It was an eventful 2024-25 season for the Ottawa Senators. The team made the playoffs for the first time since 2017, providing their fanbase a long and enjoyable ride in the process. It was a welcome reprieve from the miserable and controversy-filled years of the past almost decade.
Although their season came to an end Thursday night as they lost their first round series in six games to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the vibes coming from it could not be anything but positive. If one had told a fan back in September about this end result, I’m sure they would have signed up for it immediately.
While it was a heartbreaking finish for all Senators fans who witnessed the loss at Canadian Tire Centre, the team certainly put forth a valiant effort and can emerge from this season with plenty of lessons learned and much hope for the future.
A Look Back at the Series
The series proved to be incredibly tight all the way through with the exception of Game 1. The Senators got off to a rough start, losing 6-2 and displaying a real lack of composure and experience, but seemed to settle into the series more as it progressed. The underlying numbers favoured the Senators at times, and they came close to putting a real scare into the Maple Leafs.
Related: Senators Can’t Pull Off Upset, Fall 4-2 to Maple Leafs in Game 6
They showed no signs of quitting despite having less high-end talent, but were ultimately undone by that, losing the special teams battle and receiving some shoddy goaltending from Linus Ullmark all throughout (from ‘Senators’ Linus Ullmark outdueled in ‘devastating’ Battle of Ontario loss’, Ottawa Citizen, May 2, 2025). That being said, a bounce going their way here and there could have drastically altered the complexion of the series.
“It was tight pretty much the whole series,” David Perron said. “I’m proud of the guys, how much they’ve grown this year, even from game to game. We tried to push this to Game 7. It’s tough.” Those signs are definitely promising for a team that hopes to become a Stanley Cup contender in the near future.
Another promising sign moving forward will be seeing how this team responds to this failure moving forward and the lessons there are to be learned. It’s something they’ve finally put themselves in a position to do. Speaking of which, what does that future look like for the Senators?
The Future of the Senators
It seems it will be quite bright. Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson are all 25 and under, all signed for the foreseeable future and all had considerably good playoff debuts. Additionally, supplementary pieces like Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto, also in their early 20s, contributed well in their roles in their first playoffs. The team is young, and they are not going to be easy to play against with the toughness they boast as they grow older and become more battle-tested.
Looking forward to the offseason, the only core piece currently not under contract is Claude Giroux, whom the Senators will undoubtedly seek to bring back for his veteran presence and leadership. They will also have about $18 million in cap space to work with, providing the team an opportunity to shore up some of the weaker areas of their roster.
Their biggest issue, which plagued them throughout the regular season and series, was their lack of goal scoring. They finished second last in 5-on-5 scoring and 19th overall in league scoring in the regular season and scored more than three times just twice in the six playoff games. They could also use some more depth on the blue line, as players like Nick Jensen and Nikolas Matinpalo were exposed at times.
Looking at the Road Ahead
It’s going to be even tougher for the Senators next season to return to the dance. All eight Atlantic Division teams believe they have a shot at making the playoffs, and there are certainly no guarantees the Senators will be among them. They should know this better than anyone, given the craziness of the last eight years.
The goal, of course, will be to keep the foot on the gas and set their sights even higher. “Our goal is to win a Stanley Cup,” said head coach Travis Green. “Making the playoffs and losing in the playoffs is not the ultimate goal.”
Now that the team has completed a full and successful 82-game season, they know they must remain consistent in their play, form good habits and apply them come playoff time, with the lessons they’ve just learned sure to be beneficial. The players also seem to be even more motivated by the loss, determined not to make the same mistakes and realizing how thin the margins are in the playoffs.
Senators in a Great Place
The level of optimism surrounding this organization is at a place it hasn’t been in a long time. They battled hard against their bitter provincial rival; they have a hungry, young core who are looking to build off this season, and they possess the cap space to supplement these players and make their team even better.
The fans in the nation’s capital finally get to end a season with a good taste in their mouths. Rest assured, they are going to demand more of it moving forward, and you know the team is determined to follow through on it.
