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Senators Opt To Retain 2025 First-Round Pick

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May 14: The Senators have indeed retained their 2025 first-round pick and will push the forfeiture penalty down the road to 2026 in hopes of having the penalty reduced, per PuckPedia.

May 11: After a strong second half of the season, the Senators worked their way into a playoff spot for the first time since 2017.  While they fell in six games to Toronto, it was certainly a step in the right direction for them.

However, they are still required to forfeit their own first-round selection either this year or next.  That stems from failing to disclose Evgenii Dadonov’s no-trade clause when they moved him to Vegas back in 2021.  That was realized less than a year later when the Golden Knights tried to flip him to Anaheim at the 2022 trade deadline, but the Ducks were on his no-trade list which eventually came to light.  Upset about the matter, Vegas asked the league to investigate, eventually leading to the Sens having to forfeit a pick in 2024, 2025, or 2026.

Given that they held the seventh overall pick last year, it made perfect sense to hold onto that one and the Sens used it on blueliner Carter Yakemchuk.  But with their run up the standings, Ottawa is set to pick 21st overall in next month’s draft.  Since it’s the first time since 2017 that their top pick fell in the 20s, there’s a case to make that this might be the right time to pay that penalty.

However, that doesn’t appear to be the case.  Speaking with reporters earlier this week including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, GM Steve Staios indicated that it’s “highly likely” that they keep the selection and push the forfeiture penalty into next season.

Late last year, team owner Michael Andlauer publicly admitted he’s hoping that Commissioner Gary Bettman will eventually reduce or eliminate that penalty altogether.  That approach isn’t entirely without precedent as a similar outcome happened with New Jersey’s penalty for the initial 17-year contract they gave Ilya Kovalchuk, one that was ruled as salary cap circumvention.  The deal was later reworked to a 15-year agreement and approved; had that deal been played out in full, it would have expired this summer.

At the time the initial penalty was assessed, New Jersey was required to forfeit a first-round pick over a three-year stretch.  But after not doing so in the first two years, Bettman opted for a lesser punishment, simply moving the first-round pick in the third year to the back of the round instead of parting with it altogether.  Speculatively, Andlauer may be hoping for a similar outcome here although Bettman’s public comments to Garrioch from November indicate that’s not being considered.

Accordingly, it appears the game of chicken, so to speak, will go on into the third and final year as the Sens will hope for a lesser penalty at that time.  In the meantime, barring a change of heart or a strong trade offer, it appears that they’re set on making the 21st selection on the opening night of the draft next month.

Filip Roos Signs In Sweden

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Senators blueliner Filip Roos was slated to become a Group Six unrestricted free agent this summer but has opted not to test the NHL UFA market.  Instead, SHL Farjestad announced that they’ve signed the blueliner to a two-year contract.

The 26-year-old came to North America in 2022, signing an entry-level deal with Chicago as an undrafted free agent.  He played in 17 games with the Blackhawks the following season and held his own while logging over 16 minutes a night of playing time.  However, he only saw action in four NHL games last season and wound up being non-tendered last June.

That brought him to Ottawa in free agency back in July as he inked a one-year, two-way deal on the second day of free agency.  The hope was that he’d serve as quality depth with AHL Belleville and potentially fill in when injuries arose on the back end.  The first part happened as he was an important part of Belleville’s back end where he chipped in with 17 assists in 68 games but didn’t receive any recalls during the season.

While Roos’ performance would have been enough to secure another two-way NHL deal this summer, it appears he decided that he’d be better off returning home for now.  But a good showing over the next two seasons could be enough to get him back on the NHL radar at that time.

Stutzle To Play For Germany At Worlds

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While he wasn’t on Germany’s initial roster for the World Championship, Senators forward Tim Stutzle will now join that team, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.  He indicated last weekend that he hoped to play but when he wasn’t originally named to the team, it looked as if either he’d had a change of heart or didn’t receive medical clearance.  The 23-year-old led the Sens in scoring this season with 24 goals and a career-high 55 assists in 82 regular season games before adding five points in six playoff contests.  Germany opens up its tournament action today but they’ll have to wait until Tuesday before Stutzle is able to suit up versus Norway as he’ll miss both games this weekend.

