Ottawa Senators general manager Steve Staios and head coach Travis Green met with assembled media, including Full Press Hockey, on Monday morning at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The pair touched on a number of topics, from the strides Senators players took this season to internal growth within the roster on and off the ice, identifying what areas require improvement, and how they are to go about attempting to do so.
However, according to past availability by the Senators GM, all are insightful. However, Steve Staios prefers to keep his cards close to his vest.
It was Senators management’s goal to become a postseason team and they did just that, “I believe our team took a good step forward this this season. I’ve said it before, but it’s just the first step, earned the right to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs, a necessary step. I think in our growth, we’ve talked about improvement. I think it’s both on and off the ice,” Staios said in his opening statement.
“And just that special feelng of the Stanley Cup playoffs here in Ottawa, and I’ve said it a number of times, that I believe this is the most underrated hockey market in the National Hockey League. Our fans proved that it was special, the support we certainly felt that as coaches and managers and definitely, I think our players, they spoke enough about it as well. So very grateful for our fan support here in Ottawa.”
The theme of the morning was “internal growth.” Staios and Green each touched on this aspect.
“The first thing we said was internal growth for this group, you know, and to a man they all improved. I mean, to their credit, Travis (Green) has the ability to get the best of these players. So that’s one way I think that we can continue to improve as a team. I think the experience, also, of this season, the way that we played, should lead to some confidence for our group moving towards next season,” noted Staios.
With Green adding, “I think as far as improving, taking a step internally, I thought our players improved miledly from over the last summer, over the course of the season. It’s important we contimue to improve. It’s not status quo. As coaches, as an organization we push our players to have a mindset, a growth mindset of getting better.”
More importantly, from the Senators head coach, who preached accountability upon his hiring last May, “How you left today isn’t going to be acceptable if you just come back the same. I think a lot of our players are in that age group where they still have growth as players. That’s going to be very important for us to be a better team next year.”
Around Full Press Hockey
New Jersey Devils: Jacob Markstrom and the New Jersey Devils Are a Perfect Match
NHL: Steve Mayer: “NHL Wants To Keep Four Nations Momentum Going”
Ottawa Senators: Reflection and the Future Ruled Ottawa Senators Postseason Media Day
NHL: Steve Mayer: “2025 NHL Draft Will Be Unique with a Surprise or 30”
PODCAST: Do the Seattle Kraken Have a Clue on How to Run a Team?
WANT MORE PODCASTS? Can the New Jersey Devils Make a Run in the Playoffs?
A huge example of the team’s growth and displaying a new midset was when the club suffered its third consecutive swoon during the month of November. After a 5-4-0 October, the Senators posted a 5-8-1 mark in November. However, unlike previous seasons, this 2024-25 edition of the Senators was able to recover in December despite playing the majority of the month away from home due to the World Junior Championship being played at the CTC.
“I think there’s always a point, everything comes to a head. That was probably one of those points, if not because there was a lot of hope coming into the season,” Green explained.
“A little bit of coming to with our group, we’ve done a lot of talking about those things. But now you’ve got to really look at the mirror and really and learn fast and quickly. I’d like to think that’s the way we approach things to their group as a process which has helped us through that time. Being able to be very honest with our team to the point about living the pathway. Give our players a lot credit, they didn’t let it slip away from them and they stuck with it, dug themselves out.”
Improving any NHL team in the offseason is easier said than done. Staios was able to do this last summer by acquiring goalie Linus Ullmark on the evening of the Game 7 Stanley Cup Final, trading for defenseman Nick Jensen on July 1, and signing forwards Michael Amadio, Adam Gaudette, and David Perron as free agents.
This time around, Senators GM Steve Staios was resistant to revealing his plan. He hinted that the team will look to improve its number one need, five-on-five scoring, from within, but added that the offseason market will dictate how they’ll attack it.
“I think that that continues to be an area, but I think that’s internal as welI…I think there’s gong to be some growth in that area. I think with the group we have returning, there’s some areas that I’m going to look at, but as we’ve talked about before the market will sort of dictate on if you can add those those types of players, or improve that area, and until you can find that opportunity, it has to come from within.”
Heading into this offseason with $17.6 million in cap space available, Senators management have plenty of decisions to consider.
Unrestricted free agents include forwards Claude Giroux, Adam Gaudette, Nick Cousins, Angus Crookshank, Matthew Highmore, Hayden Hodgson, Cole Reinhardt, defensemen Dennis Gilbert, Travis Hamonic, and goalie Anton Forsberg.
Forward Jan Jenik, blue-liner Tyler Kleven, and goaltender Leevi Merilainen are restricted free agents.
One player whose status changed Monday afternoon was Nik Matinpalo. A pending RFA, Matinpalo signed a two-year contract extension containing an $875,000 cap hit. The Finnish D-man played 41 regular-season and all six playoff games after being recalled December 28th due to an injury sustained by Artem Zub. Matinpalo’s strong season saw him as a late injury replacement for Finland at the Four Nations Faceoff and was recently named to play for his native country at the upcoming World Championship.
Shane Pinto will play for the United States squad.
It remains unknown if defenseman Nick Jensen requires surgery or rehab for a leg injury he endured for most of this past season.
Steve Staios said he and Green will examine the state of the Senators’ roster more thoroughly in the coming days. Scouting meetings will also be held two weeks from now.
“It’s the process of which we’re going to do. Travis, and I will take a little bit of time here, decompress, and then we’ll speak more in depth on our team and on individuals, and look at areas where we can improve, but we’ve had some good performances from a lot of those players.”
Obviously, the club wants to re-sign “G” (Giroux) as Steve Staios reiterated, saying they spoke at his exit meeting. However, the Senators GM has a policy of not discussing player/agent negotiations publicly.
In addition to Giroux, another pair of intriguing UFAs are Gaudette and Forsberg.
Gaudette tallied a career high 19 goals, adding one goal and two assists in the playoffs, lining up as the Senators’ fourth line centre.
Green told Full Press Hockey, “He had a great season, happy for him. It’s not that he got off to a hot start, scored a lot of goals early, but also showed that he could play a role that he hasn’t maybe played in the past. I’m happy for “Gauds” as a player. As far as for the future, that’s one of those players we have to talk about.”
Goalie Leevi Merilainen took a big step this season, recording stellar numbers, including three shutouts, when Linus Ullmark missed six weeks after sustaining a back injury. However, Staios didn’t rule out the possibility of a Forsberg return.
“Leevi’s come up and played well, but certainly when you have a player like Anton (Forsbeg), his commitment and in being in that role as a backup and being one of the hardest working guys on our team, and committed, so we’ll take a long look at it, see what the possibilities are.”
Barring a surprise, Senators 2024 top Entry Draft selection Carter Yakemchuk will likely open the 2025-26 campaign with Belleville in the American League.
“He knows how important this summer is for him and you get an opportunity with the Ottawa Senators on merit and if he’s ready to play and pushes us, we’ll be open to that. But certainly he’s got, like all of our players, need to take this offseason like it’s improving us, improving the roster, talking about how we can improve like it starts now for our players, and so time will tell,” Staios said.
One final topic of contention is whether the Senators will defer their first-round draft selection. The organization has until Tuesday evening to decide whether to keep the pick or give it up.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman penalized the club a first-round pick at the team’s discretion over three years for failing to disclose a no-move clause when sending forward Evgenii Dadonov to Vegas in a July 2021 trade.
Steve Staios commented that deferring the pick is “highly unlikely” at this point. The Senators do not hold a second-round selection and only possess six picks in this June’s Draft.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Launched in April and we are posting weekly podcasts, hot takes, and rumors from around the NHL. Come along for the ride.