The 2025-26 season is nearly a quarter of the way through, which means it’s the perfect time to take a look at how the Ottawa Senators’ farm system has been progressing.
Following the arrival of Steve Staios as general manager, the Senators have refreshed their prospect pool. Several players once considered top prospects pushing for NHL jobs were allowed to walk, and the team refocused on acquiring draft capital without sacrificing its roster. The 2025 Draft Class was the perfect example of this new mentality, trading down two places in the first round to add another third-round pick, which they then packaged with a 2026 sixth-rounder to acquire defenceman Jordan Spence.
Ottawa Senators Prospects Report (The Hockey Writers)
The Senators finished the draft with six new prospects, and overall, analysts agreed it was a solid class. While there may not have been any home runs beyond their first-round pick, Ottawa added plenty of value with what they got, and there was plenty of potential for some big breakouts.
Let’s see how they’re doing to start their first season as part of the Senators’ organization.
Logan Hensler, D, U. Wisconsin
Sometimes, you just have to be ready to pick up whatever falls into your lap, and for the Senators, that was Logan Hensler. Initially projected as a top-10 pick at the start of the 2024-25 season, the 6-foot-3 right-shot defender began to slip down the rankings as he suffered some growing pains as a freshman with the University of Wisconsin. However, he was still a member of the American World Junior team that won gold in Ottawa.
This season, he’s been one of the steadiest defenders in the NCAA. In 11 games, he has three goals and seven points while playing on the second pair, which includes a big three-point night against Ohio State on Nov. 15. More impressively, Hensler has helped build one of the best defence corps in the Big 10 Division and is a good bet to return to the World Juniors as one of the U.S.A.’s top defencemen. With smooth skating and great activation instincts, he’s well on his way to becoming an impact NHLer one day.
Blake Vanek, RW, Wenatchee Wild
It was speculated that Blake Vanek could be the next Blake Montgomery following his third-round selection, and not just because they had the same first name. The son of former NHLer Thomas Vanek had an incredible high school career and a strong first showing with the United States Hockey League (USHL) last season, leading to the Senators’ selection and his decision to play in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for 2025-26 before going to college, which parallels Montgomery’s 2024-25 season. The two also play similar styles, using their size and intensity to score goals and intimidate their opposition.
While it hasn’t been a smooth transition to the WHL, Vanek has started to flex some of that breakout potential. In his first 12 games, he had just three assists, but in his last six, he’s scored five goals and seven points. The Wenatchee Wild don’t have the strongest club this season and currently sit last in the WHL, but Vanek is taking advantage of some gaps up front and has a lock on the top line since Nov. 2.
Lucas Beckman, G, Baie-Comeau Drakker
No goalie in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) has had a heavier workload than Lucas Beckman this season. The Senators’ fourth-round selection leads the league with 21 games started and 695 shots faced, over 180 more than second place. Part of that is the team around him, which is very comfortably in dead last with four wins, all of which have come from Beckman.
Yet Beckman has a .912 save percentage (SV%), tied for fifth-highest average of all starting goalies this season and eighth league-wide. His 2.99 goals against average (GAA) is also surprisingly low given that the Drakkar has allowed the most goals in the QMJHL, and he’s ranked second with two shutouts. He’s been unflappable against incredible odds, proving that NHL Central Scouting was right in ranking him the second-best North American goalie (ahead of Jack Ivankovic). The Senators might have a gem on their hands here.
Dmitri Isayev, LW, Yekaterinberg
Seemingly to prove that they don’t just select big guys, the Senators drafted the 5-foot-9 Dmitri Isayev in the fifth round. They also bucked the trend of avoiding Russians; Ottawa hadn’t selected a player born and based in Russia since 2005. But what a swing they took in 2025. Isayev had the potential to be a dynamic top-six forward with high-end production similar to Artemi Panarin, another undersized winger who needed time to mature before taking the NHL by storm.
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So far, Isayev has played in three different leagues this season. He began in the VHL, Russia’s second-tier league, but was rarely playing – in three games, he totalled just over five minutes of ice time – so he went down to the junior MHL, where he put up five points in just two games. That earned him a return to the VHL, then on to the KHL with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, but he was back down after just two games.
Although Isayev has been on a yo-yo this season, he’s been productive when given the chance. In the MHL, he’s playing upwards of 22 minutes a night and has six goals and 12 points in nine games. He’s played 14 games in the VHL, where he’s averaging around 12 minutes a game now and just scored his first goal in the league on Nov. 7. The KHL has only brought him up for one more game since his two-game cup of coffee in October, but he’s well on his way to making some waves in Russia this season.
Bruno Idzan, LW, U. Wisconsin
The Senators followed their first Russian pick in 20 years with the first Croatian-born player ever selected at the NHL Draft, taking Bruno Idzan in the sixth round. After starting the 2024-25 season in Croatia, he joined the USHL’s Lincoln Stars, where he scored 22 goals and 44 points in 36 games before committing to the University of Wisconsin, becoming the first Croatian to join a Division 1 program.
https://twitter.com/BadgerMHockey/status/1989862616936640992?s=20
Being a freshman in a Division 1 school is never easy, and Idzan is likely feeling the pressures of transitioning to the NCAA. He’s only played in eight of the team’s 12 games, often sitting for half of a two-game series against division opponents. But he’s taken the opportunities as they’ve come; in eight games, he has one goal, two points, and 18 shots. Wisconsin is on a heater right now, winning six of its last eight games, so if Idzan can keep at it, he’s sure to get more chances in the near future.
Andrei Trofimov, G, Magnitogorsk
The Senators closed out their draft with their second Russian, overage goalie Andrei Trofimov. At 6-foot-2, he was considered slightly undersized, but technically sound. He had a strong 2024-25, playing 26 games in the MHL and recording a .929 SV%, which hinted at a potential late bloomer.
2025-26 hasn’t started quite as strongly for Trofimov. In 10 appearances, he has just a .900 SV% and six wins and was pulled twice after allowing four goals. However, he’s also won the most games on a team that sits in third place in the league. While it’s not an ideal start, he’s seemed realistic in his goals, aiming to start 40 games and try to make the VHL before pushing for a KHL job. The NHL is a long way away, but if he pans out, he could be a solid seventh-round pick. The Senators will just have to wait and see.
Senators’ Newest Draft Class Starting Strong
There’s a lot to like about how the Senators’ 2025 Draft class has started the 2025-26 season. Hensler is progressing into a stud two-way defender, Beckman and Vanek are succeeding in tough environments, and while the late-round swings of Isayev, Idzan, and Trofimov haven’t had the easiest starts to their seasons, they have shown some bright moments in their young careers. That’s exactly what the Senators wanted to see from their newest draft group, and while it’s too early to make any projections, they are all progressing into solid prospects.
