When it comes to big milestones, the Ottawa Senators aren’t often on any big radars. That’s just the reality of a rebuild. For the past several seasons, they’ve been one of the youngest rosters in the NHL, and while it’s exciting to see their rising stars hit the 100-game mark, 4,090 others have also played at least that many. It also hasn’t helped that Ottawa hasn’t had much luck with free agents and trade targets in recent years, so even those players who could hit significant milestones don’t often do so in Ottawa.
However, 2024-25 will mark a new era in Ottawa. Not only will it be the first full season under general manager Steve Staios’ leadership, but the Senators’ biggest young stars are starting to make their mark on the NHL. That means that at least a few Senators could ink their names into the record books this season. Here are a few milestones to look out for in 2024-25.
Brady Tkachuk’s Multiple Senators’ Milestones
Since 1992-93, only 11 players in Senators’ history have played 500 games for the franchise. The most recent player to hit the mark was Zack Smith, who played 612 games in Ottawa before leaving for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019-20. But the Senators should see another join their ranks this season with Brady Tkachuk, who is already approaching the 500-game mark despite being just 24 years old.
Right now, Tkachuk sits at 440 games played in Ottawa; it should be all but expected that he’ll play 60 more this season. Since making his NHL debut in 2018-19, he’s only played less than 70 games once, and that was in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season where he appeared in all 56 games. Over the past three seasons though, he’s averaged nearly 81 games per season, meaning that he not only will cruise past the 500-game milestone but firmly plant himself above Alexei Yashin, who only played 504 games in Ottawa before being traded to the New York Islanders.
But Tkachuk isn’t just going to be one of the Senators’ longest-tenured players. He also sits at 187 assists, and since he’s never put up fewer than 17 in a single season, hitting 200 is already in the bag. Only eight Senators have scored over 200 assists, and looking again at his three-year average, he should easily surpass Chris Phillips for seventh all-time. Even the 400-point plateau shouldn’t be that hard for him, as he is just 51 points away. Only five Senators have scored more than that, and Tkachuk should be the fourth-highest scorer in Senators’ history at the end of the season.
The trickiest one for Tkachuk will be the goals, but it’s certainly within reach. At 162 goals, he’ll need to score 38 this season to hit 200 goals and surpass Marian Hossa’s 188 for fourth on the Senators’ all-time scoring list. However, Tkachuk has never scored more than 37 goals in a single season, with his best coming just last season. If everyone remains healthy, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him hit 40 goals, but a lot will need to go right for that to happen.
Ullmark Could Hit 300 Starts
It’s hard not to get excited about the Senators’ playoff potential now that they have Linus Ullmark between the pipes. The 2022-23 Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s best goalie remained one of the best goalies in the league last season, posting a .915 save percentage (SV%) over 40 games, tying him for the 11th-best average. That put him at 247 career starts, just 53 games away from hitting 300. While that total puts him among esteemed company – just 171 goalies have also played 300 games in NHL history – getting there gives him a great chance to make Senators’ history.
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Since joining the league, the Senators have had just eight goalies play 53 games or more in a single season. Of those, only five put up a SV% over .900, with the highest being Ray Emery’s .918 SV% in 2006-07. Although Ullmark has never played more than 49 games in a single season in the NHL – his career-best sits at 49 starts, which he set in his Vezina-winning season – he was always a 1B goalie. In Ottawa, the starting job is Ullmark’s to lose. After a promising 2021-22, Anton Forsberg took a significant step back, forcing the Senators to rely on the frustratingly inconsistent Joonas Korpisalo for 55 games last season.
But Ullmark could also take the crown from Emery for the best SV% for a goalie with 50-plus games. Since 2015-16, he’s never dipped below a .905 SV% and apart from 2022-23, he’s topped out at .917. With an above-average high-danger save percentage, there’s a good chance he will put up one of the best seasons ever for a goalie in Ottawa. The last time he was given sole starting duties was in 2016-17 with the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Rochester Americans, where he played 55 games while posting a .909 SV%. Ullmark has made massive improvements since then, and while it’s no guarantee, he could make Senators’ history.
Perron and Giroux Close to 1,200 Games
It’s not often that a player reaches 1,000 games, and it’s even rarer for the Senators to celebrate it with them. That’s what made Derrick Brassard’s 1,000th game so special; these sorts of things just don’t happen that often in Ottawa. Players just don’t stick around long enough or desire to finish their careers with the Senators. In 32 seasons, just 10 other players have celebrated hitting 1,000 games or more in Ottawa. But in 2024-25, two more will join their ranks, with Claude Giroux and David Perron set to become one of 130 players in NHL history to play 1,200 games in their career.
Giroux will arguably have an easier time hitting the impressive mark. At 1,182 games, he needs to play just 18 games this season, and with two 82-game seasons already under his belt in Ottawa, there’s no doubt that he strides confidently past the 1,200-game mark and enters into the top 100 for games played. It will also be interesting to watch how much he scores this season. Giroux already hit 1,000 points in 2022-23 after scoring 79 points in his first season in Ottawa but dropped to 21 goals and 64 points last season. If he can find his initial rhythm again, he could challenge Daniel Alfredsson for the most points by a 36-year-old Senator; in 2008-09, the long-time Senators’ captain scored 24 goals and 74 points.
Perron also should hit the 1,200-game mark, but at 1,131 career games played, he will have more of a challenge. He’ll need to play in 69 games with the Senators this season, and in his 18-season career, he’s only fallen below that benchmark six times. However, two of those occurrences happened within the last five years, both with the St. Louis Blues. He has been the picture of consistency for much of his career, though, and after two strong seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, there shouldn’t be much doubt that he can keep it up in Ottawa.
Thomas Chabot All-Time Senators Defenceman
Tkachuk has a great chance to join an exclusive group this season among the Senators’ all-time greats, but his emergence as a franchise player was no surprise. He’s been the face of the franchise ever since he was a rookie and when he was given the ‘C’ in 2021-22, it felt like there wasn’t any other option. But there was another option – Thomas Chabot. After some injuries and inconsistencies, it’s easy to forget that he’s been one of the Senators’ all-time greatest defencemen, a group even more exclusive than the forwards.
This season, Chabot could become one of the three greatest blueliners ever to play in Ottawa, joining Wade Redden and Erik Karlsson atop the franchise’s list in games played, assists, and points. The easiest category for Chabot will be hitting 200 assists, as he sits just three away from the milestone. Only three players have surpassed that number with the Senators – Karlsson, Redden, and Phillips. It also shouldn’t be hard for him to get to 500 games played, as he currently sits at 432, just 68 shy of the milestone. Hitting 41 points this season will be trickier, as Chabot has only done that twice in his career, but the most recent was just in 2022-23. With Nick Jensen now in the fold, he should be much more productive this season than he was in 2023-24.
Regardless of what happens this season, 2024-25 should be a massive improvement over last year. Not only did the team address their goaltending and defence, but they’ve committed to adding strong veteran talent that can help push this young core forward. So, while hitting these milestones is good for the record books, the team has only one milestone they’re worried about – making the playoffs for the first time in eight years.
