Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Senators Rumors

Senators Retain Seventh-Overall Pick, Defer Penalty To 2025 Or 2026

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The Senators have opted to retain the seventh overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft after failing to win either draw during Tuesday night’s lottery, general manager Steve Staios confirmed today (via Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch). Ottawa is now required to forfeit either their 2025 or 2026 first-round selection as a result of failing to properly inform the Golden Knights of winger Evgenii Dadonov’s no-trade clause in a July 2021 trade.

As was the case this year, the Senators will need to inform the league within 24 hours after the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery if they wish to retain their 2025 first-round choice or surrender their 2026 top pick. With Ottawa planning on challenging for postseason action after another difficult campaign this season, choosing to retain this year’s choice – likely the highest-value pick – was widely expected.

There will be a multitude of high-ceiling talents for the Sens to choose from in what’s billed as one of the deeper top 10s in recent memory. Checking in at seventh overall in TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s recent polling of NHL scouts is dynamic defenseman Zayne Parekh, who lit up the Ontario Hockey League this season with 33 goals and 96 points in 66 games for the Saginaw Spirit. Both those figures led all OHL defensemen, continuing to take leaps and bounds forward in his development after earning All-Rookie Team honors with Saginaw the year before. The Toronto-area native is a right-shot blue liner and is ever-so-slightly undersized at 6’0″ and 181 lbs, but they should almost definitely step into the NHL by 2025-26 if not next season. He’d be a welcome addition to a Sens defense prospect pool that lacks much NHL upside outside of shutdown D-man Tyler Kleven.

Other options potentially available in the Sens’ range are two-way blue-liner Sam Dickinson, offensive defenseman Zeev Buium, Finnish forward Konsta Helenius, and quickly-rising winger Tij Iginla. All would likely be top-five locks in weaker drafts.

Senators Must Make Decision On First Round Pick

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Buffalo News reporter Lance Lysowski writes that the Buffalo Sabres and the agent for goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have opened up talks on a contract extension for the young netminder. The 25-year-old hadn’t been able to find consistency in the NHL prior to last season but was able to assert himself and provide the Sabres with excellent goaltending as he went 27-22-4, with a .910 save percentage and a 2.57 GAA.

Luukkonen is due for a big pay increase from the $925K he made last season, and it will be interesting to see whether he and the Sabres opt for a bridge deal or a long-term commitment. If the two sides opt for arbitration or a bridge deal, Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Ilya Samsonov would be a good comparison after he signed a one-year contract for $3.55 million last summer.  The alternative to a short-term pact would be a longer-term deal and according to Jeff Marek of Sportsnet, that type of contract could run the Sabres between $4-5 million per season.

In other Eastern Conference notes:

  • With the NHL draft lottery complete, the Ottawa Senators will have 24 hours to decide whether to forfeit this year’s first-round pick or push the decision to 2025 or 2026 because of the invalid Evgenii Dadonov trade. Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun tweets that he doesn’t think the Senators will forfeit this year’s pick as Ottawa’s new management group headed by Steve Staios has ramped up their scouting efforts in preparation for this draft. The Senators hold the seventh overall pick after another disappointing season and will likely use the top-10 pick to add to their young core.
  • Luke DeCock of The News & Observer tweeted that the Carolina Hurricanes made Evgeny Kuznetsov a healthy scratch for game 2 of their second-round series against the New York Rangers. Max Comtois will make his NHL playoff debut, skating in Kuznetsov’s place. Carolina dropped the first game of the series on Sunday and have been receiving offensive contributions from Kuznetsov, despite him playing predominantly in a fourth-line role with limited power play time. The 31-year-old struggled in the regular season but has been good offensively in the playoffs, posting two goals and two assists in six games.

Hockey Canada Releases 2024 World Championship Roster

at CDT | by 9 Comments

May 7: Celebrini and Fantilli have returned home from Czechia, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. The former will participate in tonight’s 2024 NHL Draft Lottery, while Fantilli’s reasons for departing are undisclosed. It’s unclear whether they’ve been removed from the roster entirely. In a corresponding transaction, the team added Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois and Lightning forwards Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul to the roster.

