Nashville Predators Acquire 21st Overall Pick, Select Cameron Reid
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Ottawa Senators have traded the 21st overall selection of the 2025 NHL Draft to the Nashville Predators for the 23rd and 67th overall picks. The Predators have selected Cameron Reid from the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers as the franchise’s newest player at the time of writing.
Reid joins the Predators’ system as a very high-floor defensive prospect, being projected right around the time of selection if not a few spots higher. He recently completed his second season with the Rangers, scoring 14 goals and 54 points in 67 games with a +39 rating.
Unfortunately, Reid looked a bit weaker in the postseason, tallying five assists in 14 postseason contests with a -5 rating. It was an identical output to last year’s postseason in four additional games.
Although he’s mostly associated with the two-way archetype, Reid’s offensive capabilities are the best part of his game. He is an exceptional skater with advanced hockey IQ for his age, and his draft stock rose this season due to his effortless joining of the rush.
In all seriousness, shot selection may be his only true weakness, which is true of most younger defensemen, anyway. If he continues his developmental trajectory, Reid should have no issue being a top-four blueliner on Nashville’s roster and finding a role on both special teams units.
Senators Notes: First-Round Pick, Forsberg, Merilainen, Søgaard
After qualifying for the postseason for the first time since the 2016-17 season, speculation began that the Ottawa Senators could look to make a notable addition this summer to continue their winning ways. It doesn’t appear that an addition of that magnitude will be made at the draft, as General Manager Steve Staios shared on TSN 1200 that the Senators are more inclined to move down in the first round, rather than move up.
The Senators should have quality options available to them with the 21st overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft. Still, it makes little sense to move up in this summer’s draft, which has been perceived as weaker than normal, unless they’re willing to make an offer for a top-four selection. According to PHR’s 2025 NHL Mock Draft by Gabriel Foley, the Senators are projected to select center Cole McKinney from the U.S. National Team Development Program, should they retain their pick.
As a counterpoint, the same reason it makes little sense for Ottawa to move up in the draft could be the same reason another team isn’t interested in helping them move down for additional assets. Teams may not see much discrepancy in talent from picks 20 to 32nd, giving them little reason to include additional draft picks to move up a few spots in the draft order.
Other notes from the Senators:
- Stemming from the same interview with TSN, Bruce Garrioch reports that the Senators are interested in re-signing Anton Forsberg, but it’s not a priority. The expectation is that Forsberg will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and make a decision then. Forsberg is coming off a quality season as Ottawa’s backup netminder, managing an 11-12-3 season in 30 games with a .901 SV% and 2.72 GAA. AFP Analytics projects a two-year, $3.4MM contract for Forsberg, which should be feasible for a team with $10.7MM in cap space.
- If the Senators and Forsberg can’t agree on a contract moving forward, Staios suggests he’s comfortable with Ottawa’s in-house options. Garrioch shares that the Senators would use Leevi Merilainen or Mads Søgaard as the backup next season, with a competition taking place during training camp and preseason. Both netminders played sparingly for Ottawa in the 2024-25 season, with the former maintaining a .925 SV% through 12 games. Still, Søgaard is the only one signed through next season, with Merilainen entering the summer months as a restricted free agent.
Ottawa Could Show Interest In Boeser
- The Senators are expected to show interest in pending UFA winger Brock Boeser if he gets to the open market, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Ottawa was 30th in the NHL in goals scored at five-on-five and Boeser, who has notched roughly 26 goals per year over the last five seasons, would certainly help in that regard. However, affording him could be a challenge. The Sens have around $10.75MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, but have made it known that they don’t plan to be a cap-spending team in 2025-26. Considering that Boeser could command more than $8MM per season in free agency, he might be out of their price range unless they can open up money elsewhere first.
