The Ottawa Senators’ tough season in 2025-26 is no secret. The club started well enough but has run into a rough patch, largely in part to a complex goaltending situation. But Linus Ullmark’s situation is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Senators have lacked consistent play, leading them to miss opportunities to get back into the standings.
That said, a playoff miss this season would not be the worst thing in the world for Ottawa. Finishing in the bottom 10 could be the worst thing to happen to the Senators this season.
How so?
The Senators don’t have a first-round pick this season. It’s not that they traded it away. It’s that they forfeited the pick.
The story behind that forfeited pick is well-documented. In a nutshell, the Senators traded Evgenii Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights at the 2021 trade deadline. The deal was par for the course. But it came back to bite the Sens in the bee-hind when the Golden Knights tried to flip him to the Anaheim Ducks a year later.
The league invalidated the deal because the Ducks were on Dadanov’s no-trade list. The Golden Knights blamed the Senators for not furnishing the list. And, well, the league agreed with Vegas. The penalty was forfeiting the pick. Ottawa did everything it could to kick the pick as far down the line as it could, landing in 2026.
The Senators figured they’d be contenders by then. But then again, who would have figured the Sens would have a tough season? Moreover, who could have envisioned that the 2026 NHL Draft would be one of the deepest in a long time?
Such is NHL life.
Senators Could Miss Out on Franchise Player
One of the reasons why the 2026 NHL Draft is among the deepest in a while is the projected abundance of potential franchise players.
The top pick for most of this draft cycle has been Gavin McKenna. He has been the hottest prospect since Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews. He could be the sort of player the Senators could use to complement their budding core.
But the Sens wouldn’t need the top overall pick to land a franchise player. The top 15 or so make most pundits’ lists as potential top-of-the-line players.
Now, the assumption here is not that the Senators will end up with a lottery pick. The club could still turn things around. But if it doesn’t, it would really sting to end up with a high draft pick, only to see it rubbed off the board.
It’s a tough spot to be in, making it all the more important to jump back into the playoff picture.
Ottawa Must Get Back into Playoff Race
Not all is lost for the Senators this season. The club has strung together a two-game winning streak. Ottawa has 49 points, seven from the second wild card spot. Given the dynamics of the Eastern Conference this season, that’s not an insurmountable gap.
Like the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs have proven, a solid run can lead to a jump back into the playoff race.
However, that prospect depends on a decent push. The Senators have 11 more games before the Olympic break. That’s plenty of time to get back into the race.
Two of those games feature key divisional matchups against the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings. Also, the Sens play non-playoff teams in the New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Philadelphia Flyers.
That stretch, however, also features two games against the Carolina Hurricanes, one more against the Colorado Avalanche, and another against the Vegas Golden Knights. As such, the outlook is hardly bleak. Picking up points against some of the tougher teams and winning against some seemingly lesser opponents could swing the Sens back into the playoff picture.
It’s doable, but it will require a strong push.
Senators Mistake from Years Ago Could Haunt Team in 2026