May 3: Hockey Canada has released its roster of 22 players who will wear the maple leaf at the 2024 World Championship, which begins next week in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia. There are three open spots left to be filled throughout the tournament as more teams are eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Much like the initial World Championship roster that USA Hockey released weeks back, it’s almost completely made up of NHL talent – a rarity for the top-level countries at this tournament recently. The return and promise of future best-on-best international tournaments in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics has players and front offices looking at this year’s Worlds as a tune-up and initial evaluation for those events.

In fact, the only non-NHL player on Canada’s tournament-opening roster will be in the league next season. That’s presumptive 2024 first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini, who continues his 2023-24 campaign after taking home the Hobey Baker Award for the top collegiate player in his freshman season with Boston University. Their offense is highlighted and led by Blackhawks rookie phenom Connor Bedard and Kraken sniper Jared McCann, while Sabres defenders Bowen Byram and Owen Power highlight the back end. Blues netminder Jordan Binnington is expected to serve as the team’s starter.

The full roster is as follows:

F Connor Bedard (Blackhawks)
F Michael Bunting (Penguins)
F Macklin Celebrini (2024 draft-eligible)
F Dylan Cozens (Sabres)
F Adam Fantilli (Blue Jackets)
F Ridly Greig (Senators)
F Dylan Guenther (NHL Utah)
F Andrew Mangiapane (Flames)
F Jack McBain (NHL Utah)
F Jared McCann (Kraken)
F Dawson Mercer (Devils)
F Brandon Tanev (Kraken)

D Bowen Byram (Sabres)
D Kaiden Guhle (Canadiens)
D Jamie Oleksiak (Kraken)
D Colton Parayko (Blues)
D Owen Power (Sabres)
D Damon Severson (Blue Jackets)
D Olen Zellweger (Ducks)

G Jordan Binnington (Blues)
G Nico Daws (Devils)
G Joel Hofer (Blues)

Senators Name Travis Green Head Coach

at CDT | by 27 Comments

May 7: Green and the Senators have come to an agreement and he’ll be announced as the Sens’ next bench boss on Tuesday, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The Senators did indeed announce the move, confirming a four-year contract that will keep him behind the Ottawa bench through 2027-28.

May 6: The Senators are expected to finalize Travis Green as their next head coach, TSN’s Darren Dreger confirms Monday.

Green finished 2023-24 as the interim head coach for the Devils, who fired Lindy Ruff four days before the trade deadline in a last-ditch effort to make the playoffs. While he remained in consideration for their still-open vacancy, New Jersey granted him permission to speak to Ottawa as late as last week, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reported. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman also said on today’s “32 Thoughts” podcast that things were trending toward Green landing with the Sens.

It wasn’t a strong finish to the season under Green for the Devils. They managed to drop below the .500 mark despite having a record of 30-27-4 when they fired Ruff, finishing 13th in the Eastern Conference and 10 points behind the Capitals for the second wild-card spot.

Green shouldn’t be faulted for New Jersey missing the playoffs. That was nearly settled well before he took over, with number-one defenseman Dougie Hamilton missing nearly the whole season and the Devils’ five goaltenders cumulatively allowing 19 goals above average. But it is concerning he wasn’t able to at least keep up the pace set under Ruff, especially considering New Jersey received its best goaltending of the season to end the year thanks to deadline pickup Jake Allen’s .900 SV% in 12 starts.

The 53-year-old has been a part of the NHL back to 1992, when he embarked on a 14-year, 970-game career as a player that involved stops with the Islanders, Mighty Ducks, Coyotes, Maple Leafs and Bruins. He retired in 2008 following one season of play with EV Zug in the Swiss NLA, taking two seasons off before landing his first coaching gig as an assistant with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League.

Green spent three years in Portland, taking over as interim head coach in 2012-13 when Winterhawks fixture and former Penguins head coach Mike Johnston was suspended for offering improper player benefits and committing various recruitment violations in his dual GM/head coach capacity. He didn’t miss a beat, coaching a high-powered Winterhawks squad led by future NHLers Oliver Bjorkstrand, Seth Jones, Brendan Leipsic, Nic Petan and Ty Rattie to a WHL championship.

