The Ottawa Senators’ blue line has been thinned out enough that the cracks showed loudly in Tuesday night’s 7-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on NHL Frozen Frenzy.
With Jake Sanderson, Artem Zub and now Nikolas Matinpalo all out, Ottawa is missing three of its six NHL defencemen. The Senators have managed to keep the ship moving through a strong start, but the injuries have created a real need for outside help, at least in the short term.
That’s why a move for a low-cost defender starts to make a lot of sense. Ottawa could use someone who can steady things until the regulars come back, and there are a couple of names that fit the bill.
Ilya Lyubushkin of the Nashville Predators is one option. He’s currently in the press box in Nashville and has had trouble settling in there, but he’s previously filled a dependable shutdown role with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars. He’s not a player who will pile up offense - he isn’t going to score more than 10 points a season - but he can chip in with around 100 hits and blocks if he’s in the lineup regularly.
For Ottawa, the appeal would be obvious. A sixth-round pick in 2028, with 50% salary retention on his contract, would be the kind of price that brings in a proven, hard-working defender without costing much. The Senators have had stretches where they’ve struggled to break up cycles and clear traffic from in front of their crease, and those are exactly the kinds of situations Lyubushkin handles well.
Another possibility is Ben Hutton, who is currently a free agent. Ottawa had the chance to bring him in on a PTO at the start of training camp, but that didn’t happen. Now, the Senators could circle back and sign him to a one-year deal.
Hutton wouldn’t transform the blue line, but he would give Ottawa another NHL-calibre defenceman who can step into games and ease the load on younger players being asked to do more than expected.
And despite the defensive concerns, the Senators have still done well overall. They’re 5-2, tied with the Boston Bruins for first in the Atlantic Division.
The issue now is whether they can keep stacking early points while the injuries pile up on the back end. That’s where Steve Staios may be wise to act now and sort out the roster later, once everyone is healthy again.
In Other News...
Senators Rough Night At Home Just Raised A Bigger Concern
A three-game winning streak disappeared in a hurry at home Tuesday night, and the Senators never found much of a foothold in a 7-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Ottawas offense was limited to goals from Claude Giroux and Fabian Zetterlund, part of a night in which the club generated only 17 shots and spent too much time chasing the game.
The bigger concern, though, was at the other end, where Samuel Ersson made his first home start for Ottawa and was quickly overwhelmed. The backup goaltender gave up seven goals on 26 shots, leaving the Senators with an unsettling result that went well beyond a single bad outing and into the kind of performance that can start asking harder questions about the overall direction of the team. [Read more 🡒]
Ottawa Letting Leevi Merilainen Go Looks Tougher By The Week
Leevi Merilainen keeps giving Vancouver a reason to lean on him, and the latest example came in a game against the New York Islanders. With Thatcher Demko sidelined, the young goaltender stepped into a bigger role and helped keep the Canucks competitive even after they gave up two quick goals late in the first period.
Merilainen finished with 35 saves as Vancouver clawed back to tie it in the second period before the Islanders pulled away in the third. For Ottawa, which let Merilainen get away, the early returns keep making that decision look harder to justify each time he gets a meaningful chance to play. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Blue Line Still Has A Problem As Injuries Keep Lingering
In a stretch where injuries keep reshaping lineups across the Atlantic Division, the Senators are watching their own health picture closely after Ridly Greig exited a recent game with a strain. Ottawa has not offered a firm update on his status, which adds another layer of uncertainty at a time when the club is already tracking absences elsewhere around the division, including Buffalo being without Rasmus Dahlin, Tyson Kozak and Alex Lyon for its next game against Toronto.
For Ottawa, Greigs availability matters because he has been a regular part of the mix this season, taking on meaningful minutes and contributing in a supporting role. The concern now is less about one game than about whether the Senators will be able to keep their forward group intact as Philadelphia continues to deal with blue-line injuries and the ripple effects of these lineup holes keep growing. [Read more 🡒]