The Ottawa Senators are in a seesaw battle for one of two Eastern Conference wildcard spots in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Not only that, but they are just two points behind the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division with two games in hand.
After seven long seasons of his team wandering in the desert and the playoffs so tantalizingly close, Senators president of hockey operations and general manager (GM) Steve Staios must surely be thinking about adding depth to his team as the March 7 NHL trade deadline approaches. Even so, what does he add, can he find it and perhaps as important, what must he give up to get it?
Let’s have a look.
Holes in the Senators’ Roster
Before rookie goaltender Leevi Merilianen emerged as a legitimate NHLer with a 6-3-1 record that includes two shutouts, a save percentage (SV%) of .914 and a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.32, the Bytown hockey commentariat was saying that Staios needed to trade for a goaltender. You don’t hear much of that kind of talk in Ottawa these days. With Merilianen backing up a healthy starter in Linus Ullmark and third-string twine minder Anton Forsberg returning to respectability, Staios probably has all the goaltending talent he needs to contend for a playoff berth.
As for the defence corps, it’s banged up with Jacob Bernard-Docker and Travis Hamonic on injured reserve (IR) and Nick Jensen out with an undisclosed injury that has kept him out of action since Jan. 23. Some say Staios should be looking for another right-shot blueliner. Perhaps, but arguably the need to bolster his offence is greater. Staios can’t do that and at the same time beef up his blue line.
Besides, with the Senators’ defence ranked 18th in the league and its penalty kill almost equal to the league average of 78.59%, Ottawa’s defence corps is likely good enough to help the team muddle through to a playoff spot. That’s especially so if Jensen returns to the lineup quickly.
As for offensive firepower, since Dec. 5, the Senators have a record of 15-8-2 and a points percentage of .640, putting them among the league’s top 10 teams alongside the likes of the Dallas Stars, the Montreal Canadiens and the Los Angeles Kings. So, that leads many fans to ask, what’s not to like about the team’s ability to put up points?
Drilling down into the statistics reveals a problem of late. In their last 15 games, they’ve managed just seven wins and 16 points out of a possible 30 (.533 points percentage). Not only that, but they allowed more goals (24) than they scored (21), registering an average of just two goals per game – well below the three-per-game NHL average and below their own season average of 2.7 goals per game.
You don’t have to look far to see why that is. Most of the top six has gone cold. Here’s a look at their average points per game on the entire season vs. their points per game in the 10 games leading up to Jan. 25.
| Player | Average Points per Game on the Season | Average Points per Game over Last 10 Games |
| Tim Stutzle | 0.94 | 0.50 |
| Drake Batherson | 0.82 | 0.40 |
| Brady Tkachuk | 0.76 | 0.00 |
| Claude Giroux | 0.63 | 0.70 |
| Josh Norris | 0.57 | 0.50 |
| Adam Gaudette | 0.42 | 0.30 |
The likes of Stutzle, Batherson and Tkachuk will get over their current slumps. Still, Staios may want to add a forward to his middle six who could be considered an upgrade on David Perron, Michael Amadio and Gaudette.
Hurdles Staios Faced in Adding a Depth Forward
Lots of armchair GMs on the Rideau Canal can play fantasy hockey and shout out the names of forwards Staios should be going after leading up to the trade deadline. But it’s all easier said than done. First, the Senators don’t have much cap space. To bring a strong forward to town who could add firepower to his middle-six and help secure a playoff spot, Staios will have to move salary or picks and prospects. It could be all three.
The Senators only have $1.7 million in current cap space, but that’s only because of players on long-term injured reserve (LTIR). Still, once they return to the roster, the Senators’ cap space will fall to about $80,000. That means that in any trade Staios engineers, roster players will need to go back the other way. While the Senators’ prospect pool is dreadful, they have all their picks in 2025 and lots of third-rounders in 2026 who could be dealt as part of a trade package aimed at helping the team right away.
Nobody likes the idea of giving away picks and prospects. But if it comes down to a choice between doing that or passing up a good trade that could help the Senators make the playoffs, Staios will likely raid his prospect and draft pick jar. The Senators simply can’t afford to sit out the playoffs for an eighth consecutive season.
Even so, the Senators are not a Cup contender, so now is not the time to go all-in on bringing in top talent. Even if a depth forward is brought to town, Staios will probably want it to be someone who can help his team not only this season but for the next few while the Senators have a window on a Stanley Cup championship. Now is simply not the time for the Senators to add a playoff rental.
Staios himself sounds unwilling to compromise his long-term plans for his roster for the sake of doing a deal at the trade deadline, saying, “We’ll continue to look at options, to try and help the group out in certain ways, but also watching the group grow internally… There’s still time as we head towards the trade deadline.”
Much will depend on the market at the trade deadline. Players that are available could be so expensive that a major deal may not be worth doing. Not only that, but the kind of depth forward that Staios needs may simply not be available. Judging by his comments, Staios seems to know that if the cost of a shiny new forward is too high and could disrupt the development of his roster, it may be best to stand down.
Depth Forward Hard for Senators to Find at Trade Deadline
My fellow Senators writers at The Hockey Writers, Dayton Reimer and Jacob Billington, have written extensively this month about potential acquisitions for the team at the trade deadline. At one end of the spectrum, Reimer suggests the Senators kick tires on the Chicago Blackhawks’ centreman/right-winger Ryan Donato with his digestible $2 million salary. If that doesn’t work out, Reimer points to the Bruins’ Trent Frederic as a possible pick-up. Still, because both are pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs) at the end of the season, Staios may think twice about acquiring them. If he can’t sign them to contracts with acceptable term, then whatever he paid for them will have been wasted.
Related: Senators Need to Make a Trade at Trade Deadline to Stay in Playoff Hunt
Billington suggested Staios go on a high-end shopping spree in the Pacific Division by targeting Vancouver Canucks centremen Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller and right-winger Brock Boeser. Pettersson makes $11.6 million annually but is under contract until the end of the 2027-28 season. Miller’s contract has the same term but comes with a slightly more affordable salary of $8 million. Snagging either of them would mean parting with significant roster talent and in the case of Pettersson, likely a top draft pick, too. Billington suggests the butcher’s bill for either could include Norris and blueliner Artem Zub – just to start. At $6.5 million, Boeser is more affordable but he becomes a UFA at the end of this season, making him a risky proposition.
Related: Senators Should Take Advantage of Canucks’ Chaos
Billington also made the case that the Calgary Flames’ Andrei Kuzmenko should be on Staios’ shopping list. He makes $5.5 million per season and is a pending UFA. While he’s been terrible this season, he marked up the scoresheet for 39 goals and 35 assists for 74 points in 2022-23. Kuzmenko would be a flashy buy to be sure, but it’s a risky one without any contract term.
Staios Will Tread Cautiously at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline
As the 2025 NHL trade deadline approaches, Staios will come across a lot of shiny baubles. As a buyer for the first time in years, Staios knows he’ll need to make careful choices with a view to helping his team make the playoffs this season and avoiding anything that could put its long-term development at risk.