That put Green on NHL teams’ radar, and he landed a job in the Canucks organization the following summer as head coach of their AHL affiliate in Utica. He remained there for four seasons, including a Calder Cup Final appearance in 2015, before being promoted to head coach of the Canucks in 2017.

Green’s showing over four and a quarter seasons in British Columbia was underwhelming, compiling a 133-147-34 record and a .478 points percentage. Again, it’s hard to blame Green – the Canucks had questionable roster construction under then-general manager Jim Benning – but there was very little suggesting he was an above-average coach. Vancouver’s lone postseason appearance under Green came in 2020, where they won a qualifying round series against the Wild in the Edmonton bubble and beat the Blues in the first round before falling to the Golden Knights in seven games in the second round. It was a deeper run than expected, although most would rightfully attribute it to the expert goaltending of Jacob Markström (.916 SV%, 8-6 in 14 GS) and Thatcher Demko (.985 SV%, 2-1 in 3 GS).

While he has more NHL experience as a head coach heading into the role than his permanent predecessor, D.J. Smith, it’s not the most exciting hire for an Ottawa team that hasn’t made the playoffs for seven years. Some roster overhauling will be necessary on behalf of GM Steve Staios to aid Green as he assumes control of the room, namely in giving him more offensive weapons to deploy in their bottom six and solidified goaltending.

Ottawa fired Smith amid a December losing streak and managed to go .500 the rest of the way under former bench boss Jacques Martin, who returned to the club to serve as their interim head coach for the last four months of the campaign.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Travis Green On The Radar For Coaching Vacancy

at CDT | by 1 Comment

While Devils interim head coach Travis Green is under consideration for the full-time position, the team has given him permission to speak to other teams about their head coaching openings, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.  To that end, Garrioch notes that Green is believed to be on the radar of the Senators for their vacancy.  Green led New Jersey to a record of 8-12-1 after taking over for Lindy Ruff and has a 141-159-35 career record including his time with Vancouver.  He joins Todd McLellan, Dean Evason, and Craig Berube as experienced head coaches who have been connected to the Sens thus far.

East Notes: Senators, Lomberg, Capitals

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Ottawa Senators have hit a snag in their pursuit of moving to the LeBreton Flats, reports Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. The Senators have been working with the National Capital Commission to facilitate the move for the last two years, establishing a memorandum of understanding with the NCC that dedicated a parcel of land for a new arena. But the parcel is just seven acres, compared to the Senators’ current 75-acre plot, leading the team to worry they may not have room for public parking.

Still, Senators’ CEO Tobi Nussbaum shared with Garrioch that the NCC has room for flexibility, and that the team remains confident that LeBreton is the right spot for them. The two sides will face a soft-deadline of September to decide if they are going to move forward with the LeBreton arena, though Nussbaum added, “Should (the rink) not happen, there is a Plan B for those parcels within LeBreton Flats. If the two sides aren’t able to come to an agreement or the Senators make a decision that they’re not going to build there, then we’ll move to our second option”

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • Forward Ryan Lomberg will remain out of the Florida Panthers lineup in Game Three due to illness, head coach Paul Maurice told Florida Hockey Now’s Colby Guy (Twitter link). Guy added that Lomberg traveled with the team, but needs another day of feeling good before returning to their facilities. Kyle Okposo will step into the lineup in his place, set to play in his first postseason game since 2016, when he scored eight points in 11 games with the New York Islanders. Okposo has yet to record his first point as a Panther, despite appearing in six games. Pending a big Game Three performance, he’ll likely step back out of the lineup when Lomberg is back to full health.
  • The Washington Capitals could be without forward Sonny Milano in Game Three due to an upper-body injury, shares Sammi Silber of The Hockey News (Twitter link). Milano appeared in both of Washington’s postseason games so far, recording no scoring and a -2. Silber also shared that defenders Rasmus Sandin and Nick Jensen are each continuing to progress from the injuries that’s so far held them out of the postseason lineup. That means Alexander Alexeyev and Dylan McIlrath will remain in the lineup, after rookie Vincent Iorio was also sidelined with injury.

