Ottawa’s Contention Window Could Be Short
The Senators have struggled to start the year, despite high hopes and promises that this would be the year they finally made some noise. However, some three months into the season, the only noise out of Ottawa is the collective sighs as the team’s inconsistency drives its most loyal supporters up the wall.
The Sens have a relatively young team, and with youth comes growing pains. But this group has been together for quite a while now, and it’s fair to wonder if this is who they are: a talented group of individual players who, together, form a flawed team with a window to win that grows smaller by the day.
When the Senators began tearing apart their core in 2018, it was clear that dark days lay ahead, but in the background, there was always hope for a brighter future, and for good reason. Many of the teams that tore down their roster to the studs rebuilt their systems and competed for Stanley Cups.
Whenever fans discussed the bottom-out rebuild, they would bring up the Penguins, Blackhawks, Kings and Lightning, and the collective 10 Stanley Cups those four teams won over 12 years. However, tearing down the roster was never a guarantee of success.
For every Chicago or Pittsburgh, you had a Buffalo or Edmonton. Teams that had bottomed out, but never built anything worth talking about. And now, with the Senators nearing the halfway point of the season at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, it’s fair to start asking whether they are more Buffalo than Chicago.
Ottawa is still framed as a team on the rise. They are young, talented, and one would think poised to break through once the pieces fall into place.
But aren’t the pieces already in place? You would think so, given the players they’ve brought in over the past five years, such as Jakob Chychrun and Alex DeBrincat, two men who were brought in for a season or two and shuffled out quickly. Ottawa likely pounced too early when they brought in those players, sensing they were closer to winning than they actually were, and exposing some of the problematic elements of a rebuild that are often forgotten.
The Senators have a ton of talent in their core. There is no doubting that.
Just because a core is talented doesn’t mean there is synchronicity. Ottawa has some pieces nearing their prime, while others have long passed it, and some are just learning what it takes to be a full-time NHLer and are being asked to do too much. Talent isn’t really the issue in Ottawa; timing is.
In fairness to the Senators, they did most of what a rebuilding team is supposed to do. They hit on their top picks (Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle), had some big trade wins by shipping out veterans (Erik Karlsson), and signed their top stars to very reasonable contracts (Jake Sanderson, Stützle, Tkachuk). But once those players are signed, it becomes much more challenging to layer the roster with inexpensive depth, and that is generally done through drafting, which the Senators have struggled with outside the first round. This has begun to rear its head.
There has long been a mentality among Senators fans that the team would figure out who to surround their stars with later on, but the time to figure it out is now, and they don’t look like they have the solutions. The trouble with a competitive window in the case of the Senators is that when you make big bets and lose, the window to win doesn’t get delayed or kicked down the road; it shrinks. The Senators could be in the midst of finding that out.
The Senators’ stars have been out of the development stage for a few years now, and one has to wonder how long their star players will remain patient. They were supposed to be past the learning years and into the progression years, and while last year felt like a step in the right direction, this year feels like two steps back, with little help on the way in the form of prospects or significant additions.
Ottawa’s farm system ranks bottom-10 in the league (23rd on Elite Prospects, 25th on Daily Faceoff), and they are without a first-round pick this year. They have a healthy stash of draft picks outside of that, but don’t have a ton of cap room to make major splashes.
Speaking of the salary cap, Ottawa has $23MM available next summer with eight players to sign (per PuckPedia). Assuming defensive prospect Carter Yakemchuk makes the jump to the NHL, that leaves Ottawa with around $22MM and seven players to sign to NHL deals.
That’s not a bad number by any stretch, but realistically, they will be looking to sign a top-four right-handed defenseman, a top-six winger, a backup goaltender, and a few bottom-six forwards. It’s not a daunting task, but it doesn’t leave much wiggle room, and you have to wonder whether their roster will be much better next year.
And make no mistake, the years are about to matter a whole lot more to the players on the roster and the team. Drake Batherson has one year remaining on his deal after this one, as does defenseman Artem Zub, while the likes of Tkachuk and defenseman Thomas Chabot have two.
