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Wednesday, 31 December 2025
Ottawa Senators storylines to watch in 2026
OTTAWA — 2025 was a banner year for the Ottawa Senators, transitioning from years of misery and despair to long-awaited playoff wins. But they still carry plenty of anguish heading into the new year.
So, what does 2026 have in store for the Senators?
Well, because we can’t see into the future, here’s a look at what we think will be the 10 most enticing storylines for the Senators in 2026.
1. Playoffs or bust! And the dominoes that fall
The Senators are walking the Eastern Conference tightrope, sitting only four points out of a playoff spot, with Moneypuck.com giving them a 42 per cent chance of climbing back into the post-season. Making the playoffs is the expectation, and the correlated presumption is that general manager Steve Staios will add to his roster at the deadline, not subtract. They aren’t in “all-in” territory, but with Brady Tkachuk having a maximum of three playoff runs left on his contract, the time is now.
If the Senators make it — and if they make enough noise — it could mean that by next fall, we hear “Cup” whispered around the national capital region. If the Senators don’t make it, do heads roll? Does management preach patience yet again, or are fans looking at yet another retool? Choose your Senators’ adventure.
2. Will the Senators get enough saves to become an elite team?
Every single analytic would tell you the Senators are an elite team, from Corsi to expected goals and even the eye test. The Senators consistently outshoot, out-chance and out-possess teams, a hard thing to do in the NHL. But they are last in team save percentage.
It’s not all on the goalies, but no team can go far in the playoffs without solid goaltending. Whether it’s Linus Ullmark — who’s take a personal leave of absence — Leevi Merilainen or one of their AHL emergency call-ups, the Senators can’t have the second-best goaltender on most nights, which has been the situation of late. The issue might make or break this era of Senators hockey, despite all its talent and promise.
3. Will the Senators get their first-round pick back?
As of this, the last day of 2025, the Senators are in line for the 10th-overall pick in the 2026 draft. But that draft selection would vanish like the memory of the Joonas Korpisalo era in Ottawa.
The Senators organization still believes there is a chance it can reclaim the draft pick it lost as punishment for the botched Evgenii Dadonov trade in 2021. In 2014, the New Jersey Devils were supposed to lose their pick because they tried to circumvent the salary cap to sign Ilya Kovalchuk, but that punishment was converted to getting the last selection in the first round, at pick 30. The stakes in a year with a strong draft class are significant for the club’s future.
4. Brady Tkachuk’s future in Ottawa
The narrative surrounding Tkachuk’s future in Ottawa will hinge on the outcome of this season and the start of next season. At the end of 2026, Tkachuk will be 18 months away from free agency. If the sense is that Tkachuk wants to re-up in the nation’s capital, it could lead to Staios becoming ultra-aggressive. While if Tkachuk is non-committal about his future in Ottawa, the Senators would be in quite a predicament.
A decision would have to be made as to whether to trade their captain for an immense Quinn Hughes-esque package or the Senators could try to go all-in to win a Cup in 2027 and 2028, the final years of Tkachuk’s deal.
More than the possible return, contextually, there are parallels with the Hughes situation in Vancouver: another star American captain in a Canadian city, and Tkachuk’s desire to stay will likely hinge on whether the team is in a contention window. The volume around Tkachuk is about to be ratcheted up.
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5. Will Tim Stutzle become that superstar?
Tim Stutzle is playing the best hockey of his career, and on a 10-game point streak. He’s on pace for 40 goals and 88 points while playing sublime 200-foot hockey, and he’s only 23 years old. Since the 2024-25 season, Stutzle is fifth in wins above replacement, according to Evolving Hockey, behind only Leon Draisaitl, Thomas Harley, Connor McDavid and David Pastrnak. If Stutzle maintains his elite play, it changes the whole dynamic of how good the Senators can be — now and until his contract ends, in 2031.
6. Jake Sanderson cements himself as a top-five defenceman in the world.
In less than a year, Sanderson went from an underexposed elite talent to an integral part of the Senators’ and Team USA’s backend. Sanderson is a defensive stalwart who has blossomed into a great power-play quarterback and offensive gem. He’s on pace to set career highs in every statistical offensive category, while leading the best defensive pairing in the NHL alongside Artem Zub, according to Moneypuck. Every year, Sanderson has gotten better — why would it be different in 2026?
7. Will the Senators add a top-six forward or a top-four right-shot defenceman?
The theme whenever the trade deadline looms in Ottawa is what should Staios prioritize: Adding a top-six forward or a top-four defenceman? In an ideal world, both. But without many picks or prospects this year, it’s up to Staios to pull a rabbit out of his hat.
Right now, the team is ninth in goals for and eighth in five-on-five goals per game. The problem isn’t scoring, but who should be paired with Thomas Chabot? With Nick Jensen regressing and Jordan Spence better for third-pairing minutes, the Senators should focus on adding another right-shot defenceman. That decision will be front of mind come the deadline and into the 2026 off-season.