Senators Linked To Craig Berube, Dean Evason

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Senators are hunting for a new head coach this summer after firing D.J. Smith in December after an 11-15-0 start. Former Sens coach Jacques Martin stepped in as interim the rest of the way, and longtime captain Daniel Alfredsson joined his staff as an assistant, but it was clear neither name was expected to be the long-term solution as Ottawa tries yet again to exit their years-long rebuild.

As the Sens enter a long summer, it appears they’d like to get their coaching vacancy sorted out sooner rather than later. Multiple reports suggest they’ve started the interview process, with Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reporting the team has “legit interest” in former Blues bench boss Craig Berube for the role. The team has also been granted permission to talk to and subsequently interviewed ex-Wild coach Dean Evason for the role, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo. Berube and Evason were sacked by their respective teams during the 2023-24 campaign.

Ottawa would be Berube’s third try leading an NHL bench. His first stint was brief, coming with the Flyers for nearly two full seasons over the 2013-14 and 2014-15 campaigns. It came after nearly a decade of working in the organization as an assistant and AHL head coach. Let go after failing to make the postseason in 2015, Berube returned to coaching after a season off in the Blues organization, manning their AHL affiliate for a year before being upgraded to associate coach on the NHL bench. The rest was history, taking over for Mike Yeo in the 2018-19 season and guiding St. Louis to its first Stanley Cup on the back of breakout goalie Jordan Binnington.

A below .500 season in 2022-23 and a below .500 start this year cost Berube his job in December, a month after the same fate befell Evason in Minnesota. Plagued by injuries and poor goaltending to start the season, Evason’s Wild sputtered to a 5-10-4 start despite being viewed as a playoff contender in the Central Division for the fifth straight season. Even after the club named John Hynes as his permanent replacement, though, they couldn’t rebound quite enough to squeak into a playoff spot. Minnesota was Evason’s first job as an NHL head coach, compiling a strong 147-77-27 record over parts of five seasons.

Like the Sabres bringing back familiar face Lindy Ruff earlier this week to replace Don Granato behind the bench, Ottawa’s front office is going for a more aggressive, veteran coach to instill accountability across the board. Coaching wasn’t their primary issue by any stretch this season, though. Despite finishing seventh in the Atlantic, the Sens had the possession numbers of a much better team. At 5-on-5, they controlled 51.0% of shot attempts, 50.2% of all scoring chances and 51.4% of high-danger chances. Unfortunately, their 9.6 shooting percentage was a tad below the league average. Big free-agent pickup Joonas Korpisalo crashed and burned between the pipes, conceding nearly 21 goals above average with his .890 SV% in 55 appearances. It was the exact same story as last season when they put up almost identical possession, shooting, and SV% numbers across the board.

Whoever their next hire is will be their third full-time head coach since 2016, a surprisingly low turnover rate for a club that’s fallen short of expectations multiple times in the past few years.

11 Teams Face Cap Overage Penalties Next Season

at CDT | by 10 Comments

With the salary cap largely being flat the last few years, more teams have had to dip into LTIR when injuries have come up.  Accordingly, the number of teams facing bonus overage penalties has also risen.  This year is no exception as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports in collaboration with CapFriendly that 11 teams are currently facing cap overage penalties for 2024-25 as a result of bonuses achieved this season.

When a team finishes up the season using LTIR to stay cap-compliant, they don’t have any regular cap space to which bonuses can be applied against.  Accordingly, that results in LTIR teams that have incentives that are met finishing over the cap, yielding overage penalties.  Whatever amount they finished 2023-24 over by is then deducted off the Upper Limit for next season.

The teams that are confirmed to have bonus overage penalties are as follows:

Edmonton Oilers: $3.45MM*
Dallas Stars: $2,595,407
Washington Capitals: $2.2525MM
Los Angeles Kings: $1.85MM
New Jersey Devils: $1,538,897
Montreal Canadiens: $1.0225MM
Ottawa Senators: $850K
New York Rangers: $512.5K*
Minnesota Wild: $425K*
Philadelphia Flyers: $245K
Boston Bruins $50K*

Teams denoted with an asterisk could see their bonus overage increase if the following happens:

Edmonton: Corey Perry’s contract calls for $50K if the Oilers make the Western Conference Final and another $50K if they reach the Stanley Cup Final.