Sens And Giroux Still Working On Base Salary And Bonus Structure In Contract Talks
Earlier this weekend, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in his latest 32 Thoughts column that the Senators and Claude Giroux were battling over the bonus structure of his next deal. However, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch adds that at this point, the base salary is still being worked on as well, with the belief that Giroux’s camp is looking for a salary around teammate David Perron’s $4MM; Ottawa is coming in below that. As long as the 37-year-old signs a one-year contract, Giroux is eligible for performance incentives, including games played, points, and team playoff success. While his days of being a top-line option are long gone, Giroux still projects as one of the better options available in free agency coming off a 50-point season.
Gabriel Dumont Announces Retirement
According to a team announcement, longtime captain for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, Gabriel Dumont, has announced his retirement from professional hockey. Dumont, 34, recently completed his 15th professional season.
Dumont’s entrance into professional hockey came in the fifth round of the 2009 NHL Draft, when the Montreal Canadiens selected him with the 139th overall pick. He subsequently had a promising year with the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs, scoring 51 goals and 93 points in 62 games with an impressive +43 rating.
Unfortunately, that was the last of Dumont’s high-scoring days for quite some time. He spent the next six years buried in the AHL in the Canadiens organization, scoring 92 goals and 203 points in 389 AHL contests, while managing one goal and three points in 18 NHL games.
After the 2015-16 season, Dumont finally reached free agency and chose to sign a one-year agreement with the Tampa Bay Lightning. This was Dumont’s largest opportunity to play at the top level, scoring two goals and four points in 39 games for the Bolts, while averaging 9:40 of ice time per night. After a brief stint with the Ottawa Senators after being claimed off waivers, Dumont later returned to the Lightning organization, again via waivers, a few months later.
Despite posting a solid 15 goals and 43 points in 59 games for the Crunch in his first year as captain during the 2018-19 campaign, Dumont chose to leave the following summer, signing a two-year agreement with the Minnesota Wild. Dumont largely played in the AHL with Minnesota, scoring 20 goals and 46 points in 68 AHL contests, and going scoreless in three NHL appearances over two years.
The beginning of the 2021-22 season signified Dumont’s last move in his professional career and ended his NHL tenure. Syracuse’s former captain returned, again taking on the same leadership role, for the next four years. Unfortunately, Dumont couldn’t lead the Crunch very deep into the Calder Cup playoffs, but did have the best individual season of his career in 2021-22, scoring 30 goals and 62 points in 75 games.
The former fifth-round selection in the 2009 NHL Draft concluded his AHL career with a total of 202 goals and 459 points across 747 games, playing for the Crunch, Iowa Wild, Hamilton Bulldogs, and St. John’s IceCaps. In addition, he recorded four goals and nine points in 90 NHL appearances with the Canadiens, Lightning, Senators, and Wild. PHR congratulates Dumont on a quality professional career and wishes him the best in retirement.
Fabian Zetterlund Signs Three-Year Extension With Senators
8:41 a.m.: The Senators confirmed Zetterlund has signed a three-year extension as reported.
6:48 a.m.: Senators pending RFA winger Fabian Zetterlund has agreed to a three-year extension with the club, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The deal is worth $12.825MM with a cap hit of $4.275MM. He’ll be a UFA upon expiry in 2028. The contract does not include trade protection, per PuckPedia. They were also the first to report that the two sides were nearing an agreement on Wednesday night. Zetterlund’s extension will be paid out entirely in base salary and will earn him $3.8MM in 2025-26, $4.3MM in 2026-27, and $4.725MM in 2027-28.
Zetterlund, 26 in August, was acquired by the Sens from the Sharks quite literally at the trade deadline for a package that included a second-round pick and center prospect Zack Ostapchuk. It was surprising to see San Jose part ways with him. He had looked promising in a top-six role since being acquired from the Devils in the Timo Meier swap a few years ago, posting a 20-goal, 44-point campaign in 2023-24. He was on track to do so again with a 17-19–36 scoring line in 64 games at the time of the trade, but they either valued the offered return from Ottawa higher than Zetterlund’s on-ice value or believed they wouldn’t be able to come to an agreement as he reached free agency.
