Ottawa Senators need an impact forward to be a contender – Hockey Writer – Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators have a talented but inconsistent core at times. What’s more, even with captain Brady Tkachuk returning, the team has holes in its front six. The defensive unit has been respectable this season, and its goaltending—while inconsistent at times—seems to be improving.

So if there’s one player missing from the Senators’ roster, it’s a true top-six forward who can tilt the ice and give Ottawa scoring depth that rivals Atlantic Division opponents.

Anatomy of Senators’ Frontline Troops

The Senators have top forward talent in Tkachuk, Tim Statzler, Derek Basson, Dylan Cozens and Sean Pinto. Still, none of them can be considered an elite-level forward in the NHL. Stutzle is closest, but he’s ranked 54th so far this season^th Ranked first in the league in points.

As for talent on the depth chart, Ridly Greig appears to be emerging as a legitimate NHL center, although he has been indifferent at times for long periods of time. Fabian Zetterlund has three goals in seven games during the Senators’ most recent seven-game road trip, adding a goal and an assist on Dec. 2 against the Montreal Canadiens, leading many to hope he starts to fulfill his scoring potential.

Still, despite the relative youth, speed, and skill of the Senators’ front six, they can’t do it all. The team needs more scoring depth. As of Dec. 3, five skaters — Stutzle, Batherson, Pinto, Cozens and Claude Giroux — had earned 96 of the club’s 225 points. The rest of the Strikers scored a combined 63 points, meaning the fivesome scored more than a point and a half for every point they scored.

Since the Senators are top-heavy in scoring, opponents can focus on shutting down their top six, knowing their bottom six can’t make up for the goals. The third and fourth lines are often simplified to serve as checks. All of this becomes a serious problem in a league where top teams have four lines of defense, each of which can pose an offensive threat.

Indeed, Tkachuk missed 20 games due to injury, and the Senators had to work hard to fill the hole he left on the roster. However, his absence exposed the team’s depth issues. Rounding out the top six is ​​a combination of Michael Amadio, Gregg, David Perron, Nick Cousins, Lars Eller and Zetlund, but none of them seem to stick in the role.

The Senators’ forward group is good, but not as deep as the top teams in the division. As of this writing, the Tampa Bay Lightning are in first place, led by Nikita Kucherov (32 points), Brandon Hagel (27 points) and Jake Guentzel (27 points).

The Detroit Red Wings are tied with the Senators for third in the division with Dylan Larkin (30 points), Lucas Raymond (29 points) and Alex DeBrincat (28 points). David Pastrnak (29 points) and Morgan Geekie (28 points) helped the resilient Boston Bruins claim third place again.

The Canadiens earned the conference’s second playoff spot behind the firepower of Nick Suzuki (30 points) and Cole Caufield (28 points). So far this season, no one on the Senators roster can match these players in terms of scoring.

Senators ranked 13th^th Number of goals and points scored in the league. Their scoring percentage is .577, ranking 12th^th In the NHL. They rank 15th in five-on-five scoring^th In the league. All of which points to them being a middling team at best that needs more scoring prowess. That’s why many say the club needs to increase their “forward influence”.

What exactly is influence?

There are as many definitions of the term as there are wannabe general managers (GMs) in Bytown. This beast is so broadly defined that you could be forgiven for not knowing what it looks like. Even so, I’ll try to sum it up:

1. Top six wingers or centers
2. A scorer who scores 25-30 points and 60 or more points in a season
3. People who can drive on their own lines
4. Players who create game problems for opponents
5. Players who help the Senators extend their offense beyond the first line

Senators’ potential trade targets

Recently, my colleague hockey writerJacob Billington wrote an article listing seven players who meet or are close to meeting these benchmarks. These include Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars, Alex Tuch of the Buffalo Sabers and Filip Forsberg of the Nashville Predators.

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What’s notable about the names Billington offers is that almost all of them are wingers. He’s right to focus on the wings because that’s where the Senators’ front two lines need the most. Tkachuk, Stutzle, Cozens and Batherson are firmly in the top six, and the team needs two more stable wingers. Zetlund seemed to prove that one of them should be him, but the other was still needed.

I won’t second-guess Billington’s recommendations, except to say that his picks, Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes and Brock Boeser and Connor Garland of the Vancouver Canucks, all scored under 60 points last season. Their annual salaries are US$7.75 million, US$7.25 million and US$6 million respectively. Some trade targets offer better value.

I also added several other players to my shopping list, including Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos of the Predators, and Brian Rust and Rikard Recker of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Any player the Senators bring in will need to offer a contract term. With the exception of Roberston and Tach, all the names here have enough tenure to see the Senators through the upcoming two-to-three-season window during which they have a chance to contend for a championship.

Can the Senators afford the impact up front?

Trading Billington and any of the players I suggest would mean some serious financial restructuring for Ottawa. That’s because the team now only has $4.167 million in cap space to re-sign pending restricted free agents (RFAs) Leevi Merilainen and Jordan Spence. Both will be looking for significant raises, and given their performance so far this season, they likely deserve one.

Here are Billington and I’s suggested target player values:

Considering where the Predators, Blues and Canucks are in the standings this season, they may be looking at destroying everything and rebuilding. That means they could be open to a package deal that would include players on the roster as well as some draft picks and prospects. The problem is that the Senators don’t have a first- or second-round pick in the 2026 draft. Any draft later than that is unlikely to attract interest from trade partners offering a top-six forward.

As for prospects, Belleville’s NHL talent pool isn’t deep, and Carter Jakumchuk could be one of the crown jewels general manager Steve Staos needs to give up to get a deal done. He might be able to sweet-talk a deal for one of the players listed above by wrapping up a defenseman. However, that would mean a return to the bad old days, when the Senators’ blue line was a persistent problem.

Why senators may not need influence moving forward

With Tkachuk back in the lineup, one or more veterans along with a younger player like Gregg may be able to fill the middle-winger void in the top six. After all, adding a top player comes with risks. Fans won’t soon forget Matt Duchenne’s failure in Ottawa, even though he was widely believed to add a much-needed offensive boost to the lineup. The chemical reaction was a complete failure. What’s more, there is a risk that the sacrifice of important assets may outweigh the benefits to the town.

So are the Senators any closer to becoming a contender?

The Senators share many of the hallmarks of a rising contender — except one. They’re very close, and adding a top-six player could make them a Stanley Cup contender.

The question is whether Staos and his company are willing to take the risk and pay the price.