Eugene Melnyk, with his characteristic audacity and bravado, fervently believed in the potential of the Ottawa Senators. His unwavering faith made him a controversial figure in the league, but his conviction was firm: Ottawa would once again be a championship contender.
“I really believe we will be Stanley Cup winners in four years,” Melnyk said in 2020. “It can happen anytime, but in four years.”
Eugene Melnyk
This bold declaration was a reflection of Melnyk’s personality. At that time, Ottawa had not participated in the postseason since falling in the seventh game of the Eastern Conference finals in 2017. The Senators went from being one goal away from the Stanley Cup final to accumulating losing seasons after another.
Melnyk backed up his words with a 112-page plan, crafted with then-general manager Pierre Dorion, on how Ottawa would surpass the high standard Melnyk had set. They were willing to spend up to the salary cap in pursuit of his vision.
While the exact content of that document might not be revealed, it is evident that Ottawa did not meet Melnyk’s expectations spectacularly.
For seven long years, the Senators fought. There were moments of glory and disappointments. Now, finally, a breakthrough.
The Ottawa Senators are officially playoff contenders again, securing their spot on Sunday in the first wild card spot of the Eastern Conference.
Although the classification came after a defeat against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the victory of the Montreal Canadiens over the Detroit Red Wings secured their pass.
How did the Senators achieve this feat? The story is long, but there are key elements that propelled Ottawa to the top, bringing them closer to fulfilling Melnyk’s prediction of a championship future.
“It’s a good first step for this group,” general manager Steve Staios said about reaching the postseason. “I’m really excited for our players. From day one, when they arrived at training camp, you could see that motivation.”
Steve Staios
The Senators failed to return to the playoffs before Melnyk’s passing in 2022. Dorion, who arrived at the Senators just before the magical run to the conference finals, failed to bring Ottawa back to the postseason before being fired in 2023.
Ottawa’s fall from being the favorite of the Eastern Conference to being last was disconcerting. The 2017-18 season ended in 30th place, marking the beginning of a surprisingly rapid rebuild. Erik Karlsson was traded to San Jose in September 2018, followed by the departures of Matt Duchene, Mark Stone, and Ryan Dzingel, all traded before the 2019 deadline. By March 2019, the Senators were in last place and head coach Guy Boucher was fired.
DJ Smith took over the reins for the 2019-20 season and attempted to revitalize the young Senators, with Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, and Drake Batherson already in the lineup. In 2020, Ottawa selected Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson in the first round.
Dorion raised the stakes in 2022, seeking to end the rebuild by acquiring Alex DeBrincat and Cam Talbot, and by signing free agent Claude Giroux to bolster the Senators’ chances. Ottawa missed the playoffs that season by six points.
DeBrincat, however, was unwilling to sign a long-term contract, so Dorion traded him to Detroit. Talbot was also not retained. Following Melnyk’s death in 2022, the franchise was sold in June 2023 to businessman Michael Andlauer. A new era began, albeit with a turbulent start.
Near the start of the 2023-24 season, Ottawa was sanctioned by the league and had a first-round pick deducted for its invalid 2021 trade involving Evgenii Dadonov and the Anaheim Ducks. That punishment cost Dorion his job in November 2023; Staios, who was Ottawa’s president of hockey operations at the time, also took over the general manager duties.
The Senators’ on-ice performance was poor amid the drama. Their 11-15 record ended Smith’s tenure in December, being replaced by former coach and team advisor Jacques Martin. Despite Ottawa’s depth of young talent, the Senators faltered again and finished seventh in the Atlantic.
There were three key philosophical changes that took them from the basement to the postseason, with the long-term belief that this is just the beginning of a new era of contention.
Ottawa Trusting the Process
Stutzle didn’t hold back after the Senators secured their playoff spot. In fact, he probably expressed what most of his teammates were thinking.
“We’ve been through some s*** here,” Stutzle said, directly after that loss to Columbus. “Tough years. I’m really proud of the guys, how we all stick together here. I don’t think there’s a team that deserves it more than us. I think we work really hard this year.”
