The Ottawa Senators are in a desperate fight for a wild card spot in the 2025 NHL Playoffs. Even so, don’t expect the team’s president of hockey operations and general manager (GM) Steve Staios to make any big trades at this season’s trade deadline on March 7. Here’s why.
Senators Have No Cap Space to Cut Deal at NHL Trade Deadline
According to PuckPedia, the Senators have just $850,000 in available cap space. That’s just not enough money to add a player to his roster who would make a difference. And that means that in any trade Staios engineers, roster players will need to go back the other way.
Related: 2025 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker
The question then becomes, who? Many in the Bytown hockey commentariat have Drake Batherson and Josh Norris on the trade block. Yet Batherson has gone cold of late, notching just three goals in his last 20 games. He could be hard to move and it’s questionable whether what comes back the other way would be much of an improvement over what Batherson already brings to the Senators.
As for Norris, dealing him may be a bridge too far for Staios. He has registered just 20 goals and 12 assists in his 53 games so far this season, making his $7.95 million annual salary over the next three seasons hard to digest for any suitor. And then there is his history of shoulder injuries that sidelined him for almost all of the 2022-23 season and 32 games last season. This season he missed six games between Feb. 3 and March 1 due to an undisclosed upper body injury. All of this is sure to make any team interested in him think twice before closing on a deal.
Competition for Talent at NHL Trade Deadline Intense
As of March 6, the Columbus Blue Jackets were owners of the first of two wild card tickets to the playoffs with 68 points. They were followed by the Senators and New York Rangers, who are tied for the second wild card spot with 67 points each. Hot on their heels were the Detroit Red Wings, just one point out of a wild card spot, with the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders all within striking distance of a wild card berth in the playoffs.
All seven teams will be scouring the league for any talent available to help them punch their ticket to playoff action this spring. That is sure to drive up the price of that talent to the point where Staios may question whether acquiring it is worth the effort.
After all, the Senators are not a Cup contender, so now is not the time to go all-in on bringing in top talent. Even if he could find it at an affordable price tag, Staios will probably insist on a skater 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 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.”
Related: 3 Senators Players Who Could Be Dealt at the Trade Deadline
As Post Media’s Bruce Garrioch pointed out, the belief is Staios is confident, even if he doesn’t make any additions to the roster before the deadline, this group has what it takes to make the playoffs, led by goaltender Linus Ullmark (from Bruce Garrioch, “Senators winger Drake Batherson getting attention before NHL trade deadline”, Ottawa Citizen, 3/4/25).
Senators Lack Picks and Prospects to Make Deal at Trade Deadline
In theory, one or both of Batherson and Norris could be moved at the trade deadline if they were packaged with the right picks and prospects. The problem for the Senators is that their prospect pool is dreadful. What’s more, they have no first-round picks either this season or next.
Not only that, but the kind of player that Staios wants may simply not be available regardless of the package of roster players, picks and prospects that Staios may be able to put on offer. Judging by his comments, Staios seems to know that if the cost of a shiny new addition is too high and could jeopardize the long-term development of his roster, it may be best to stand down.
Staios Needs Depth Forward But That’s Hard to Find
Staios’ inbox is no doubt full of useful suggestions from fans about who he should acquire at the trade deadline. Earlier in the season, the faithful thought he needed to trade for a goaltender, given starting netminder Linus Ullmark’s injuries and the spotty play of his understudy, Anton Forsberg. All of that talk was put to rest when minor leaguer Leevi Merilainen stepped up and showed he was a bona fide NHL puck stopper.
At various points in the season, the punditry clamoured for an addition to the Senators’ blue line. Cries for a new defenceman have faded away with the pair of Thomas Chabot and Nick Jensen finally clicking and Nikolas Mantinpalo emerging as a solid blueliner. Besides, the Senators’ defence ranked 17th in the league and with its penalty kill almost equal to the league average of 78.3%, Ottawa’s blue line is likely good enough to help the team muddle through to a playoff spot.
The hole in the Senators’ roster that needs to be filled is in the middle-six. That’s because they can’t score – at least not as much as they must if they are to be a playoff contender. Their shooting percentage is 9.2% ranking them 27th in the NHL. Overall, their offense is ranked 17th best in the league. Picking up a depth forward at the trade deadline who could make them even just a little better could turn one-goal losses into one-goal wins.
Even so, finding an addition to the middle-six that meets all Staios’ criteria is easier said than done. To illustrate the point, the Chicago Blackhawks’ Ryan Donato, with his digestible $2 million salary, is bandied about as a potential acquisition. So too is Brandon Tanev of the Seattle Kraken, who comes with a $3.5 million per year contract. Yet, because both are pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs) at the end of the season, Staios will think twice about acquiring either. If they can’t be signed to contracts with acceptable term, then whatever he paid for them will have been wasted. The fact is that many players being moved at the trade deadline are pending UFAs. Many of them want a change of scenery, but others are players whose club is moving on from them for various reasons.
Staios May Stand Pat at NHL Trade Deadline
As the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline approaches, Staios will be tempted by many potential deals. Still, he’ll need to be careful balancing the need to help his team make the playoffs this season and avoiding anything that could put its long-term development at risk. In the end, he may decide that all of the options he has to make a trade at the deadline would be foolhardy.