Senators Part Ways With AGM Ryan Bowness

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The Senators have informed teams they won’t be keeping assistant general manager Ryan Bowness, sources tell Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. He’s free to pursue front office vacancies elsewhere.

The son of longtime NHL head coach Rick Bowness has been with Ottawa since the 2022-23 campaign, with most of his duties revolving around managing their AHL affiliate in Belleville. He was previously a team manager and pro scout with the Thrashers/Jets from 2009 to 2016 and also with the Penguins from 2016 to 2022, spending his last three years in Pittsburgh as the team’s director of professional scouting.

He’s now got over 15 years of experience in NHL front offices, quite a high number for a 41-year-old. While he doesn’t appear to be a candidate for the Islanders’ GM vacancy, he could be a name the Kings want to talk to in their search for Rob Blake’s successor. Even if he doesn’t land that gig, he shouldn’t have much trouble finding an AGM role elsewhere as teams continue to make minor staff alterations over the summer.

The B-Sens posted a respectable 103-86-27 record over the last three seasons under Bowness’ management, but only made the Calder Cup Playoffs once in a stacked North Division. Notable trade pickups the Penguins made while Bowness was their director of pro scouting included Jason Zucker, Jeff Carter, and Rickard Rakell.

Senators Sign Nikolas Matinpalo To Two-Year Extension

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The Senators announced they’ve signed defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo to a two-year extension worth $1.75MM. He was set to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. He’ll carry a cap hit of $875K for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons.

It’s an important depth signing for Ottawa. Matinpalo emerged as a regular in the lineup down the stretch, playing in 23 of 25 games coming out of the 4 Nations break. Largely replacing struggling veteran Travis Hamonic’s minutes, the 26-year-old Matinpalo was used up and down the lineup but mainly in third-pairing duties with Tyler Kleven. He finished the year with four points and a minus-two rating in 41 regular-season games after making just four NHL appearances the year prior, his first in North America after signing with Ottawa as an undrafted free agent the preceding offseason.

While Matinpalo’s regular-season possession impacts were pedestrian and he averaged a paltry 12:37 per game, his performance took off in the playoffs. He played all six games in Ottawa’s first-round loss to the Maple Leafs, and his unit with Kleven was Ottawa’s best defensively out of their three regular pairings at even strength. In fact, they were the Sens’ only pairing to outscore Toronto at even strength (3-2) and controlled 55.3% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck.

Now on his way to represent Finland at the World Championship, the 6’3″, 212-lb righty will be penciled onto Ottawa’s opening night roster in the fall. Whether he’s in the lineup or the press box out of the gate remains to be seen, but he’s done enough to secure an NHL paycheck for the next couple of years. He’ll be a UFA upon expiry in 2027.

Image courtesy of Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images.

Ullmark Wanted To Play At Worlds But Was Not Invited

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  • Speaking at Ottawa’s locker clean-out day, Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark told reporters, including TSN’s Claire Hanna (Twitter link), that while he indicated that he’d have liked to play for Sweden at the upcoming World Championship, the team has decided to go in a different direction. Sweden is a co-host of the event, but they already have their three goalies for the event in Samuel Ersson, Arvid Soderblom, and Arvid Holm.

Senators Notes: Tkachuk, Giroux, Jensen, Pinto, Worlds

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While the Senators are disappointed by a first-round loss in the Battle of Ontario, there are plenty of reasons for optimism in the future after ending a seven-year playoff drought. One is the continued top-end play of captain Brady Tkachuk, who was still dealing with the hip injury he sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off during the postseason, he told Claire Hanna of TSN.

“The hip happened that Sweden game, took some time coming back to try to get it as good as possible,” Tkachuk said. “Now it’s just, take the time to get that all healed up… it could heal up in the next couple of weeks.”

