What the Senators took away from their first taste of playoff hockey

Ottawa Senators Jake Sanderson spoke to media at Canadian Tire Centre, Saturday, May 3, 2025. Photo by Ashley Fraser /POSTMEDIAArticle content

Less than 48 hours removed from his team’s first-round series loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk admitted it still feels like it hasn’t ended.

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“I’m still not over it … I still wish we were playing Game 7 tonight,” he said.

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With a dozen Senators players carrying zero playoff experience into the team’s first post-season series since 2017, the almost inevitable disappointment of failing to reach the ultimate goal was bound to be difficult to process. Every team that goes on to find playoff success endures it, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

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Still, the early playoff exit is ripe with lessons for this young Senators core.

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“It was a good learning experience for all of us to live it for the first time,” said Thomas Chabot, whose rookie NHL campaign came one year after the team’s 2017 playoff run. “One little play can cost you the game, and that’s playoff hockey, but it’s going to be good for next year when we come to that situation.”

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A commonality amongst the younger Senators was their gratitude towards the team’s grizzled playoff veterans. Claude Giroux, Linus Ullmark, Travis Hamonic, David Perron and Nick Cousins carry varying degrees of playoff success, but for a team in short supply of experience, all were appreciated through the team’s short run.

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“Even when we went down 3-0, they were still positive,” said Dylan Cozens, who got his first taste of playoff hockey after several lean seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. “Just having those guys around has a huge impact on the dressing room.”

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Perron, a member of the Stanley Cup-winning 2019 St. Louis Blues, knows a thing or two about what it takes to go all the way.

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“Getting playoff experience is so valuable. It’s unbelievable,” he said. “ It feels like two different seasons … it was so refreshing to get up in the morning and just feel the electricity in your body right away.”

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The Senators’ young talent has felt that energy. Tkachuk even called it “addictive.”

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That said, Perron cautioned the team to take care of the regular season before worrying about the playoffs: “I almost want to just fast forward to March 15 every year and get to playing those bigger games, but you don’t get there if you don’t take care of the first part.”

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Chabot echoed the difficulty of just making the post-season, saying that the road back to the playoffs next season will only be more closely contested now that Ottawa won’t be sneaking up on other teams.