Batherson has been a massive bargain on his current deal, carrying a cap hit of just $4.975MM on a six-year deal and delivering 60-plus points per season. Batherson is also consistently in the lineup, having dressed for 82 games in each of the previous three seasons. His defensive play, on the other hand, is not something to write home about, but that can be said for many goal-scoring wingers in the NHL.
Batherson has given Ottawa a ton of value over the life of his current contract, and like it or not, he’s going to want to claw a lot of that back on his next deal, which figures to be a seven-year deal and will probably top teammate Shane Pinto’s $7.5MM deal. Does Ottawa want to pay Batherson $8MM or more annually? Hard to say, but they can’t get that deal wrong, and what kind of message would it send to trade him right before the Tkachuk negotiations start?
Speaking of Tkachuk, he is the heart of the team and one heck of a competitor. You have to believe that if Ottawa can’t show forward progress in the next 18 months, he won’t be in a hurry to sign a long-term deal with the Senators when he is eligible to do so in July 2027.
Tkachuk negotiated in a very tactical and aggressive way during the last round of contract talks, and you have to believe he won’t be an easy player to lock up long-term if real results aren’t shown. Tkachuk is being paid handsomely at the moment, carrying an AAV north of $8.2MM. Steve Warne of The Hockey News has reported previously that his father, Keith Tkachuk, doesn’t believe he will leave Ottawa, but losing does a lot, as does winning, and Ottawa’s results will have a lot of say in what Tkachuk does.
The Senators have no choice but to win often and soon. They can ill afford to let the years go by without success. Windows to win don’t usually slam shut; they close quietly when contracts age poorly, teams fail to develop players, and depth erodes. It happened to those aforementioned Stanley Cup champions, in Chicago’s case, much earlier than expected and in Pittsburgh’s case, much later. It will happen to Ottawa at some point, and the question is whether they will win before it does. Much of that will be determined over the next 18 months.
Photo by Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Atlantic Notes: Stutzle, Byram, Hughes, Protz
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.
More from the Atlantic:
- Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram has a key contract negotiation this summer as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent. He’ll now have new representatives working on that deal as Quartexx Hockey announced (Twitter link) that they now represent the blueliner. Byram, who Titan Sports Management’s Kevin Epp previously repped, set new career highs in games played (82), assists (31), points (38), blocked shots (116), and ATOI (22:42), putting him in a spot to land considerably more than his $4.62MM qualifying offer. He’s two years away from UFA eligibility so it’s quite likely that Buffalo will be pushing to sign him to a long-term agreement in the coming weeks.
- Pending Canadiens UFA Connor Hughes took himself off the open market early. The goaltender is heading back to Switzerland after Lausanne HC announced that they’ve signed him to a five-year contract. The 28-year-old had a breakout showing with Lausanne in 2023-24, leading to a one-year deal from Montreal last spring. Hughes fared relatively well with AHL Laval this year with a 2.58 GAA and a .905 SV% in 28 outings but has elected to go back overseas for the long haul now.
- Still with the Canadiens, Laval announced (Twitter link) that they recently signed defenseman Owen Protz to an ATO agreement. Montreal drafted the 19-year-old in the fourth round last June, taking him 102nd overall. Protz had 32 points in 67 games with OHL Brantford this season while adding six more in 11 playoff contests and will now get his first taste of the pros, albeit likely in a reserve role.
Senators Notes: Tkachuk, Giroux, Jensen, Pinto, Worlds
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.
Ryan Hartman’s Suspension Reduced Upon Appeal
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has reduced Wild forward Ryan Hartman‘s suspension for roughing Senators center Tim Stützle from 10 to eight games, the league announced. He will now be eligible to return to the Minnesota lineup on March 4 against the Kraken instead of March 9 against the Penguins.