Entering a pivotal 2025-26 campaign for the Sens as they look to establish themselves in the upper echelon of the Atlantic Division, it’s good news that their leading goal-scorer doesn’t expect any lingering effects and should head into training camp at full health. Signed through 2027-28 at an $8.2MM cap hit, he still led the Sens in playoff scoring with a 4-3–7 line and a plus-two rating through six games. While his 0.76 points per game in the regular season were his lowest in four years, he still topped Ottawa’s roster with 29 goals and would have registered his fourth straight 30-goal campaign if not for missing 10 games.

Here’s more on the Senators:

  • Veteran pending unrestricted free agent winger Claude Giroux wants to continue his career in his hometown of Ottawa. He hasn’t talked to Sens general manager Steve Staios about a contract extension yet, but still feels that he can be an impact player, he told Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. He’s been extremely durable since signing a three-year, $19.5MM contract with Ottawa in 2022, only missing one game. His point totals have steadily tailed off, though, and the 37-year-old scored 50 points in 81 games in 2024-25 for the second-lowest per-game output of his career over a full season. AFP Analytics projects a two-year extension for Giroux just north of his current cap hit, but it stands to reason he’ll be happy to re-up for the same number or slightly less. He only made $5.5MM in salary this year, so a marginal decrease wouldn’t even be a pay cut compared to the final season of his expiring contract.
  • Defenseman Nick Jensen may need offseason surgery for the undisclosed injury that plagued him down the stretch, he told Garrioch. Ottawa sat Jensen for two of its last four regular-season games, and he missed a couple of multi-game stretches earlier in the campaign. The 34-year-old was still an effective shutdown presence in his first season with the Sens, posting 21 points and a +18 rating in 71 regular-season games. He averaged nearly 21 minutes per game in the playoffs and controlled 57.6% of shot attempts when he was on the ice at 5-on-5 despite not recording a point.
  • Young center Shane Pinto is entering the back half of his two-year, $7.5MM contract and is interested in discussing a long-term extension after he becomes eligible to sign one on July 1, he told TSN 1200 Ottawa. After sitting out half of the 2023-24 campaign due to a suspension for violating the league’s sports wagering policy, he posted a career-best 21 goals and 37 points in 70 games in 2024-25 while shouldering top-six minutes.
  • Defensemen Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot declined invites from USA Hockey and Hockey Canada, respectively, to join their national teams for the 2025 World Championship in Denmark and Sweden, with the former citing rest as his reasoning (per Hanna and TSN 1200). Germany hasn’t yet approached star center Tim Stützle, he said, but will say yes once they reach out in the coming days (according to Garrioch). Dylan Cozens also said he’d welcome being added to Canada’s roster if asked, per TSN 1200.

Senators Recall Twelve Players

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With the Senators in the playoffs and their farm team in Belleville not making the playoffs, Ottawa has determined which players will be joining the team as their Black Aces.  The team announced (Twitter link) that forwards Zack MacEwen, Angus Crookshank, Stephen Halliday, Cole Reinhardt, Jan Jenik, Tyler Boucher, Garrett Pilon, and Wyatt Bongiovanni, along with defenseman Donovan Sebrango and goaltender Mads Sogaard have all been recalled from Belleville.

In addition, the Sens have also recalled two players from the major junior ranks.  Defenseman Carter Yakemchuk was brought up from WHL Calgary while blueliner Tomas Hamara was recalled from OHL Brantford.

Among the recalls, MacEwen saw the most game action with Ottawa this season, playing in 21 games where he had three points and 49 hits in a little under eight minutes a night of action.  Reinhardt had two points in 17 outings while Crookshank had an assist in eight contests.  Jenik, Sebrango, and Sogaard all got into a pair of games and were held off the scoresheet while Sogaard allowed eight goals on just 40 shots.

Looking at the AHL recalls who didn’t play with Ottawa this season, Halliday and Pilon were Belleville’s top scorers, checking in with 51 and 48 points, respectively.  Meanwhile, Bongiovanni tied Crookshank for the team lead in goals with 22.  Boucher, meanwhile, had just 10 points in 47 games this season, not a great showing for the tenth overall pick from 2021.

Yakemchuk very briefly made Ottawa’s roster out of training camp before being sent back without playing a game.  He was the seventh pick in last year’s draft and had a solid year with the Hitmen, picking up 49 points in 56 games.  As for Hamara, he also checked in just below the point-per-game mark with the Bulldogs, notching 55 in 58 appearances.

