Ottawa Senators will have to make another step next season

Drake Batherson (19) and Jake Sanderson mirror the dejection of the entire Senators team in the dying seconds of their 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 1, 2025. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia NetworkArticle content

What do the Ottawa Senators do for an encore?

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Do it all over again next season, and take it a step further.

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The Senators will gather one last time on Saturday morning to hold exit meetings with Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, and head coach Travis Green before heading their separate ways for the off-season.

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The disappointment and disbelief of a Game 6 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Canadian Tire Centre that eliminated the Senators from the playoffs in the Battle of Ontario will linger long into the off-season.

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The Senators returned to the National Hockey League’s big dance for the first time since 2017, and the expectation is that they will return next year.

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“I’m proud of the guys,” said winger David Perron. “The crazy thing is it’s going to be even harder next year to get back into the same position. If we asked the team over there (the Leafs), that’s what they would tell you.

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“You make one step, and the next step is even a little bit harder to win one round and then win two rounds. I’m proud of the way we worked all year to get better and put ourselves in this position.”

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There were a dozen players in the Ottawa dressing room who had no NHL playoff experience heading into the series. Those six games, which included two wins over Toronto, will aid the growth of those players and help them understand that playoff hockey is a different challenge.

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Captain Brady Tkachuk, along with Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Drake Batherson, Thomas Chabot, Ridly Greig, Tyler Kleven, and Shane Pinto, had never faced this kind of challenge in their careers.

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This core has been together for a long time, and they can learn from this.

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“Finally, a lot of them can say they played, and no one can doubt (them),” Perron said. “They’re good leaders and good players. Everybody showed up at the right time of the year, and they performed.

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“It’s really exciting. Every game was so tight, we could have won (the series) 4-2 ourselves. They played really well over there and we’ve got to tip our cap to them.”

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Though much of this group will return, there will be changes because there always are at the end of the season. Even the Stanley Cup champions have to shuffle their roster because not everybody is under contract, and players have to fit under the salary cap.

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But there may not be nearly as many significant changes this summer.

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Staios is at the point where he needs to just tweak the roster.

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Goaltender Linus Ullmark, a Vezina Trophy winner two years ago, was acquired from the Boston Bruins last summer, and he provided the steady hand in net most nights this team needed.