Five Offseason Moves That Will Impact The Senators 2025-26 Season

It’s been seven long years since the Ottawa Senators made the NHL playoffs. It’s also been seven years since the team posted a winning record. All of that suffering came to an end this season when the team finished 45-30-7, good enough for sixth in the Eastern Conference and a date with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs. While the Leafs won the battle of Ontario 4-2, the baby steps made have given Sens fans something to grasp onto heading into the future.

After years of being in a rebuilding mode, the Senators appear to finally be making moves that suggest they are serious about building a contending team. With a core of young players experiencing a taste of the playoffs, management has strategically made some impactful (hopefully) moves in order to fill in gaps, add depth, and potentially take the team to the next level.

The combination of the following five moves has show the franchise understands the balance between immediate help and future planning. With renewed optimism surrounding the team’s direction, Senators fans are likely to notice an increase in sports betting bonuses leaning in favor of their team when the 2025-26 season kicks off.

1. 2025 NHL Draft Trades

The Senators swapped the 21st pick in this year’s draft with the Nashville Predators for the 23rd and 67th picks. With the first-round pick, they added Wisconsin Badgers defenseman Logan Hensler. While it remains unknown if the 18 year old will crack the lineup, he is a steady, effective defeneseman that will fit the Senators’ needs in the near future.

However, that 67th pick turned into a piece that will impact the present as the team flipped it, plus a 2026 sixth-round pick to the LA Kings for 24-year-old Jordan Spence, a player who can make an immediate impact on the blueline. The move showed fans that the front office is no longer accumulating assets, but actively using them to address immediate needs.

2. Defensive Depth

The acquisition of Spence gives the Senators a player who can contribute right away rather than having to wait for a draft pick to hopefully develop. At an age which fights with the team’s timeline, the move gives Ottawa defensive depth behind the core of Jake Sanderson, Artem Zub, Thomas Chabot and Nick Jensen.

Rather than stockpiling future picks, the move to add Spence showed the Senators management is thinking about the present not just the future. The fourth year defenseman provides insurance and depth for a defensive unit that at times struggled with consistency last season.

3. Taking Care Of Their Own

Since arriving in Ottawa three years ago, veteran forward Claude Giroux has seen a decline in his stats. However, a player’s value isn’t always seen in the box score. Signing a one-year deal for $2 million plus bonuses (potentially worth $4.75 million), Giroux has been a workhorse for the Senators for the last three seasons, missing just one regular-season game.

At 37 years old, Giroux bridges the gap between the team’s championship aspirations and its young future core. Entering his 19th season, the seven-time All-Star provides the Senators a presence on the bench and in the locker room. The contract structure works in the favor of both Giroux and the team, as many of the bonus benchmarks are attainable, and it leaves the Sens with cap space should they need it come the trade deadline.

4. Between The Pipes

Linus Ullmark looks to have the number one goaltender position locked down. In his first season with the Senators, the thirty-one-year-old posted a 25-14-3 record with a .909 save percentage. With Leevi Merilainen serving as a capable backup, Ottawa appears set in the net at the moment, but that did not stop the team from investing in depth for the future.

During the 2025 draft, the Senators added Lucas Beckman in the fourth round and Andrei Trofimov in the seventh round. While it is unlikely that either will see time in the NHL this season, having depth in the development system provides the team with insurance down the road. Ullmark’s presence between the pipes gives the team a steady veteran that has been missing from the team for a number of years.

5. Diamond In The Rough

Sometimes key players come from non-traditional places. When the Senators selected Bruno Idzan in the sixth round, he became the first Croatian-born player to be drafted in the NHL. After recording 44 points (22 goals, 22 assists) in 36 games with the Lincoln Stars of the USHL, Idzan will head to Wisconsin to suit up for the Badgers in what has started to become a development pipeline for the Senators.

A low risk, high reward pick, Idzan could be the type of player that successful organizations with quality scouting staff make, leaving others scratching their heads wondering why they didn’t identify the player.

The rebuilding phase has been lengthy and at times painful to watch, but these five moves combined with other recent transactions have the Senators in line to compete not just for the 2025-26 season, but potentially years down the road.

Photo: Courtesy USAToday