These recalls could be short-lived, however.  Ottawa is down 3-0 in their opening round series against Toronto so the series could be over as soon as tonight.  But regardless of how long their postseason push lasts, the Sens now have their extra skaters in place.

Cousins, Senators Fined For Warm-Up Incident

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The NHL Department of Player Safety issued fines against Ottawa forward Nick Cousins for a pre-game incident that occurred prior to Thursday night’s game three against the Maple Leafs, per a department statement. The Senators were also fined for the incident.

During warm-ups, Cousins wristed a shot at Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz as he stretched in the neutral zone. The action will cost Cousins $2,083.33, the maximum allowable amount under the CBA for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Senators were also fined $25,000. Cousins, who was activated from LTIR on April 13 after missing months with a knee injury, has appeared in two of three games in the series, averaging just 9:34 of ice time per game.

Being pegged as “Warm-up Gate,” TSN insider Chris Johnston believes the league is taking the event so seriously to avoid an additional pre-game incident from taking place in the series, which could cause emotions to boil over. Toronto head coach Craig Berube laughed off the incident (and even shared a story of his playing days when Tie Domi and Ron Hextall got into it over a similar situation), while Sens coach Travis Green also made light of the situation.

With the Sens one game away from being swept by Toronto, Green did take a serious tone when noting how “disheartening” the series has been up to this point, per The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie. While games two and three went to overtime, Toronto came out on top in both contests, essentially dashing Ottawa’s hopes of a series win. After an eight-year playoff drought, the Senators are just one loss away from elimination.

With that said, Green noted his team won’t go down without a fight.

“It’s disheartening, to say the least. Sometimes playoff hockey comes down to little inches or bounces, and we were on the wrong end of it tonight,” he said. “The one thing I know about our team is, we’re not going to lie down, we’re not going to go away, we’re going to be ready to play,”

Ontario Notes: Warmups, Green, Matthews

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The Senators are facing potential league discipline for “pregame shenanigans” in warmups before last night’s Game 3 overtime loss, relays Darren Dreger of TSN. The NHL is investigating whether to assess fines or other penalties to the organization for shooting pucks at Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz at the opposing end of the rink. It’s hard to imagine that affecting Ottawa’s roster construction ability as they face a sweep in Game 4 on Saturday. Incidents of that nature usually only ever draw fines assessed to the organization at large, assuming any supplemental discipline is handed down at all. It’s still an unwelcome distraction for the Sens as they try to avoid going winless in their first postseason appearance in eight years.

Here’s more on the Battle of Ontario:

  • As discouraging as a second straight overtime loss was, Senators head coach Travis Green remains quite pleased with how his team has fared in the series, writes Julian McKenzie of The Athletic. “I liked a lot — we were ready to play. I liked our start. I thought Toronto pushed like a good team does. I thought we hung in there. It was a pretty even game,” Green said. Goaltender Linus Ullmark added, “We’ve said it from the start it’s going to be a long one. It’s going to be a tight one and we’re going to do everything in our power to make it to seven (games) now.” The Senators have outshot the Leafs 81-65 during the series, but a disastrous 44.4% showing on the penalty kill and Ullmark’s -3.9 goals saved above expected (per MoneyPuck) have been enough to swing the series in Toronto’s favor.
  • While Leafs captain Auston Matthews has continued an underwhelming season in the goal-scoring department with one snipe through three games against Ottawa, his all-around play has still made him one of the most dominant players in the postseason thus far, Michael Amato of Sportsnet opines. “He’s great at creating turnovers, and when you do that often enough, you’ll get plenty of opportunities to turn defense into offense on a quick counterattack,” Amato writes. “Matthews demonstrated that in Game 1 against the Ottawa Senators, breaking up a pass in the defensive zone and quickly threading a perfect feed to Marner for a breakaway, as the Leafs never looked back in claiming a dominant opening game victory.” Of course, Matthews is still tied for seventh in postseason scoring with an additional four assists.

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