The break in the schedule for the 4 Nations Face-Off initially meant Hartman was due to miss more than a month of action after he drove Stützle’s head into the ice immediately following a faceoff, which got him tossed from the game – a 6-0 loss – for intent to injure. As a result, he earned an in-person hearing with the Department of Player Safety. The NHLPA filed an appeal on Hartman’s behalf two days after their decision, which Bettman heard over the break. Hartman can again appeal to an independent arbitrator since the reduced length is still at least six games. That process will take longer than the remainder of the suspension, so doing so would only result in him getting some money back in his pocket.
Bettman rarely reduces a suspension. He’s only done it twice in the past nine times they’ve come across his desk, most recently decreasing a suspension to then-Maple Leafs forward Jason Spezza from six to four games in December 2021. Bettman notes the reduction to eight games came at the request of the NHLPA, saying neither Hartman nor the NHLPA contested the fact that a suspension was appropriate for his actions.
The full ruling, available here, is incredibly detailed. While Bettman calls Hartman’s recent track record of suspensions (four within the last 22 months) “an unenviable record and a pattern of malfeasance,” he did agree with the NHLPA’s assertion that an increase of seven games from Hartman’s most recent discipline “is excessive in this case and that the quantum of increase should be reduced.”
Hartman, 30, has struggled this season with 7-10–17 through 48 games. He missed a significant chunk of games in October with an upper-body injury. His 0.35 points-per-game pace is his lowest since his first campaign in Minnesota in 2019-20, although a career-worst 6.5% shooting rate has a lot to do with that and should rebound somewhat after he returns to the lineup.
Tim Stützle Emerging As Next Senators Superstar
The 2020 NHL Draft checked off a lot of tropes – a clear No. 1, Alexis Lafrenière, a clear power-forward, Quinton Byfield, and a healthy battle for top defense between Jake Sanderson and Jamie Drysdale – but it lacked a clear top European. Swedish pro Lucas Raymond, OHL import Marco Rossi, and generational German Tim Stützle fought over the title, each with different things to love and hate.
For Stützle’s part, he had grown up a superstar of German youth hockey – challenging scoring records and captaining Team Germany at every level between U16 and U20. He spent the 2019-20 season playing out his rookie year in the DEL – Germany’s pro league – where he scored an admirable 34 points in 41 games. But his scoring wasn’t fantastic – it didn’t rival any DEL records or even rank in the top five of his team. Many agreed he was worth a top 10 pick, but whether it should be #2 or #8 was argued in depth, not helped along by his base in an uncommon hockey country.
The year ended with many considering Stützle’s dazzling puck skills and speed too much to argue, and he ended the year as Bob McKenzie’s second-overall prospect and the top European off the board headed to Ottawa at third-overall. It was a bold reach for upside from a usually meager Senators team, and Stützle would quickly vindicate it by making the NHL roster out of camp. He benefited from a late start to the 2020-21 season – with the January start giving him the chance to heal from an October arm surgery.
His rookie NHL season was as quiet as his rookie DEL year – marked by 29 points in 53 games. But he’s grown exponentially over the years. He improved to 58 points in his sophomore year, just enough to earn a routine top-line role – setting Stützle up for a true breakout. He took full advantage of the opportunity in the 2022-23 season, totaling 39 goals and 90 points at just 20 years old.
Looking at U21 seasons in the NHL, Stützle’s 2023 totals rank in the top 30 of all time and made him the third-highest-scoring European behind just Alex Ovechkin and Jaromír Jágr. It was incredible company, and while he returned to earth a bit last year – with just 18 goals and 70 points – he seems back on pace this year. Stützle currently leads the Senators with 39 points in 34 games. That’s an 82-game pace of 94 points, which would tie Alexei Yashin‘s 1998-99 campaign for fourth-highest in Senators history. It’d also couple Stützle with Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson, and Jason Spezza as the only player with multiple top-10 scoring seasons in Ottawa’s record books.
