Why The Ottawa Senators Are Ready To Contend In 2025-26

In the last few years of Pierre Dorion's tenure as Ottawa Senators GM, fans and media would wonder during the summer if this was the year the long rebuild would finally be over. If not last year, was this the year? Is it over now?

Okay, how 'bout now?

Now?

Sens fans are thankful those days are over. Today, those questions can be replaced with: Are the Senators now a contender, ready to legitimately battle with the NHL's best?

Yes. Yes, they are.

Let's go back to July 1st. When Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios was asked how he felt about his team for next season after his modest 2025 free agent shopping trip, the assumption was that he'd speak mainly about the acquisition of veteran NHL depth forward Lars Eller. 

"We feel good," Staios said. "Adding Lars Eller today was significant for us heading into the season."

But then he was quick to point out that the club's work at the trade deadline was part of why he feels good about the roster for next season.

"Looking back, (we also acquired) Dylan Cozens and Fabian Zetterlund (at the deadline), and Jordan Spence at the draft. We didn't have a lot to do in free agency this year as far as acquisitions. The work has actually been laid out in a bit of a slow roll."

Hearing an NHL GM who still has $4.3 million in cap space declaring that he didn't have a lot to do in free agency is an amazing show of confidence in his roster. And Staios has every right to be confident and satisfied with what he has.

Let's get ahead of the Montreal Canadiens fans who like to fill up our message board with chirps and questions, which we welcome. They're probably going to mention that the Senators were only a wild-card team last year. How can they suddenly be flirting with a roster that might be a finished product?

Well, for starters, making the playoffs will do wonders for their collective psyche. But they also weren't far from being labelled contenders last season, finishing with a record of 45-30-7. Teams with lesser records have won Cups before. The Florida Panthers, the reigning two-time Cup champs who everyone is trying to emulate right now, were just one point ahead of Ottawa.

Meanwhile, is Staios is right to include Cozens and Zetterlund as part of why he felt he didn't have much to do this summer, then the club should have been noticeably better after the deadline, right?

Oh, they were, my friends. As Everyday Sens packages up nicely, they were a lot better.

When you consider what happened after the trades, March 7th instantly goes down in the books as one of the most successful deadline days in franchise history. Here are the standings on March 7th, the day of the deadline. The Sens were just hanging on by a thread to the final wild card.

After deadline day, the Senators totally floored it, putting up the second-best record in the NHL at 14-5-2 (.714) to close the season and run away with the Eastern wild card race. Here are the final standings.

5 on 5 scoring? That was worrisome through most of the season, but it saw a massive spike in the final quarter of the season. Goalie graveyard? Not anymore. The Sens will roll into a new season with a healthy former Vezina winner, and his new full-time backup didn't allow a goal in regulation in 4 of his 12 NHL starts last season.

Remember when the Senators' goal used to be a chance to play meaningful games at the end of the season? Last spring, they not only played in them, they thrived in them. Staios's deals at the deadline may have been the final additive that Ottawa's rebuilt engine needed to finally start purring. Spence and Eller now serve as nice bells and whistles to the final assembly.

Yes, it cannot be ignored that the Senators came out of the playoff gates slowly. But a lot of that can be chalked up to first-time jitters for the club's key young players. They've wanted it so badly for so long, and by the time they calmed down and found their poise, their room for error was gone.

Now they've experienced it. Now they've had a taste. Now they know. The Stanley Cup Playoff nets have the exact same measurements as they do back in Hickory.

I get it. It's summer. Time for golf, cottage or whatever. But Sens fans who aren't completely excited for the season ahead should probably put that on their to-do list very soon.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa
Image Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images

This article orginally appeared at The Hockey News Ottawa, where you'll find all the latest Senators news:
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