Claude Giroux is back in Ottawa, and in a summer that has already tested Senators fans, that matters as much as anything else happening around the roster.
The move is bigger than a name sliding back onto the depth chart. Giroux’s return lands in a stretch where the fan base has been feeling frustrated and betrayed, and it reconnects the team with the same idea that made his first signing so meaningful: he picked Ottawa.
He had other options. Plenty of teams would have welcomed him.
Instead, he came here - not to chase the Cup, not for a massive payday, but to come home.
That choice has always been the heart of the story. Giroux has been a leader and a mentor throughout his time with the Senators, and even with his play having dipped, his value has never been limited to numbers. Night after night, he brought effort and heart, and that has left a mark on the team beyond the box score.
There’s also the question that hangs over the captaincy. Nobody wants to see Thomas Chabot given the C as much as I do, but how do fans feel about allowing Giroux to retire as the Captain before passing the torch to Chabot?
If Giroux’s return gives Ottawa a familiar face to rally around, Daniel Alfredsson’s departure does the opposite. The reaction around his move is complicated, but the message is hard to miss: he chose the Toronto Maple Leafs.
That stings in a way that goes beyond hockey politics. Senators fans have had plenty of chances to be hard on players over the years, but Alfredsson has always been treated differently in this city.
When he had a falling out with Melnyk and signed with a divisional rival, fans swallowed it and even pulled for the Red Wings to win him a Cup. THE RED WINGS.
This situation feels different. Alfredsson’s time behind the Senators bench had already felt shaky, and wanting to broaden his experience and look for new opportunities is understandable. But out of 31 other teams in the leagues he could have gone to, choosing the Maple Leafs sends a blunt message.
The familiar line is that Alfredsson doesn’t owe Ottawa anything. Fair enough.
By the same logic, the city doesn’t owe him anything either. Fans supported him through his career, embraced him as one of their own, and deserved better than this.
That doesn’t mean the bond is erased, but it does mean the feeling around this move is not a warm one.
Ottawa’s other major offseason note came on the women’s side, where the Charge are moving permanently to the Canadian Tire Centre. The team has already made a strong impression on the city since arriving, even through an offseason that has seen some favourites depart through expansion and free agency.
The Charge have had a cloud hanging over them because of Lansdowne plans that would have pushed them into a smaller arena, but they kept proving the doubters wrong. They showed this city wants to watch them every game, and they kept proving they can draw record crowds. They proved they are worth fighting for.
After being strong guests at the Canadian Tire Centre during their playoff run, the Senators wanted more of that energy. The new setup gives the Charge access to more benefits and a higher ceiling for growth, and work is already underway to give them their own locker room and lounge space. There is also the possibility that, if this works long-term, the Charge could end up part of the Sens downtown plans.
That would put them in a prime location at the heart of the city, with equal opportunities to their NHL counterparts.
Still, the broader mood around Ottawa’s hockey summer has been strange. The team’s playoff push was thrilling, but the postseason performance that followed is the kind fans would rather forget. The offseason started with the cloud around Brady Tkachuk finally lifting, but what came after felt heavier than expected.
That isn’t necessarily a shot at Staios or the front office. It’s more that, once Tkachuk’s situation settled, it felt like something bigger still needed to happen to replace that lost energy. Eklund is a good addition, but he probably isn’t enough to push this team to the next level.
It doesn’t help that the Maple Leafs are having one of their best off-seasons in a while, or that Giroux’s return was shadowed by Alfredsson’s exit. The fan base doesn’t seem angry so much as a little short on buzz, and that’s not usually where Ottawa wants to be heading into a season.
Hayley Wickenheiser could be one way to change that.
The Leafs and Wickenheiser have parted ways after Toronto made it clear she was not part of its future plans. She spent eight years with the organization, working as an assistant GM and in player development, and the Leafs have spent the summer clearing house in search of a fresh start.
Given the week Ottawa has just had, it would make sense for the Senators to at least see whether there’s a fit. Wickenheiser’s experience, on and off the ice, would be an asset.
In Other News...
Senators Still Havent Solved Their Top Six Problem
The Senators still have a hole to fill in their top six, and it is one they have not addressed with an outside addition this offseason. After the Brady Tkachuk trade and the arrival of William Eklund, Ottawa still looks like it could use another proven forward in its best scoring group, which leaves the conversation turning inward as training camp approaches.
Dylan Cozens is the name that keeps coming up because he has already shown he can handle wing duty, both in NHL stretches and at the IIHF World Championship. With Tim Sttzle, Shane Pinto and Drake Batherson all part of the mix, Ottawa may have to get creative to find the right fit, and Cozens on the wing could be the kind of adjustment that helps the second line settle into place. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Give Tyler Boucher Another Chance To Silence Doubts
Tyler Boucher is getting another runway in the Senators organization, a reminder that his path has been defined as much by patience as by promise. Ottawa general manager Steve Staios signed the 2021 first-round pick to a one-year, two-way contract for the upcoming season, keeping the winger in the fold as the club continues to sort out how much ceiling he still has to reach.
Boucher spent last season with the Belleville Senators, where he played 47 games and supplied 12 goals and 14 assists, a solid step for a player still trying to establish momentum. For Ottawa, the hope is straightforward: stay healthy, keep developing, and turn a prospect once viewed as a big swing into someone who can eventually matter at the NHL level. [Read more 🡒]