The Ottawa Senators made a playoff appearance last season after seven long years of wandering in the postseason desert. For the Ottawa faithful, just making the playoffs was a success – never mind that they were dispatched to the golf course by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. (to be fair, the Senators came back from a three-game deficit to push the series to six games!)
Even so, simply making the playoffs this season won’t be enough to keep Senators fans happy. The team is under more pressure than it’s faced at any point in the last decade. This season, it’s a respectable playoff run or bust for the Senators.
Past Failures Weigh Heavily on the Senators
After coming so close to returning to the Stanley Cup championship round in the spring of 2017, the team put its fans through a seemingly endless rebuild. After blowing up his team – gone were Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, and Mike Hoffman – general manager (GM) Pierre Dorion bungled his way through a rebuild for seven long, miserable seasons before he was fired in 2023.
Through it all, Senators fans were, for the most part, stoic. Even so, just making the playoffs was never the destination for true believers in this team. Their patience is wearing thin, and their famous optimism has limits. This season, they need to see the start of a payoff.
Senators’ management feels the added pressure they are under this season. As president of hockey operations and GM Steve Staios put it, “we’re happy with that step last year, (making the playoffs) but we’re certainly not satisfied.” The pressure seems to be felt across the team’s entire management group, with head coach Travis Green saying on the opening day of training camp that, “We’re here not just to make the playoffs. We’re here to do a lot more than that.”
Senators’ Core Must Deliver in 2025-26
Whether the Senators can deliver on these lofty expectations will depend largely on their core of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, and Drake Batherson. They are locked in under long-term contracts and can no longer be considered developing young guns. They’re now seasoned pros and need to deliver on their promise.
The Senators aren’t the only up-and-coming contender with a talented core. The Montreal Canadiens boast blueliner Lane Hutson and forwards Nick Suzuki, Cole Caulfield, Ivan Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsky. The formidable foursome of Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider and Dylan Larkin should propel the Detroit Red Wings into the playoff conversation. Not only that, but as far-fetched as it may sound, the Buffalo Sabres could be a dark horse contender for a wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Tage Thompson and Josh Norris pack offensive punch and if defence is key to success in the NHL, the Sabres have it in spades with Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram and Michael Kesselring cruising their blue line.
If the Sabres, Canadiens and Red Wings nipping at the Senators’ heels for a ticket to the postseason isn’t worrying enough, then the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Maple Leafs certainly will be. These teams took the three top spots in the Atlantic Division last season, and none look weaker now, with the possible exception of the Maple Leafs, should Mitch Marner’s absence linger.
All of this is to say that the Senators can’t lag behind. The team has the talent to contend as one of the top three squads in their division, but there’s no room to falter.
Senators’ Management Must Deliver on Their Promises
Staios and Senators’ owner Michael Andlauer need their team to show progress this season to justify their vision and promises for the team. Fans took Andlauer at his word when he purchased the franchise back in the fall of 2023 and told them that, “Together, we can make the city proud. Let’s bring the Stanley Cup back to Ottawa.”
As for Green and his coaching staff, the pressure to take another big step this season toward delivering that Cup will be massive. Green made good in his first full year as Bytown bench boss last season. Under him, Ottawa’s playoff purgatory came to an end. Yet he knows that missing the playoffs and even a Round 1 exit could mean big changes for his team. That includes his coaching staff and roster.
Senators’ Window to Win Is Now
The Senators’ best chance to make good on Andlauer’s pledge to bring Lord Stanley’s silverware back to the nation’s capital is in the next three seasons.
Related: Senators’ Best Shot at a Stanley Cup Is in the Next 3 Seasons
It’s doubtful Staios and company will be able to keep the team’s entire core together beyond the next three seasons. That means their odds of contending for a championship are as good as they’re going to get over the next three years. Now is their time to win, and Andlauer knows it, saying at the start of last season, “We have great potential for the next three years in particular” (from Bruce Garrioch, ‘Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer drops game-changing hints over breakfast at Al’s Diner,’ The Ottawa Citizen, 9/18/24).
What “Bust” in 2025-26 Could Mean for the Senators
A bust for the Senators this season would mean either failing to go beyond the first round of the 2026 Playoffs or, even worse, missing the playoffs altogether. Either scenario leads to coaching changes, a roster shakeup and a loss of trust in the team and its management among the Ottawa faithful.
This season, the Senators can’t fall back on excuses or claim moral victories as was their wont to do in campaigns past. The roster is set; the fans are believers, and now is the time for the team to deliver on expectations.