one of the biggest names left unsigned. For Ottawa, that matters because the market is already thinning around the kind of experienced forwards teams lean on when the money gets tight and the options get fewer.
Girouxs next step is shaping up to be one of the more important decisions of the summer for the Senators, especially with so many teams still sorting through their budgets and their depth charts. Ottawa has work to do in a market where scoring help is still available, but the longer this drags on, the more this becomes about where Giroux sees himself fitting for what could come next. [Read more 🡒]