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Roughly a year ago, DJ Smith, at the time the coach of the Ottawa Senators, made it clear the franchise had one main goal in 2023-24: make the playoffs. Fast forward about 12 months and both he and general manager Pierre Dorion are no longer part of the organization, which is reeling from a second-last place finish in the Atlantic Division.
It was a ghastly campaign in Canada's capital; the Senators fell behind .500 right around December, and watched as the hole got deeper and deeper. A seven-game losing streak at the end of March all but put the nail in the coffin in Ottawa. It's now been seven full seasons without playoff hockey in the city, and the fanbase is getting restless.
This team was supposed to compete for a spot in the dance in 2024, but instead, the Sens floundered throughout the season and were unable to string together any meaningful momentum throughout the campaign. The organization has now not hosted a playoff game since a magical run to the Eastern Conference Final that saw the squad lose a double overtime heartbreaker to the eventual champion Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7.
Now, with new leadership in place — Steve Staios as general manager and Travis Green as head coach — the aim again turns to constructing a roster that can compete for a postseason berth come April, 2025. Here are three moves the Senators need to make to help them get there.
Find better goaltending; that could mean moving Korpisalo or Forsberg
The Senators were let down mightily between the pipes by Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo in 2023-24. In fact, Ottawa had the worst combined save percentage of any team in the league, which is really saying something. It just wasn't good enough from the tandem.
Forsberg finished the season with a 14-12 record, sporting a 3.30 goals-against average and .886 save percentage. That's…not ideal. And Korpisalo was just as futile; the Finnish netminder finished 21-26-4 with a 3.27 GAA and .890 SV%. Mads Sogaard, who got into a few games himself, finished 1-3, at a 4.05 GAA and .859 save percentage.
To sum it up, it wasn't even close to good enough from the three goaltenders. And it's concerning after Korpisalo was handed a five-year, $20 million contract last summer. He still has four years left, and will need to have a huge bounce back season. Although many believe Forsberg is the better goaltender, he has only one year left on a contract that will pay him $2.75 million in 2024-25.
Would it make sense to trade Forsberg before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer and potentially walks for nothing? Or would the front office instead look to move Korpisalo and get him a change of scenery? There's no easy answer, but this much is clear: if the Sens want to return to the dance in 2025, it's going to start with improved play between the pipes.
Trade Erik Brannstrom
Erik Brannstrom was brought to Canada's capital from the Vegas Golden Knights as part of the package that sent Mark Stone to the place where he would eventually win a Stanley Cup. But the 24-year-old has struggled to live up to his potential after being drafted No. 15 overall by Vegas in the 2017 NHL Draft.
The Senators hoped the Swede would turn into a bonafide top-pairing offensive defenseman — or at least a top-four option. But that hasn't been the case, with Brannstrom often only seeing time on the third pairing. Besides his disappointing play, the pending restricted free agent will struggle to move up the lineup, as both Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson are locked up long-term, and Artem Zub and Jakob Chychrun will likely round out the top four if none of them are traded.
Brannstrom is also arbitration-eligible, meaning he will likely command more than the $2 million he made last season. That might just be more than Staios and the front office are willing to pay, which is why he probably should be traded this summer. Maybe the Senators could get another young player in return, like LA Kings forward Arthur Kaliyev, who won an OHL Championship under Staios and owner Michael Andlauer with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2018.
Or, Brannstrom could be part of a bigger package to bring another star to Ottawa. Either way, he should get a change of scenery before training camp.
Draft the best forward available on June 28
Even if Staios and the front office end up parting with Brannstrom this summer, the rest of the D-core looks to be pretty much a lock to return in 2024-25. That means Chabot, Sanderson, Zub and Chychrun will make up the top-four, with Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker potentially rounding out the six-man group.
For that reason, Ottawa should target a forward with the No. 7 overall pick in the NHL Draft at the end of June at the Sphere in Las Vegas. There are a plethora of excellent skaters that could be available with that pick, including Spokane Chiefs center Berkly Catton, Medicine Hat Tigers center Cayden Lindstrom and US national team development program winger Cole Eiserman, who has seen his stock rise in recent weeks.
Eiserman could be a great fit for the Senators, wrote ClutchPoints' Tristin McKinstry in his latest NHL Mock Draft.
“The Senators are delighted to have Eiserman fall to them right here,” McKinstry projected. “His shot is the best in this class by a long shot. And he is one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of the US National Team Development Program. Ottawa bets on their scouting department and snaps up Eiserman with this selection.”
Eiserman would certainly look good lining up next to Tim Stutzle, Shane Pinto or Josh Norris in the next few years, but if he isn't available, there are a few other great forward options the front office should target. The Sens also own the No. 25 pick in the draft, meaning they could look for a defenseman (or another scoring forward) before the first-round is over.
It didn't happen for them last season, but the goal in Canada's capital will again be a playoff spot in 2025. And in order to achieve that, the Senators need to figure out their goaltending, get a decent return for Brannstrom and not leave talent on the table at the NHL Draft.
It'll be intriguing to see if the Senators leadership group can build the team that will finally bring playoff hockey back to Ottawa.
