Raw Charge
Summary
It was another summer of change in Ottawa as the Senators traded Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in exchange for two 1st Round picks (9th and 25th overall) in the 2026 NHL Draft, Florida’s 2029 1st Round pick and Florida’s 2027 2nd Round pick. The Senators then traded Florida’s 9th pick in the 2026 Draft to the San Jose Sharks for William Eklund(23 years old), Kasper Halttunen(21) and Brandon Svoboda(21). The Brady Tkachuk trade tree will likely be branching out for a long time in Ottawa. The Senators are looking to put the Brady Tkachuk Era in the past and move forward with players who want to play in Ottawa, which is something owner Michael Andlauer claims Brady wasn’t too keen on. Ottawa qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs the previous two seasons after failing to qualify since they were eliminated in the ECF in 2017. The Senators were eliminated in the first round both times, getting swept by the Stanley Cup winning Carolina Hurricanes last year. The Senators haven’t been a serious Cup contender in years, will this be the year they make a leap in the crowded Atlantic Division? 2025-26 Record 44-27-11 (99 points), 5th in the Atlantic 2025-26 Record Against Lightning 2-1-0 2025-26 Goals For 278 (8th) 2025-26 Goals Against 246 (13th) 2025-26 Power Play 24.0% (8th) 2025-26 Penalty Kill 75.8% (29th) 2026-27 Division Odds +1000 2026-27 Stanley Cup Odds +3000 Stats via NHL, Natural Stat Trick, and Hockey Reference. Odds per Hard Rock Bet as of 9/29/26 Off-season Additions (LW) William Eklund, (LW) Andre Burakovsky, (G) Samuel Ersson, (G) Jonas Johansson Off-season Departures (C) Lars Eller, (D) Nick Jensen, (G) James Reimer, (G) Mads Sogaard, (RW) Arthur Kaliyev, (D) Lassi Thomson Rookie to Watch RD Carter Yakemchuk (2024 NHL Draft, 1st round, 7th overall by Ottawa) Yakemchuk appears to be ready for a full-time NHL job this season after putting up 40 points in 54 games last year in the AHL. Yakemchuk did get a call up to Ottawa in March of last season. He scored a goal and an assist in his debut but didn’t record another point in three more regular season games. The Senators dressed him for one playoff game in Game 4 against Carolina, where he recorded an assist on both Senators goals as the Sens were swept by the Hurricanes. His future looks bright in Ottawa. RW, Kasper Halttunen (2023 NHL Draft, 2nd round, 36th overall by San Jose) Halttunen was acquired from San Jose in the aftermath of the Brady Tkachuk trade mentioned above. He put up 16 goals and 19 assists in 69 games with the San Jose Barracuda in his first full professional season last year. Halttunen is known as a hard-shooting power forward right-shot winger. The Senators sent him to the AHL in one of their final roster cuts so he can round out his skating and defensive play. Expect him to have a big role with Bellville with a good chance of getting called up to Ottawa if/when injuries hit the forward group. Preview It may come as a surprise to many hockey fans outside of Ottawa, but the Senators won 89 games the last two seasons. For reference, the Lightning won 97. Here’s a few more surprising stats from the Senators last year: 99 points (9th in the NHL overall), 278 GF (8th), 246 GA (11th), +32 goal differential (t-6th), 24.0% PP (8th), 8 SHG (t-6th), 790 PIM (8th). Those are all very impressive statistics. However, there was one GLARING issue with the Senators last year. That was their goaltending. Five players got time in net for the Senators last year and their team save percentage was .882. That put them at 31st in the NHL. While save percentages in the NHL have steadily been declining ( league save % was below .900 last season for the first time since 1995-96), it’s hard to believe that the Senators had that much success despite their goaltenders struggling so much. Most of that can be attributed to their 29th ranked penalty kill, which finished at 75.8%. Despite their poor goaltending, they still finished with a respectable 3.00 goals allowed per game which was just outside the top 10 in the NHL. If Linus Ullmark returns to the top form that he’s capable of and newly acquired Samuel Ersson can put together even average goaltending and penalty killing, the Senators could surprise some teams next season. If the Senators can continue their strong 5v5 play and power play, they may be able to get past their turbulent off-season that saw them trading Captain Brady Tkachuk to inter-Division rival Florida. The Senators do boast a lot of forward depth with their new additions to replace Tkachuk plus a young and talented defensive unit. They may be the surprise team of the NHL in 2026-27.