The Ottawa Senators were set to forfeit their first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft after a disciplinary sanction imposed regarding a July 2021 trade of Evgenii Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights — but the National Hockey League has changed its mind.
Instead of losing the pick, the Sens will indeed be drafting in the first-round, the catch being that it'll be the final pick of the round. They'll still be paying a fine to the league as well.
“The sanction originally imposed on the Senators provided for the forfeiture of the Club’s first-round draft pick in one of the 2024, 2025 or 2026 Drafts,” the league announced in the official release.
“The Senators subsequently applied to the League for reconsideration and relief from the original penalty, citing primarily the change in Club ownership and oversight which, in the Club’s view, changed the appropriateness of the penalty initially imposed. After due and thorough consideration, the League has decided that a modification of the original penalty is warranted and, accordingly, has amended the Club sanction as follows:
“The Senators’ penalty will now involve the forfeiture of their first round pick in 2026 in favor of the right instead to pick 32nd overall in the 2026 NHL Draft (the last pick in the first round). The Club will not be permitted to trade or transfer its right to the 32nd overall selection in the 2026 Draft. In addition, the Club will pay a fine of $1 Million (CDN).”
The fine will be directed to the NHL Foundation Canada. If the Senators do not advance to the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, they'll still be “allocated the same Lottery odds that would have normally been assigned to the Club based on and consistent with its Regular Season finish.”
It's an excellent conclusion for Ottawa and general manager Steve Staios, who was with the Ontario Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs at the time. The Sens will now be able to get a player of significant quality in Buffalo later this year.
The Evgenii Dadonov trade situation
Dadonov, who now plays for the New Jersey Devils, was traded from the Senators to the Golden Knights at the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign.
The problem was that Ottawa never disclosed that Dadonov had a 10-team no team trade list in his contract, which became an issue when the Golden Knights tried to trade Dadonov to the Anaheim Ducks, who were on that list, midway through the 2021-22 season. The Senators were viewed as the guilty party for that mishap, leading to the NHL deciding to strip them of a future first round pick.
The Senators are currently 32-23-9 after a 3-2 regulation loss to the Montreal Canadiens on home ice on Wednesday night. They're five points back of a wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference with 18 games left in their regular season.
They next take to the ice against the visiting Ducks at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday afternoon.