At just 22 years of age, the young German is finding himself among incredible company, which has some breaking out the word “superstar”. 13-year NHL veteran Jason York, who himself spent five years in Ottawa, joined Daily Faceoff’s All 32 segment to discuss its veracity. He said, “This is, to me, what I classify a superstar as: Can you bring fans out of their seats? Are you worth the price of admission? How many guys are really worth the price of admission like “wow”? … I’ll put Tim Stützle in that category.”
York went on to speak highly of Stützle’s hockey talent and his ability to get fans out of their seats. His comments ring loud for a Senators team that hasn’t had a clear superstar in nearly a decade. Brady Tkachuk will certainly go down as an all-time great – already captaining the team and posting 382 points in 474 games – but he’s more an era-defining piece than a generational talent. Ottawa hasn’t seen that kind of ability since Erik Karlsson broke records in the 2010s. Before him, it was Alfredsson, Heatley, and Spezza running court from 2005 to 2012.
Now, Stützle seems to be the one set to define Ottawa’s 2020s. As it stands, he’s scored 286 career points: the ninth-most points of any NHLer before turning 23 years old. He’s among the elite company in the top 10 – sandwiched between Mitch Marner (291 points) and Auston Matthews (285 points). Stützle’s current scoring pace has him adding 11 more points before his January 15th birthday, passing Marner and stepping just behind seventh-ranked Nathan MacKinnon (303 points).
The rest of Stützle’s company in that top 10 are also true superstars who each found ways to become leaders of incredible teams. With this degree of offensive performance, Stützle could soon be doing the same – and already seems well worthy of the label as a true, all-time superstar for the Senators.
Atlantic Notes: Benson, Peterka, Tkachuk, Stützle, Poitras
The Sabres may get winger Zach Benson back in the lineup tonight against the Kings. He’s a game-time decision with the lower-body injury that kept him out of the second game of last week’s Global Series against the Devils, head coach Lindy Ruff said today. However, they won’t have John-Jason Peterka‘s services for the home opener – he’s been ruled out against L.A. with a concussion.
Buffalo only has 13 forwards on the active roster, including Benson and Peterka. They don’t have any open spots on the 23-man roster, so if Benson can’t go, the Sabres will run 11 forwards and seven defensemen tonight. That means Jacob Bryson or Dennis Gilbert could make their season debut after sitting in the press box for both Global Series games.
Injuries up front are the last thing the Sabres need after their offense sputtered against New Jersey, producing just one goal apiece in each contest en route to a pair of multi-goal losses. Peterka, who finished fourth on the team in scoring last season with 50 points (28 G, 22 A) in 82 games, is the far more notable loss in that regard, although the sophomore Benson is a valuable middle-six piece in his own right. Rookie Jiri Kulich, who the Sabres picked up with the No. 28 overall pick in 2022, will skate in Peterka’s place on the top line with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch in just his third career NHL game, per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- If there was any doubt, Senators star forwards Tim Stützle and Brady Tkachuk will play in their season opener tonight after leaving a late preseason game against the Canadiens with upper body injuries, per the team. They’ll reprise their top-line roles with Claude Giroux, who also missed a bit of exhibition action while on personal leave, on their right wing. The Sens host the defending champion Panthers in their first game of the season, which also marks Linus Ullmark‘s first regular-season appearance for Ottawa after inking a four-year, $33MM extension yesterday.
- Bruins sophomore center Matthew Poitras remains on IR with an undisclosed injury but is closer to returning, head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters today, including Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe. He shed his no-contact jersey today, and since his IR placement was retroactive to Oct. 3, he’s now eligible to return at any time. The Bruins have an open roster spot for now, so there’s no corresponding transaction necessary to reinstate him. The 20-year-old had 15 points in 33 games for Boston last season before shoulder surgery truncated his campaign.
Atlantic Notes: McCabe, Senators, Laine
There may be one more contract to sign for the Toronto Maple Leafs before they take the ice for the regular season. Nick Kypreos, co-host of the show, Real Kyper and Bourne, promoted yesterday that Toronto and defenseman Jake McCabe may have an extension finalized by the end of the week.