New York: Theirs would increase by $25K if they win the Stanley Cup, a bonus in Jonathan Quick’s deal.

Minnesota: Marco Rossi can make $212.5K if he makes the All-Rookie Team which would then be added to the Wild’s carryover penalty.

Boston: Milan Lucic will receive $200K if the Bruins win the Stanley Cup as part of his contract.

In addition to the above, Carolina and Florida also have the potential for an overage contingent on the playoffs.  The Hurricanes would have a $50.45K penalty if Jackson Blake plays in 20 games between the regular season and playoffs.  Meanwhile, the Panthers would take a $500K hit if they win the Stanley Cup to cover that bonus in Kyle Okposo’s contract.

Team-by-team details with specifics on how each one got to the point of an overage were covered separately by PuckPedia.

It’s the first time that multiple teams will carry overage penalties of more than $2MM into the following season.  With the cap expected to go up by closer to $4MM this summer, that could in theory take some pressure off from the bonus overage perspective but only if teams leave themselves a bit more wiggle room to work with.  There’s a good chance that won’t happen so we’re quite likely to see these penalties again next season though with perhaps fewer teams getting the hit next time around.

Senators Reassign Angus Crookshank

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Senators reassigned winger Angus Crookshank to AHL Belleville today, according to a team announcement. His minor-league assignment comes a few days delayed because he missed the last two weeks of the season with a lower-body injury, from which he’s evidently been cleared to return.

This season was the 24-year-old’s first in the NHL. He scored twice and added an assist in 13 games. He did so in limited minutes, posting a -3 rating and 4 PIMs while averaging 10:07 per game. Crookshank was effective at getting the puck toward the net, managing 1.5 shots on goal per game despite the fourth-line usage and totaling 33 shot attempts.

It was a positive initial showing for the 2018 fifth-round pick, who missed the 2021-22 campaign with a knee injury. That would have been Crookshank’s first entire professional season after three years at the University of New Hampshire, one that was hotly anticipated after he ended 2020-21 with 16 points in 19 games on a tryout with Belleville.

Two years later, Crookshank is nearly a point-per-game producer in the minors. The left wing was Belleville’s best skater in the regular season, finishing second on the team in scoring with 46 points in 50 appearances. His 24 goals led the team outright.

Nearing the expiration of his entry-level contract, Crookshank isn’t a traditional restricted free agent this summer. Because of his missed 2021-22 season, he doesn’t have the number of professional seasons required for proper restricted free agency. Instead, he carries a 10.2(c) designation, meaning he’s ineligible to receive or sign offer sheets from other teams. His only option is to re-sign in Ottawa.

The North Vancouver native will join Belleville in the Calder Cup Playoffs, where they’re set for a best-of-three First Round series against the cross-province Toronto Marlies this week. It will be his first postseason experience since turning pro.

Senators, Shane Pinto Working On New Contract

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Ottawa Senators are reportedly working on signing young forward Shane Pinto to a new deal, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 32 Thoughts article. Friedman adds that negotiations have been a “grind”. That lines up with Pinto’s previous negotiations, with Pinto holding out on a new deal last summer, before being suspended for 41 games in late October for sports wagering. Pinto signed a one-year, league-minimum contract in January that carried him the duration of this season. He went on to tally nine goals and 27 points in 41 games – a big step down from his 20-goal season last year.

The Senators originally drafted Pinto with the 32nd-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft – then a second-round selection. He made his NHL debut in 2020-21, after two years at the University of North Dakota, and has since managed 70 points in 140 career NHL games. The 23-year-old centerman has proven capable of scoring, though he’s yet to find a consistent groove. He’s entering this off-season as a restricted free agent, meaning he’s likely due for a reunion with Ottawa, even if negotiations take some time.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top