Ottawa Senators Third Pairing Options

The Ottawa Senators have been busy this offseason addressing their goaltending situation with the addition of Linus Ullmark and trying to improve their forward depth by signing free agents David Perron, Michael Amadio, and Noah Gregor. The team also shipped out defenseman Jakob Chychrun to the Washington Capitals for fellow defenseman Nick Jensen and a 2026 third-round draft pick. The trade for Jensen was widely panned but will likely improve Ottawa’s overall team defense.

Ottawa has a decent top-four that consists of Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, Artem Zub and the aforementioned Jensen, but the team could run into serious issues as the depth beyond those four is very weak. Frankie Corrado spoke with TSN 1200 this morning and wondered if the Senators need to shop the market for an additional defenseman to address the depth issue behind their top four. Currently, the Senators’ bottom pairing options consist of veteran Travis Hamonic, Jacob Bernard-Docker, and youngster Tyler Kleven, but Corrado wonders if the Senators should explore some potential improvements.

If the Senators want to fill out their bottom pairing internally, it appears that Kleven has the inside track for a role on the left side. The Fargo, North Dakota native was the Senators second-round pick in 2020 and played in nine games last season. While he didn’t put up much offense, he didn’t appear out of place in the NHL. On the right side, Hamonic struggled last season and appeared to be a buyout candidate this summer. It appears Ottawa is content with bringing him back, but at this stage of his career, he is best suited as a seventh defenseman. Bernard-Docker was decent for Ottawa last season but plays a simple game and isn’t particularly strong with the puck on his stick.

If the Senators explore free agency, there isn’t much available that would be a major improvement. Justin Schultz would bring an offensive element to the third pair and could improve the team’s power play but would add to the team’s defensive woes. Kevin Shattenkirk might be the best option for Ottawa on the free agent market as the 35-year-old is still a strong skater and could slot in on a second pair in a pinch. He is stronger defensively than most of the remaining free-agent options and could represent a small upgrade for the Senators.

If Ottawa is to explore the trade market for a defenseman it is unlikely they will want to give up many assets as the team has moved a pile of first-round picks in recent years and have one of the worst farm systems in the NHL. As Corrado suggests on TSN, the Senators might be best to explore a trade to take on an undesirable contract for a defenseman and add an asset in the process. The Senators currently have $3.6MM in cap space and could conceivably add a sizeable cap hit to fill out their third pairing. If this is the route Ottawa takes, there is no shortage of bad contracts that could be had.