The Sportsnet co-host said, “The one thing I did hear is potentially a Jake McCabe extension coming, maybe before the season starts. I heard talks were real good. Now, still maybe debatable on how much term and maybe that still might fluctuate the AAV. But I’m thinking right now that he’d have no problem right now next season making $30 million over six years“.
A contract of this magnitude would only mark a slight pay increase for McCabe who is entering the last year of a four-year, $16MM contract originally signed with the Chicago Blackhawks. The term may be the deciding factor as a six-year deal would take McCabe into his age-37 season which could prove too lengthy for the Maple Leafs. It’s tough to argue with the results as McCabe has fit like a glove in Toronto’s system since being acquired from the Blackhawks in 2022-23.
Other Atlantic notes:
- The Ottawa Senators received good news on the injury front with Alex Adams of Sportsnet reporting that Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, and Thomas Chabot were all on the ice for practice this afternoon. All three players were seemingly injured in the team’s most recent preseason contest against the Montreal Canadiens but none of the ailments proved costly. The game between the Canadiens was one of the more chaotic preseason games in recent memory with a whopping 79 PIMs bestowed upon the clubs.
- Montreal avoided a major blow to their forward core earlier this week with the announcement Patrik Laine would only be out two to three months with a knee sprain and would not require surgery which likely saved his season. Laine spoke briefly about his desire to forego surgery when he said, “It was one of those you could go either way. I don’t think there’s ever any guarantees whether you do surgery or not…they did a good job of explaining the whole process and reassuring the chances are very high, that made me feel better about it” (X Link).
Atlantic Notes: Canadiens-Senators, Guhle, Red Wings
No supplemental discipline is expected after a flurry of controversial hits and injuries in last night’s Canadiens-Senators preseason tilt, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Engels.
The fireworks started late in the first period when Ottawa forward Ridly Greig elevated his arms to lay a blindside hit on Montreal center Kirby Dach, receiving an interference minor and briefly knocking him out of the game. Dach would return, but that didn’t stop Habs defender Arber Xhekaj from charging Sens star Tim Stützle with a similar hit midway through the second period, earning himself an interference major and a game misconduct. He also received matching minors with Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk after the play. Neither Stützle nor Tkachuk returned to the contest with upper-body injuries, per the team.
Dach and Greig brawled during the third after the former returned to the game. Both players received fighting majors and 10-minute misconducts. Dach also received an extra minor for interference on the play. The Xhekaj hit on Stützle was likely most prone to a potential suspension. Still, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety believes the game misconduct assessed on the play was appropriate on its own.
More from the Atlantic Division:
- Staying with Montreal, defenseman Kaiden Guhle is skating in a regular jersey at Wednesday’s practice, per Engels. It’s the first time he’s done so since having his appendix removed at the beginning of training camp. The 2020 16th overall pick signed a six-year, $33.3MM extension to remain a Canadien for the long haul in July, but he’ll still play out this season under the final year of his entry-level contract. The Edmonton native has quickly established himself as a top-four defender, averaging 20:51 per game last season and adding 22 points (6 G, 16 A) with a -8 rating in 70 contests.
- Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde is “very impressed” with how forward prospects Nate Danielson, Marco Kasper, and Carter Mazur have performed in training camp, he told The Athletic’s Max Bultman. “They’ve kind of played into my optimistic vision of them,” he added. “I like all three. I think I’ve stated that quite a bit over the last year, year and a half, and they’ve done nothing to disappoint.” The trio are still long shots to make the opening night roster with some crowded roster math working against them, but it’s clear they’ll be at the top of the list for in-season call-ups and should each get at least a few NHL reps this year.
Atlantic Notes: Swayman, Stützle, LeBreton Flats, Leenders
Speculation floating around that Bruins RFA netminder Jeremy Swayman wants a $10MM average annual value on his next deal is likely unfounded, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff said on SN960 The FAN’s Big Show on Wednesday.
Swayman’s camp is holding out for an AAV in the $8.5MM range on a long-term deal, while the Bruins are holding firm just north of $6MM per season, per Seravalli. He adds there hasn’t been much progress toward a resolution since those numbers were first exchanged earlier this summer.