8. Can Shane Pinto prove he’s an elite goal scorer?
Pinto is on a 35-goal pace this season and he already has two 20-goal seasons over his career. His shooting percentage is the highest of his career at 17 per cent, but only one per cent more than last season. In 2026, we will find out if Pinto is that elite sniper or if he’s just on a roll. His 30-plus goal touch on the third line could elevate the Senators to another tier.
9. Can Dylan Cozens become a force as a second-line centre?
The Buffalo Sabres are flying high with Josh Norris, and the Senators are not with Dylan Cozens. The final word on last season’s trade between division rivals won’t be known for some time, but Cozens has been good this season, not great. Sixteen of Cozens’ 29 points have come on the power play — he simply hasn’t produced enough offence at five-on-five. With both Stutzle and Pinto elevating, Cozens’ play is suddenly an X-factor for Ottawa’s success in 2026.
10. Will Carter Yakemchuk become an everyday NHLer?
Zeev Buium, Zayne Parekh and Sam Dickinson have all played in the NHL. Yakemchuk has not. Yet Yakemchuk was selected above the other three in 2024. He has produced points in the AHL and was leading in rookie defenceman scoring before a recent injury.
Nevertheless, his defence and his skating are works in progress. The Senators have a huge hole on the right side of their defence, and Yakemchuk was drafted to fill it. At the moment, the Senators could surely use a skilled, rugged right-shot defenceman like him. His progress in 2026 could lead to major dividends for the Senators, or some major what-ifs.
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Tuesday, 30 December 2025
Changing women’s hockey alters Canada’s Olympic prep
The United States heaved on the rope in 2025 in its women’s hockey tug of war with Canada.
Their rivalry is constant, but the stakes rise in the year preceding the Winter Olympics.
Canada won one of eight meetings against its nemesis in 2025.
The U.S. beat Canada twice in April’s world championship, including a 4-3 overtime win in the final. The Americans swept the four-game Rivalry Series in November and December by a combined score of 24-7.
The two countries split the conclusion of last season’s Rivalry Series before the U.S. won six straight. They’ve met in every Olympic final but one in 2006, when Sweden upset the U.S. in the semifinal.
Canadian forward Brianne Jenner, an Olympic veteran of three tense finals against the U.S., says she and her teammates remain confident they’ll have a team that can defend the gold medal in February’s Olympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
“We trust each other, love each other, believe in each other,” Jenner stated.
Canada’s captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who was voted the International Ice Hockey Federation’s female player of the year in 2025, was also undaunted.
“We know there’s work to be done,” Poulin said.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League, starting its third season in November, completely changed how both countries prepare for the Olympics.
Canada’s reliance on its team game, previously forged through six months of training and playing 20 to 30 games together, was no longer possible.
“It’s just the new changing landscape of women’s hockey, and we get to be a bit of the guinea pig here for the first go-round with the PWHL and the national team,” said Canada’s head coach Troy Ryan. “Even in a COVID year in 2022, we probably had more games as a group.”
Of the 30 women invited to Canada’s three two-week camps in September, October and November before the PWHL’s regular season began, and also played in the Rivalry Series, all but two were PWHL players.
The United States carries 21 PWHL players in its pool of 30, and nine from the NCAA.
Bodies of work with the national team in games and camps, plus players’ individual performances in the PWHL, determine Canada’s 23-player Olympic roster of three goalies and 20 skaters to be announced next week.
Canada’s general manager, Gina Kingsbury, reserved the right to select outside her pool of 30 if a player gets hot in the PWHL.
“Every game is watched by several coaches, and there are reports due to make sure that we’re documenting what we’re seeing on a daily basis with our athletes,” Kingsbury said. “We will use the PWHL play as a big indicator of who we bring to Milan and who we don’t.”
The women’s management team is comprised of Kingsbury, Ryan, senior manager of player development and scouting, Cherie Piper, assistant coaches Kori Cheverie, Caroline Ouellette and Britni Smith, and goaltending consultant Brad Kirkwood.
Women’s world championship rosters expanded from 23 to 25 players in 2025 to match the men’s, but it was too late in the quadrennial for the IIHF to apply to the International Olympic Committee for additional women in Milan.
Given how hard the women compete against each other in the PWHL, which breaks Jan. 28 for the Olympic Games, the spectre of injury is ever-present.
Kingsbury is also the GM, and Ryan is the head coach of the PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres.
While injury was a hazard when the women centralized in Calgary in the months leading up to previous Winter Games, Kingsbury is holding her breath more this time.
“I just felt like we maybe had more control and maybe it’s an illusion that I had,” she said with a laugh. “I do feel less control in this league because there’s maybe more games, more opportunities for something to happen, but that’s just something that every team is dealing with, not just Canada.
“That’s definitely the thing that keeps us up at night.”
Canada can change its roster up until its first game of the Olympic tournament, Feb. 4 against Finland.
“If there are injuries post-selection date, at least the players that get added will be players that have been with our group the entire time through,” Ryan said.
Players left off the Olympic team will be on notice that their status could change in the event of injury, Kingsbury said.
“That message will be delivered to everyone,” she said. “Be prepared. You may come to the Games last minute.”
from Sportsnet.ca
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Monday, 29 December 2025
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