Senators’ off-season checklist: All eyes on Brady Tkachuk

OTTAWA — Quiet off-seasons haven’t been the norm for the Senators for a long time, and it’s not about to change now.

The Senators’ core has been locked up to long-term contracts, but some decisions are looming after another first-round exit.

The team needs to start thinking about re-upping and extending key players such as Drake Batherson, Artem Zub, and Jordan Spence.

The time to contend is now, even if general manager Steve Staios won’t say that publicly.

“Don’t know if I’m going to paint myself into a contention window with this group,” said Staios this week. “Our most important (players) … are still not in their prime.”

But the team’s window to compete probably begins and ends with Brady Tkachuk, who is two seasons away from free agency.

Staios said there had been no concrete discussions about his captain’s future, but you wonder what might be happening behind the scenes. If nothing else, Senators management needs to know if Tkachuk is happy with the direction of the team.

Senators management needs to know if Tkachuk is happy with the direction of the team.

“The extension talk is … it’s a year away, so that’s something that you physically can’t even do anytime soon,” Tkachuk said. “I just will talk to (Staios), when we have that conversation (on) where he views our team, what he thinks we need to improve on. … I’m excited to hear Steve’s thoughts.” 

The core of Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson is another year older and another year more experienced, while still on the right side of their primes. But two quick exits in the playoffs obviously raises the question whether it is worth keeping the group together.

Meanwhile, the NHL’s salary cap is expected to rise and players’ salary demands will inevitably rise with it. That may make it hard for a small-market team to keep the gang together. The Senators’ best approach may be to sign long-term contracts on younger players within their system rather than overspend on players in free agency.

The tough part for Staios is to decide who to keep and how to improve.

Players like Thomas Chabot and Stutzle said their playoff scars, including this year’s sweep at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, are learning opportunities. Every analytical category suggested they were a top-10 team in the league.

Staios seemed to suggest that not all sweeps are made the same, and that if injury luck was on the Senators’ side, we wouldn’t already be in off-season mode in the nation’s capital.

“Acting or reacting emotionally or making decisions (emotionally) is not going to help us,” he said.

Here are the moves he must make to take the Senators to the next level:

Know where your captain is at.

Tkachuk reaffirmed his commitment to Ottawa for the next two seasons remaining on his contract on Wednesday but wouldn’t speak about his future beyond that. Winning cures all, and Staios’ other moves this summer will either hamper or improve his pitch to Tkachuk.  

“ I think, every year, we have taken steps,” said Tkachuk.

Extend Batherson and Zub and sign Spence long-term. What was clear watching the Senators’ battle into the playoffs and their performance once they were there was the importance of all three players.

Let’s start with Batherson: he has set an NHL record by improving his point tally in each of the first eight seasons of his career, finishing with 33 goals and 71 points this season. In the new cap world, in the summer of 2027 when Batherson would be a free agent, he’d likely be able to command $8-9 million on the open market.

We believe Batherson would like to stay, but Staios might have to overspend to keep him. On the other hand, there is no easy way to replace him if he leaves. It would be hard to trade him now and match his scoring with the return. The Senators have a player who they know, who continually improves, wants to stay in Ottawa and helps in the pitch to Tkachuk to hang around. Extend him.

As for Zub, it’s a similar story. The 30-year-old is a beloved teammate and was healthy all season until suffering an injury in Game 1. He has become immensely effective with No. 1 defenceman Jake Sanderson. They’ve become one of the best pairings in the NHL. Plus, Zub, who is a free agent in 2027, said he’d be open to staying. You sometimes wonder about defencemen aging, but Zub’s has elite hockey sense, great gap control and a shrewd stick. None of which should decline sharply into his 30s. 6x$6 million anyone?

Lastly, Spence became a key figure down the stretch and into the playoffs. He was Ottawa’s best defenceman from March onwards because of the injuries. Despite his small frame, he defended at an extremely high level in the playoffs. “I want to be here,” said Spence. A 5x$5 million might make sense for both sides.

“It’d be nice,” said Staios about adding a scoring winger. “They’re hard to find.” 

Ottawa needs sniper. The Senators finished eighth in goals this season more because they outshot and outchanced opponents than because they had elite scorers. Nobody on the Senators roster has ever scored 40 goals.

The hope way back was that Alex DeBrincat would be the solution. Unfortunately, because the Senators have few elite prospects and can’t trade their 2026 first-round pick, Staios is in a bind. Still, the Senators have plenty of really good hockey players on their roster, so maybe move quantity for quality. If Staios can add another goal scorer, the Senators’ outlook could improve.

No team had as many key injuries as the Senators this season, specifically on the blueline. The Senators used 12 defenceman after the trade deadline, and eight in the playoffs. It was more than unlucky, but injuries do happen and the Senators’ lack of depth, specifically on the left side, was evident.

Outside of Sanderson, Chabot and Tyler Kleven, there were no bona fide left-shot defenceman. No shade to Dennis Gilbert who played in three of the four playoff games, but the Senators need to upgrade from Gilbert for playoff time next year. This summer, Staios must add a savvy vet or another NHL-calibre left-shot defenceman to insulate his blueline.

If the Senators had James Reimer from Day 1, they’d likely had finished in the top three in the Atlantic. Not that Reimer was sparkling, but he was a serviceable backup who won more games than he lost.

“I didn’t do a good enough job of supporting Linus (Ullmark) … and probably didn’t put (backup) Leevi (Merilainen) in the best position to have success as well,” Staios said.

Heading into this summer, Staios must add a backup who has the possibility to be a 1B goaltender because Ullmark has never played more than 49 games in a season.

The good news is that Ullmark returned to Vezina-calibre play down the stretch and in the playoffs. Unfortunately, there are very few good goaltenders hitting free agency this summer. Staios has to be smart, but likely won’t want to expend too many resources, either. Merilainen can stay in the picture, just not as the clearcut backup.

Lars Eller was a very good two-way, fourth-line centre. Bringing back the soon-to-be free agent wouldn’t be a bad move. It’s clear the Senators need to maintain their depth. Also, it’s time to give Stephen Halliday a full-time role and a real shot in the NHL next season.

Claude Giroux didn’t seem clear-eyed as to whether he’d played his final game of his illustrious career.

Regardless, Giroux is an integral part of the team’s leadership and would be a perfect third-liner alongside Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio next year. That line was excellent before Giroux was needed higher up in the lineup.

If Staios can convince Giroux to come back in that role, it would be good for the team. Giroux would be hard for Ottawa to replace.