The mandate from Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer is simple.
“I would be disappointed if we didn’t make the playoffs,” Andlauer said on Monday at a groundbreaking for the Laitiere de l’Outaouais in Gatineau.
After making the post-season for the first time in eight years last spring, the Senators will open the 2025-26 campaign against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night with the expectations high for Ottawa.
This business is about what you have done for me lately and that’s the same challenge the Senators are facing as they make a quick trip to Florida with a game against the Panthers on Saturday before the home opener on Monday at Canadian Tire Centre at 1 p.m.
FIVE BURNING QUESTIONSWill the core make the next step?
Captain Brady Tkachuk and top centre Tim Stutzle, along with Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson, Drake Batherson, Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto, all had their first opportunity to compete in the playoffs.
Stutzle, the No. 3-overall selection in the 2020 NHL draft, has made a steady improvement yearly. He was the club’s top point-getter with 24 goals and 55 assists for 79 points in 82 games last season. Thirty-three points came on the power play, but only five of those were goals.
Sanderson had a breakout season last year and he only should improve. He’ll be on the roster for the United States at the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, in February because there won’t be any chance for his country to deny him a spot.
Tkachuk leads this club into battle every night.
Improvement by the core is key.
Can the Senators increase their 5-on-5 scoring?
The Senators were ranked No. 31 in the National Hockey League in even-strength scoring, so they can’t be much worse.
Coach Travis Green demanded that his core play a 200-foot game — and nobody can blame him. The approach worked and a first-round series against the arch-rival Toronto Maple Leafs was proof it did.
The reality is that the Senators had plenty of opportunities and need to do a better job capitalizing on them. It’s not like Green was trying to stifle the offence. To the contrary, he wants his players to succeed at both ends of the ice.
We hope this area improves because we’re sick of hearing and writing about it and we’re certain that Green doesn’t want to be asked about it anymore, either.
Can the Senators win the Atlantic Division?
Five teams from the Atlantic made the playoffs last spring — the Senators, Panthers, Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.
The Panthers went on to win their second straight Stanley Cup last spring. They kept their group together, but will start the season without Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk.
That should have teams like the Sens licking their chops. Home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs would be a good goal for the Senators heading into this season.
It does feel like the Atlantic is the best division in hockey, but it may also be up for grabs. It’s a tall task.
How many games will Linus Ullmark start?
The Senators top goaltender missed eight weeks last season with a back injury, but a strong effort by backup Leevi Merilainen kept the club in the race until Ullmark returned.
This year, the expectation is that Ullmark will help the Senators get to the post-season again.
He’s making a whopping $8.25 million this season, to help make the Senators a playoff contender.
Ullmark has to carry the ball. He started 44 games last season and has to play at least 50 this season. His numbers were strong with a 25-14-3 record and a .910 save percentage. He’s being paid to be a top goalie and that has to be the case.
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Merilainen struggled in the pre-season, but let’s be honest, that’s meaningless and those weren’t NHL lineups in front of him or facing him. He has to be ready to play 30-35 times because of the compressed schedule.
Can Fabian Zetterlund score 20-plus goals?
Acquired from the San Jose Sharks at the deadline, the 26-year-old forward had only two goals and five points in the 19 games he played with Ottawa. He was pointless in six playoff games.
Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, is counting on Zetterlund being a top-six winger by signing him to a three-year, $12.75-million US deal in the off-season.
Zetterlund has scored 24 goals in 2023-24 with San Jose and had 19 last season. He has good skills and good speed. Has to capitalize on those chances, and if he does, that will be helpful.