The tail end of 2024-25 saw Zetterlund struggle to find consistency in Ottawa. He bounced around the lineup upon arrival, logging significant time in top-six usage with Tim Stützle but also seeing some deployment as low as the fourth line with Adam Gaudette and Matthew Highmore. His offensive production underwhelmed, only managing two goals and five points in 20 games in a Sens jersey, averaging 14:18 per game after seeing nearly 17 minutes per game in San Jose.
The bright side? All five of Zetterlund’s points came in his final 12 games as he was bumped up the lineup, and he had four points in six games to end the regular season. He didn’t manage to log a point in their first-round loss to the Maple Leafs, though. He ended the year with a 19-22–41 scoring line in 84 games, landing a few extra appearances thanks to the trade. It was south of the 20-goal mark he was on pace for with his start to the season in the Bay Area, but he still managed to crack 40 points for the second year in a row.
If Zetterlund gets more consistent top-six deployment out of the gate in 2025-26, he should be able to return to his San Jose levels of production and be a valuable top-nine winger for the Sens at that price point. The Swedish forward also had good possession impacts this past season, posting positive relative Corsi shares at even strength with both the Sharks and Senators. He also posted a decent 52.4 xGF% in his even-strength minutes with Ottawa, understandably seeing a spike there from his San Jose numbers on a much more competent two-way club. He’ll aim to turn those figures into more noticeable offensive numbers en route to being a key secondary scorer for the Sens.
The contract comes in a bit north of his three-year, $3.92MM AAV projection from AFP Analytics, but still seems like a reasonable bet based on the offense he’s provided on the whole over the past two years. It does reaffirm their cap crunch, though, and likely turns up the urgency on a money-clearing move a bit with top UFA Claude Giroux still without an extension. The Sens have $10.75MM in space with six roster spots still to fill after Zetterlund’s new contract, according to PuckPedia. With Giroux projected to land north of $5MM on his next deal, that means they’d only have around $5.5MM to allocate to five roster spots to round out the club, limiting them to depth adds only in free agency.
Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Claude Giroux, Senators Continue Negotiations
The Ottawa Senators and pending unrestricted free agent Claude Giroux have reportedly been in contract talks for several weeks. While the two sides remain at a stalemate, they recently met in an effort to close the gap, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen.
Garrioch shares his belief that the Sens would like to bring Giroux back on a one-year deal. While Giroux just put up a solid 50-point campaign (and added five points in six playoff contests), it did represent a 14-point decrease from the prior. A one-year deal could protect Ottawa from the potential of the 37-year-old Giroux completely hitting the wall.
Giroux recently completed a three-year, $19.5MM contract with the Senators in which he scored 71 goals and 193 points in 245 games. With 1,263 games played and 1,116 points to his name, Giroux boasts a resume that warrants consideration for the Hall of Fame. He’s also contributed 86 points in 101 playoff games, giving the young Senators a veteran presence as they aim to take the next step. The team ended its eight-year playoff drought this past season, and with key pieces like Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Dylan Cozens, Jake Sanderson, and Thomas Chabot locked in for the foreseeable future, Ottawa appears poised to become a legitimate contender.
For his part, Giroux appears to have an interest in returning to Ottawa. However, with fewer than two weeks remaining until free agency, the Senators have just $15 million in cap space (per PuckPedia), and as Garrioch notes, the team has also held discussions with fellow pending free agent forwards Adam Gaudette, Nick Cousins, and Matthew Highmore. They also face key decisions regarding restricted free agents like forward Fabian Zetterlund and goalie Leevi Merilainen. It remains to be seen where Giroux falls in that list of priorities.
If Giroux does hit the open market, Garrioch believes the Montreal Canadiens would have interest in his services. Like Ottawa, the Canadiens have a young, talented core leading the way. However, with just over $6 million in cap space (per PuckPedia), they’d need to get creative to add Giroux and other assets once free agency begins.
