The Ottawa Senators have climbed out of the Atlantic Division basement and reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs in back-to-back seasons, but the path ahead looks a lot tougher now.
A major reason for that shift is the change in the middle of the roster. Former captain Brady Tkachuk is gone, having been traded to the Florida Panthers, and while Ottawa has added William Eklund and still has pieces like Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson, the outlook is no longer as straightforward as it was a year ago.
On this week’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk laid out why the Senators still have talent, but also why the warning lights are flashing.
“Even if the locker room was tired of Brady Tkachuk, and the fan base was maybe even a little tired of Brady Tkachuk, whatever it was, losing him still sucks. Now, you got Eklund, but is Eklund’s ceiling a point-per-game player?
Probably. I don’t know if there’s a lot more than that to Eklund’s upside, production-wise, at least.
I think, defensively, very good. It’s good that they went and got William Eklund.
I’m not trying to say that was bad, it was great. His ceiling, production-wise, is Brady Tkachuk.”
Yaremchuk said his biggest concern is how Ottawa will generate enough offense to keep pace in a division loaded with contenders.
“I’m worried about them finding ways to produce. They have a young piece on the blue line in Carter Yakemchuk that I like.
They have a bunch of players up front that I like. They’re also in a wildly, wildly competitive division.
When you look at the Atlantic, Buffalo was 109 points last year. I think they might take a step back.
They’re going to be in the mix. Tampa’s in the mix.
Montreal’s in the mix. Boston’s in the mix.
Florida, they’re in the mix. They just got Brady Tkachuk.
Toronto, they’re looking to take a step forward. They’re in the mix.
Like seven of the eight teams in this division are like authentic playoff contenders, and someone’s gonna have to slip up and not be as good as we think they’re gonna be.”
That’s the heart of Ottawa’s problem. The Senators have players Yaremchuk likes, but the margin for error in the Atlantic is razor thin.
“I love a lot of guys on this team. I’m just worried that they might be a 95-point team that doesn’t make the playoffs.”
In Other News...
Drake Batherson Just Became Ottawas Biggest Contract Decision
Drake Batherson is back on the Senators contract radar as Ottawa and the winger have begun extension talks heading into the final year of his current deal. It is a familiar kind of summer business for a team trying to keep its core intact, especially for a player who has given the club strong value relative to his contract and remains open to staying in Ottawa.
Batherson has said he would like to get something done this summer, which is exactly why the situation carries more weight than a routine negotiation. The Senators would like to avoid letting the matter drift into the season, but for now the sides are still feeling out where the fit is on a new deal, and the longer it goes, the more this one starts to look like a defining decision for the franchise. [Read more 🡒]
Travis Green Thinks Ottawa Took A Real Step Toward Contending
After the Senators were swept out of the first round by Carolina, Travis Green did not sound like a coach trying to spin a disappointing finish into something shiny. He talked instead about a team that spent the season building something sturdier, leaning on its identity, handling injuries and other adversity, and finding ways to stay together long enough to earn a playoff berth. Ottawas season ended sooner than anyone in the room wanted, but Green framed the year as a meaningful step for a club that finished ninth in the league and still showed real growth.
Greens bigger point was about where this group sits on the long road back to true contention. He said the Senators are closer to winning a Stanley Cup now than they were when he first arrived, a sign that progress is being measured not just by results, but by how the team has learned to respond when things get difficult. For a fan base that has waited through plenty of false starts, the challenge now is turning that confidence and identity into something that lasts well beyond one encouraging season. [Read more 🡒]
Calgary Flames Face Tough Dustin Wolf Decision During Rebuild
Calgarys rebuild is already forcing some awkward planning questions, and Dustin Wolf is right at the center of them. As the Flames sort through the next phase of their roster, his age and contract stand out against a younger core that is still coming into focus, creating the kind of timeline mismatch teams usually hope to avoid when they are building from the ground up.
For a club trying to climb back into contention, the challenge is not just identifying talent but lining up the right windows so the best pieces peak together. The Flames can look at other NHL rebuilds for examples of how to speed things up, but the hard truth is that accelerating the process is easier to talk about than to execute, especially when the clock is already ticking on a goalie in his prime years. [Read more 🡒]