The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Ottawa Senators looked like a pipe dream a short while ago. That was until some key contributors got them back in the race. It\u2019s down to crunch time now in the NHL season, with many teams right in the midst of playoff races. Things are especially tight in the Eastern Conference. With the playoff cutline currently sitting at approximately 99 points, teams are jockeying for positioning night in, night out. The Ottawa Senators are currently one of those teams.<\/p>\n
Ottawa Senators Key Contributors for the Final Stanley Cup Playoff Push<\/p>\n
The Senators have been one of the hottest teams in the league since the Olympic break. If they want to make the playoffs, they\u2019ve had no choice but to be that hot. They really are orchestrating a great run, right up there with the likes of the Buffalo Sabres and the Columbus Blue Jackets. It\u2019s the sort of consistent stretch that\u2019s alluded them all year. Now, they are finally look to be putting all the pieces together.<\/p>\n
Credit Image: \u00a9 Daniel Lea\/Cal Sport Media<\/p>\n
There has to be a lot going right for a team to put together a run like this and that\u2019s been the case recently for the Senators. Let\u2019s take a look at some of the key factors that have been the main reasons as to why a once looked upon lost season, now is being viewed in a completely different light.<\/p>\n
Linus Ullmark Has Been Excellent<\/p>\n
All season, the Senators have bailed out their goaltenders. They have been one of the best defensive teams in the league. However, that has often been irrelevant, as the poor quality of goaltending has offset their great play without the puck on many nights. In contrast, Linus Ullmark<\/a> has looked fantastic of late, and look no further than the last two games.<\/p>\n The Senators lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night but could have very easily lost in regulation by a wide margin if not for Ullmark. In the second period, the Penguins had 12 high-danger chances and Ullmark stopped them all en route to a 35-save performance. He also made 32 saves in a 3-2 win on Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings.<\/p>\n His turnaround has been quite remarkable. He\u2019s lost just twice in regulation since December 9th going 13-2-4. He has also posted a 6.95 goals saved above expected since his return from personal leave. There was some definite warranted criticism directed towards Ullmark earlier in the season and some skepticism that he could be the guy to get the Senators to the playoffs.<\/p>\n General manager Steve Staios could have added another goaltender at the trade deadline. Instead, he chose to maintain belief in the guy he invested $33 million into. The gamble, as of this point in time, appears to have worked. If Ullmark can elevate back to his Vezina-calibre self, that will be an absolutely huge boost for the Senators\u2019 playoff hopes.<\/p>\n Tyler Kleven Has Vastly Improved<\/p>\n Another significant standout throughout the season has been defenceman Tyler Kleven<\/a>. Kleven has stood out but for not always terrific reasons. His start to the season was rough as he had just five points through his first 29 games. He was often a liability away from the puck, including some egregious gaffes late in games that cost the Senators key points in the standings.<\/p>\n However, he\u2019s certainly come around and has been much improved since then. Kleven ranks 25th among all NHL defencemen in 5-on-5 goals for percentage which doesn\u2019t tell the whole stroy. However, it certainly indicates that the mistakes made earlier in the season aren\u2019t happening as frequently.<\/p>\n Not only is Kleven playing better on the defensive side of the puck, he\u2019s contributing more offensively than earlier. He has 12 points in his last 38 games. That production is not bad for a third-pair defenceman. He is clearly playing with more confidence and authority in the offensive zone. He\u2019s making good, simple plays at the blueline and is able to wriggle his way out of jams to get himself free for shots on goal.<\/p>\n The improvement has come at a crucial time. The Senators are very banged up on the blueline right now. They are currently without Thomas Chabot<\/a>, Jake Sanderson<\/a>, Dennis Gilbert<\/a>, Lassi Thomson<\/a> and Nick Jensen<\/a>. Kleven is going to be relied upon more and more down the stretch if that maintains. Sanderson\u2019s return to the lineup will take a bit of the newly increased weight off Kleven\u2019s shoulders. Moreover, Kleven will need to continue to log an increased number of minutes until then. If he can hold down the fort for just a little longer, it will only bode well for the Senators.<\/p>\n Yakemchuk Can Thrive Under Structure<\/p>\n As the aforementioned injuries to the blue line<\/a> have taken hold recently, the organization\u2019s depth in that area has been tested greatly. They\u2019ve needed to have guys come up and fill in admirably to ensure a run to the playoffs does not get derailed. The result was calling up<\/a> their 10th and 11th defenceman, respectively, on the depth chart in Carter Yakemchuk<\/a> and Jorian Donovan<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Senators needed an injection of hope and skill<\/a> in this desperate time of need. That\u2019s exactly what the two are providing, especially Yakemchuk. Head coach Travis Green even gave him a large vote of confidence. By having him run the first power play unit in place of Chabot, it will be good for him in the long run.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the game on Tuesday against the Red Wings, he made a between-the-legs pass to Tim Stutzle<\/a> to set up a goal by Brady Tkachuk<\/a> before firing his first NHL goal in later in the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n He\u2019s been just what the Senators have needed. That\u2019s not to say his game\u2019s perfect right now. Conversely, it\u2019s enough to get the Senators by and it can only help his development in the long term. Some within the Senators organization have felt that his game will actually translate better in the NHL than in the AHL with more structure and being insulated by better players around him. Ideally, they would\u2019ve liked to have waited a little longer to call him up, but they don\u2019t have much of a choice right now.<\/p>\n Putting It All Together<\/p>\n Green will be very careful with how he\u2019s deployed until Sanderson returns, playing him on the third pair and quarterbacking the power play but with how well structurally the Senators play, it allows for a newcomer like him to acclimate to the NHL that much easier.<\/p>\n Green will probably earn some Jack Adams votes if he can get his team in the playoffs.\u00a0 Especially so, with all the injuries the team has dealt with. The Senators\u2019 coach will be relying on Yakemchuk to continue to realize some of that untapped potential. If so, the Senators could be in for a fun and not long ago, unexpected playoff run.<\/p>\n Main Photo Credit: Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Ottawa Senators looked like a pipe dream a short while ago.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5104],"tags":[5,539,4,72,25,5157,73,3820],"class_list":{"0":"post-527799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ottawa-senators","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-linus-ullmark","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-ottawa","12":"tag-ottawa-senators","13":"tag-ottawasenators","14":"tag-senators","15":"tag-tyler-kleven"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116307713437571849","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}