Senators Sign Lassi Thomson To One-Year Deal
According to a team announcement, the Ottawa Senators have signed defenseman Lassi Thomson to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2025-26 NHL season. Shortly before, TSN’s Bruce Garrioch had reported that the Senators were closing in on a new deal with Thomson.
Given that it’s a two-way deal and paying Thomson a league minimum at the NHL level, the contract indicates Thomson will play in a familiar depth role next season. The former 19th overall selection of the 2019 NHL Draft is coming off a one-year deal with the SHL’s Malmö Redhawks in which he scored 17 goals and 29 points in 50 games.
There’s little expectation that Thomson will match or get close to that goal-scoring pace at the NHL level. He’s achieved a 10-goal campaign in the 2021-22 season with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, but his career minor league production sits at 24 goals and 93 points in 202 games.
His production has understandably been worse at the NHL level. Thomson played in 18 games for the Senators from 2021 to 2023, hardly enough to make a judgment call on his future worth in the sport’s top league. Still, Thomson left nothing but a poor impression in those games, tallying five assists and a -10 rating with a dreadful 84.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength.
Ottawa is hoping that a strong season overseas will help Thomson to regain some confidence as he re-enters the North American landscape. The Senators desperately needed more depth on the right side of their defensive core, and Thomson gives them a readily available option to stash in the AHL for much of the year.
Free Agent Focus: Ottawa Senators
Free agency is now under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Senators.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Fabian Zetterlund – The 25-year-old Swedish winger is coming off his second consecutive season with over 40 points, but managed just five points in 20 games with the Senators after being acquired from the Sharks. He added zero points in the team’s first-round matchup against the Maple Leafs. Zetterlund, however, does provide more than just an offensive element, and established career highs in hits (154) and blocked shots (81) during the 2024-25 season. Originally a third-round pick by the New Jersey Devils in the 2017 draft, Zetterlund has 20-goal potential that could draw interest from other teams. That, coupled with his offensive struggles with the Senators, might push him down Ottawa’s list of priorities this offseason.
D Donovan Sebrango – Sebrango made his NHL debut last season but appeared in just two games. The 23-year-old, who was selected in the third round (63rd overall) by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2020 NHL draft, has shown flashes of offensive upside at the AHL level, recording 20 points in 50 games last season with the Belleville Senators. At 6’2, 220, he also possesses the physical traits that can make him a solid two-way player. Although the Senators have seven defensemen under contract for next season, bringing Sebrango back to provide organizational depth could be a sensible move.
G Leevi Merilainen – At just 22 years old, Merilainen may have done enough last season to earn a shot at the team’s backup role. While Linus Ullmark has a firm hold on the starting job for the foreseeable future, Merilainen made a strong impression during his first taste of NHL action, signaling a potential breakthrough. The team’s third-round selection in 2020, Merilainen posted an 8-3-1 record for the Senators this past season, with a .925 save percentage and 1.99 GAA. He added three shutouts, meaning he stopped every shot he faced in 25 percent of his starts. With Anton Forsberg set to hit free agency, the door is open for a Merilainen-Ullmark tandem in goal. The question now is what kind of raise Merilainen will command on his next deal.
Other RFAs: F Vitaly Abramov, F Alex Formenton, F Jan Jenik, F Jamieson Rees, F Tristen Robins, F Philippe Daoust, F Xavier Bourgault, D Lassi Thomson, D Maxence Guenette
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Claude Giroux – At 37 years old, Giroux is still getting it done. While his production has dipped over the last few seasons, Giroux still put up 50 points in 2024-25 and added five points in six playoff contests. His veteran experience and steady production are clearly valued by the Senators, as the two sides have reportedly been in contract negotiations for several weeks. Giroux recently completed a three-year, $19.5MM contract he signed with the Senators in which he has scored 71 goals and 193 points in 245 games. After spending 15 years with the Flyers, Giroux has found a new home in Ottawa, and it appears that partnership is poised to continue. The remaining questions are how long the new deal will be and what the annual cap hit will look like.
