The Ottawa Senators made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in eight seasons this year. Ottawa fought hard to finish as the top Wild Card team in the Eastern Conference. And they put in a rather impressive showing late in their postseason run. Unfortunately, that run lasted just six games, as they were eliminated by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round.
The Senators are hoping to continue their winning ways in the season ahead. However, any success in the 2025-26 campaign will need to come from internal improvement. The Senators did not make any major splash move. Their biggest move this summer may be the trade for Jordan Spence from the Los Angeles Kings.
Outside of this, Ottawa's major moves were re-signing Claude Giroux and signing Lars Eller. These are important moves, to be fair. They give the team depth, and both players have a ton of experience to offer. Eller has a Stanley Cup to his name, as well.
Ottawa could be active around the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline. They could be aggressive going after players to improve the team. But they may dangle a couple players of their own. With this in mind, here are two potential trade candidates for the Senators with the 2025-26 season drawing ever closer.
Nick Jensen is a pending free agent
The Senators acquired Jensen in a trade with the Washington Capitals last summer. He did not have the same sort of impact the other player in that deal — Jakob Chychrun — had for his club. However, the veteran was a steady presence on the backend for Ottawa.
Ottawa's coaching staff certainly felt comfortable with the 34-year-old on the ice. This past season marked just the second time in his career that he played more than 20 minutes a night. In all, he finished with 21 points in 71 games with the Senators.
Unfortunately, injuries did have an effect late in the year. He played much of the second half of the season with a hip injury. And this injury lingered into the postseason. Jensen did eventually have surgery, though, and should be good to go for the beginning of this coming campaign.
Jensen is a free agent at the end of this season. The Senators could elect to keep him around if he has a strong season. However, a good season from Spence could see Ottawa decide to move on from the veteran in favor of giving the 24-year-old summer pickup an extended role.
Senators could make David Perron available
The Senators brought David Perron into the fold last summer. The veteran winger was meant to provide veteran scoring depth for this team when he joined. However, he struggled with injury throughout the season. In fact, he managed to play in only 43 games this year. When he was healthy, he didn't make much of an impact.
Perron has a very solid track record, though. He had recorded eight straight seasons of 45+ points before the 2024-25 campaign. In four of those eight seasons, he recorded 20 goals or more. And of course, the veteran won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019.
If Perron can get off to a solid start, he could attract interest around the NHL Trade Deadline. Especially if he's healthy. There may be a chance for the Senators to make a proverbial “hockey trade” involving Perron if this pans out.