“I think that’s a pretty sizeable gap that hasn’t been bridged yet and with the trade of Linus Ullmark, it’s obvious that Swayman is such a big part of what the Bruins’ future looks like and the stability of their core because the goaltending has been the backbone of that team,” Seravalli said. “But if you have a philosophical difference on what you think your goaltender should make, and if you thought that with the numbers he’s posted that he was going to be in that range, I can understand why there’s been a disconnect there.”
Swayman, 26 in November, posted a .916 SV%, 2.53 GAA, and three shutouts with a 25-10-8 record last season in 44 appearances (43 starts).
Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- Senators star center Tim Stützle has changed agents, per PuckPedia. After signing his eight-year, $66.8MM extension in 2022 under Octagon’s Ben Hankinson, he’ll now be represented by longtime NHLer Claude Lemieux of 4sports Hockey. He becomes Lemieux’s second client on the Sens, joining goaltender Mads Søgaard. Lemieux’s notable body of work includes Timo Meier‘s eight-year, $70.4MM deal with the Devils, Hampus Lindholm‘s eight-year, $52MM deal in Boston, and Joel Eriksson Ek‘s eight-year, $42MM deal with the Wild.
- Still with Ottawa, the franchise is still in negotiations with the National Capital Commission on a memorandum of understanding regarding their plan to build a new arena in the LeBreton Flats neighborhood downtown, team president Cyril Leeder said (via Wayne Scanlan of Sportsnet). They’ve got less than a month to complete them with their temporary agreement with the city expiring on Sep. 20. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun said in April that public parking was the largest concern with the current plan.
- Sabres goaltending prospect Ryerson Leenders will have a new home for junior hockey this season. The Ontario Hockey League’s Brantford Bulldogs acquired him from the Brampton Steelheads today for a whopping eight draft picks, per a team announcement. Buffalo selected Leenders, 18, with the 219th overall pick in this summer’s draft. He had a .909 SV% in 46 games for the Steelheads last season, the best in the league.
Senators Notes: Stutzle, Pinto, Sanderson, Chabot
Ottawa Senators star Tim Stutzle was bearing through multiple injuries this season, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun (Twitter link). Garrioch reports that a wrist issue plagued much of Stutzle’s season, while a nagging shoulder injury is what’s ultimately held him out of the lineup. Stutzle missed Ottawa’s final seven games of the season, after playing in the previous 75. He told the media at locker clean-out that he, “hasn’t been feeling good for a year or something”, shares Claire Hanna of Sportscenter (Twitter link).
Stutzle ranked second on the Senators in scoring this year, totaling 18 goals and 70 points. While certainly a strong year, Stutzle’s scoring marked a big step down from the 39 goals and 90 points he recorded in 78 games last season. The persistent injuries are likely a big factor in that decreased scoring, though the Senators as a team also collected six fewer goals on the season compared to last year.
These lingering injuries will keep Stuzle from joining Team Germany at the World Championship this summer. Instead, he will focus on overcoming his lingering injuries this summer, as he prepares to once again rival the century-scoring mark.
Other notes from Ottawa’s cleanout day:
- Senators forward Shane Pinto says he’s hoping to join Team USA at the World Championship this summer, shares Garrioch (Twitter link). Pinto added that he’ll seek his own insurance for the event if he doesn’t have a new contract with Ottawa by June. Pinto will be joined by defenseman Jake Sanderson, who said he’s excited to play meaningful games and reunite with USA Hockey, per Hanna (Twitter link). Sanderson
- Meanwhile, defenseman Thomas Chabot shared he won’t be joining Team Canada due to lingering injuries, sharing that he’s not yet sure if he’ll need any surgeries, per Hanna (Twitter link). Chabot only managed 51 appearances this season, though he did score an impressive nine goals and 30 points. He’ll have the off-season to heal and look to return to continue leading Ottawa’s defense corps next season.