After his first five seasons, Tim Stutzle not only established an excellent player for the Ottawa Senator, but also became one of the senior young forwards in the game. Entering 2025-26, Stutzle will continue to show off his offensive abilities and continue to develop his own defensive game to lead the Senate.
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Drafting: 3road Senators in 2020 overall (first round)
Location: Center (shoot left)
Height/weight: 6 feet, 192 lbs
Age/Birthday: 23 years old (January 15, 2002)
nation: Germany
2024-25 Data: 24 goals, 55 assists, 79 points in 82 games
Career Statistics: 115 goals, 211 assists, 326 points in 367 games
How did he get here
Stutzle, who ranked third overall in 2020, quickly attracted fans’ attention with his skating and hockey skills. From his first professional goal, his talent impressed everyone, to his first playoff goal last season, Stuzel’s career has been a great one.
He has surpassed every game over the past three seasons, the Senator’s most talented player. The frustration of fans is his shooting or lack of shooting. Stutzle’s shot was great, but a pass-first player. He still has a great performance, but once he starts to lean towards shooting, he can take his game to a higher level.
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Even so, his game and driving skills are the highlights of his game. So far, he has laid a solid foundation for his career and will continue to build his own.
Stutzle’s role in 2025-26
The Senators have a very strong center team in Stutzle’s roster, with Dylan Cozens and Shane Pinto in the roster, but if they want to take a big step forward this season, Stutzler will need to keep his game high and need to be part of the 5-on-5 scoring solution. In the past three seasons, there have been only 37 5-to-5 points, which is the lowest output.
His chemistry with Brady Tkachuk will continue to help the top of the lineup flourish, and on the other wing, the possibility of Fabian Zetterlund may be fascinating. Zetterlund’s speed and Tkachuk’s Net-Front presence may lead to a trio. This may give more chances to shoot. He once scored 39 goals, and although the total was low, he occasionally showed his shooting ability.
Stutzle has been playing his defensive game and has improved a lot over the past few seasons. He is becoming the senator needs his elite two-way center. Despite the strong support behind him, his role is to become the face of offense.
Now that the Senators enjoy the playoffs, they will crave more, and Stutz is no exception. Stutzle will be under a lot of pressure as the Senators hope to return to the playoffs. For Stutzle, it will be key to appear when needed. Sometimes, scoring is a team-wide issue throughout the season, and Stutzle will need to be consistent enough to help rush the team back.
Everything in the forward group runs through him. He will get most of the offensive zone starts for the Senators, he will lead in power play time and may lead the team to score points as well. Stutzle will be at the forefront of the team, and his game could lead to another playoff spot.
