Sizing Up The Atlantic, Part 2: How Do The Senators Stack Up Against The Tampa Bay Lightning?

In Part One of our Atlantic Division offseason series, we compared the Senators to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Part Two featured the Montreal Canadiens.

Now it’s time for another 106-point Atlantic Division heavyweight: the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Unlike Montreal, Tampa made some significant changes after a first-round playoff exit.

Drake Batherson was asked at the end of the season whether he’d like to sign an extension this summer.

Senators Offseason Summary

The Senators’ summer to-do list changed dramatically when Brady Tkachuk requested a trade and was eventually sent to Florida for the ninth and 25th picks in the 2026 draft, a 2027 second-rounder and a 2029 first-round pick.

GM Steve Staios then flipped the ninth pick to San Jose for William Eklund and prospects Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda.

Ottawa also acquired Andre Burakovsky and goalie Samuel Ersson, while re-signing Claude Giroux, Nick Cousins, Jordan Spence and Leevi Merilainen.

The biggest question remains whether Eklund and Burakovsky can replace enough of Tkachuk’s offence.

Let’s compare that with Tampa Bay’s offseason.

Lightning Trades: Subtractions

Tampa didn’t do much trading, but they did move out two familiar faces.

Pending UFA defenseman Darren Raddysh was dealt to Toronto for a fifth-round pick after a 22-goal, 70-point season. Raddysh’s 70-point season in a contract year was so wildly out of step with the rest of his career that the Lightning let him walk in a sign-and-trade with the Leafs.

The Lightning also traded former Senator Nick Paul to Toronto. Paul had become a useful middle-six forward in Tampa, putting up back-to-back 20+ goal seasons, but his production dipped hard last season to 15 points in 51 games. Over a full season, that’s a 23-point pace.

Lightning Trades: Additions

There isn’t much to see here.

Tampa’s only notable player addition by trade was goaltender Dennis Hildeby, acquired from Toronto in the Nick Paul deal. Hildeby posted a .914 save percentage last season and will back up Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Like Ottawa, Tampa wanted better support for its number-one goalie. The Senators brought in Ersson. The Lightning brought in Hildeby.

Lightning Free Agent Signings

The Lightning replaced Raddysh with longtime Washington Capitals veteran John Carlson, who finished last year with Anaheim. The 36-year-old got a two-year contract worth $8.5 million per season, exactly what Raddysh is getting in Toronto.

Like the Senators, who grabbed Burakovsky, Tampa also had some interest in one of Chicago’s mid-tier forwards. The Lightning signed UFA Ilya Mikheyev for four years at $3.85 million per season

Tough guy Jeffrey Viel, who split his time between Boston and Anaheim, was signed to a surprising five-year deal worth $2.5 million annually, a move that certainly gives Tampa a little more muscle for the Battle of Florida.

Lightning Free Agent Losses

Oliver Bjorkstrand signed with the New York Rangers, while Corey Perry moved on to Los Angeles.

Verdict 1: Who Had The Better Offseason?

The Lightning lost Raddysh, but they gained Carlson. Carlson is one of the top-scoring D in the game, and he’s been that for a lot more than one season. They also lost Paul, Perry and Bjorkstrand, but they gained Hildeby, Mikheyev, and Viel.

The Sens lost Tkachuk, but added Eklund, Burakovsky, and Ersson. They also added some much-needed prospects and draft capital.

Tampa gets the nod, but not by much.

Verdict 2: Who Will Be The Better Team This Season?

Tampa Bay again.

Ottawa finished only seven points behind the Lightning last season, and there’s an argument that the Senators’ younger core has more room to improve.

Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Shane Pinto, Dylan Cozens and Eklund should still have some of their best hockey ahead of them.

Tampa’s core is considerably older, and eventually, that will matter. But people have been waiting for the Lightning to fall off for a while now, and we’re not going to predict their decline until they actually show signs of it.

The Lightning still have Nikita Kucherov, who had 130 points and won the Hart Trophy last season. Jake Guentzel scored 38 goals, Brandon Hagel had 36, while Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli remain excellent players.

Victor Hedman anchors the defence, Carlson now joins him, and Vasilevskiy is coming off another Vezina Trophy season. Oh yeah, and Jon Cooper is finally the reigning Coach of the Year.

For now, the Senators are still chasing them.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News

This article first appeared at The Hockey News Ottawa. For full Senators coverage, check out one of The Hockey News headlines below.

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