F Adam Gaudette – In his second stint with Ottawa, Gaudette enjoyed a breakout campaign, posting a career-high 19 goals over 81 games. Despite averaging just 10:25 of ice time per night, he came close to hitting the 20-goal mark and chipped in with a goal and two assists during the playoffs. While his career-best season will undoubtedly earn him a raise on the open market — even if it was boosted by an unsustainably high 21 percent shooting percentage — Gaudette may prefer to remain in Ottawa, where head coach Travis Green’s system clearly suits his style of play.
D Travis Hamonic – A veteran of 900 NHL games, Hamonic is coming off of a disappointing season where he posted just seven points and a minus-16 rating in 59 games. Hamonic battled a lower-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for multiple weeks, and he also struggled in the playoffs, recording zero points and a minus-4 rating in five games. In his prime, Hamonic routinely skated 20-plus minutes a night and provided stout two-way play. Now, he’s coming off two injury-shortened seasons and has struggled to make an impact when in the lineup, posting a minus-26 rating over that span. A change of scenery will probably serve both parties well.
G Anton Forsberg – In his fifth season with Ottawa, Forsberg posted solid numbers and reestablished himself as a reliable backup after a disappointing 2023-24 campaign. In 30 appearances on the year, Forsberg posted a 11-12-3 record to go along with a .901 save percentage and 2.72 GAA. His production was in line with his career averages, and his three shutouts marked a new personal best. However, the organization may have to put Forsberg’s potential return to Ottawa in question, as Merilainen’s youth and upside will likely take precedence. If Forsberg hits the open market, he’ll likely have no trouble finding a new home, as many teams would welcome a reliable veteran presence between the pipes.
Other UFAs: F Nick Cousins, F Matthew Highmore, F Hayden Hodgson, D Dennis Gilbert, F Angus Crookshank (Group6), F Cole Reinhardt (Group6), F Wyatt Bongiovanni (Group6), D Jeremy Davies, D Filip Roos (Group6)
Projected Cap Space
The Senators will enter free agency with just north of $15MM with a projected cap space, per PuckPedia. It’s a solid amount to work with on the surface, but if deals with Giroux and the team’s restricted free agents come together, they will take up a significant portion of that cap space, which could limit Ottawa’s ability to pursue some of the bigger names on the open market.
Senators Expected To Begin Extension Talks With Adam Gaudette Soon
With free agency now less than three weeks away, the Senators have been busy trying to get their top pending unrestricted free agent, Claude Giroux, locked up before he hits the open market. It appears that he’s not the only UFA that they intend to try to sign early as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Sens are expected to start talks on a new deal with Adam Gaudette.
The 28-year-old has largely bounced around his eight-year professional career, spending time with five different organizations. Gaudette came back for a second stint with Ottawa last summer, inking a one-year, two-way deal with an eye on him being a key contributor with AHL Belleville and coming up for stints with the big club when needed.
That didn’t go quite as planned. In fact, it went better. While Gaudette cleared waivers in October, he never actually suited up in the minors this season. Beyond a few one-day stints with Belleville, he was exclusively up with Ottawa. Along the way, he played in 81 games, scoring a career-best 19 goals along with seven assists; that goal total is particularly notable considering he averaged just 10:25 per game of ice time. He added three points in six games in their opening-round playoff loss to Toronto.
While Gaudette had 33 points back in 59 games with Vancouver, this was his first season of being a full-time NHL player. Overall, he has suited up in 301 contests at the top level, notching 46 goals and 50 assists along the way. All told, not a bad showing from a fifth-round pick.
However, despite the success he has had at times, Gaudette has yet to earn a seven-figure single-season salary throughout his career. He should have a chance to do that this time around but he might not beat the $1MM mark by too much considering the limited ice time he had this season and the fact he had primarily been a minor leaguer the previous two years. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Ottawa, like a lot of teams, try to keep their spots at the end of the roster close to the minimum salary to increase their spending flexibility so it will be interesting to see if an early agreement can be worked out to keep Gaudette off the open market.