Tim Stutzle
Ottawa’s current success would not have arrived, nor would it feel so good, if it weren’t for a challenging recent past.
When Thomas Chabot debuted in 2016-17 with the Senators, they had only missed the playoffs four times since 1996-97. The young defenseman thought he would see a lot of postseason action in the NHL. Instead, it took him more than 500 career games before Chabot was assured of his first opportunity in Game 83.
“They won’t see me smile much after a loss,” Chabot joked when the Senators clinched their spot, “but, man, it feels great.”
Thomas Chabot
Tkachuk can relate. The Senators captain has over 500 professional games and over 400 career points. He has tried to lead Ottawa to the postseason in previous seasons, and they have fallen short in frustrating fashion. However, Tkachuk’s commitment to the Senators was never in doubt, something he reiterated when trade rumors began to circulate earlier in the season.
In early February, when the Senators were still struggling to climb the standings, Tkachuk was linked to the New York Rangers.
Andlauer was furious and even wanted the Rangers investigated for tampering with Ottawa’s star forward. Tkachuk let his game do the talking as he continued to lead the Senators up front. The whole situation was an unnecessary distraction for the Senators and directly opposed an internal strategy focused on leveraging their young core towards that elusive return to the playoffs.
But those rising stars couldn’t get there alone. It’s veterans like Giroux and David Perron who have supported the club’s maturation with fundamental leadership. Giroux has been on the team since he signed as a free agent in 2022, proving he hadn’t lost a step by scoring 35 goals and 79 points the following season. The 35-year-old has continued to play a considerable role in Ottawa’s offense and keeps the group balanced when inevitable obstacles arise.
“Maybe in some games we weren’t at our best. But we’ve found ways,” Giroux said. “When you’re not playing your best and you find ways to win, that’s a good sign. You can tell everyone wants to play the right way. It’s fun to play like that.”
Claude Giroux
Giroux can also draw on previous playoff experience, although he hasn’t had much in the last decade. Since the 2012-13 season in Philadelphia, Giroux has only been in the postseason five times, most recently as part of Florida’s 2021-22 campaign. And he has never won the Stanley Cup.
Perron sí lo ha hecho, con St. Louis en 2019, junto con una carrera en la final de la Copa con Vegas el año anterior. Sabe lo que se necesita para escalar esa montaña. Y aunque es difícil predecir que los Senators llegarán hasta allí este año, un paso inicial hacia ese objetivo más alto es una etapa crucial en el desarrollo de Ottawa.
“I’ve won [before], but I see others like Claude, and many others [who haven’t],” Perron said. “You want to do it for them. You want them to experience a career, you want to give that experience to the younger players.”
David Perron
Ottawa is in a position to do it now. The years of scarcity hardened the team’s best skaters. They will not waste this opportunity. But they will want it to become an annual event.
Ottawa Found the Right Coach
The Senators needed a new voice along with their new owner and general manager. Travis Green, hired in May 2024, was their man.
It didn’t take Green long to recognize that Ottawa was ready to cast aside its losing ways.
“From day one, they had an open mind and desperately wanted to win,” Green said. “They are open to being coached, and it’s the whole team. It’s not always like that.”
Travis Green
Green’s previous resume included only one full-time head coaching role: with the Vancouver Canucks from 2017 to 2021, and an interim job at the end of the 2023-24 season with the New Jersey Devils.
He was referring to the Senators’ training ability after the club endured its toughest stretch of the season: a 5-8-1 run in November that could have torpedoed all hopes of making the playoffs.
“[That] was a big part of our season,” Green said. “It’s one thing to say you’re open to being coached. It’s another to do it. Being able to have an honest conversation and have players be open to hearing things they don’t necessarily want to hear. But there are certain parts of each player’s game where they need to be a little bit better. [Then they have to] agree with that, and then try to do it.”
Travis Green
In return, Green has earned praise from the Ottawa head office for the way he is steering the ship.
“The vision that Travis had and how he has been able to coach this group and transform it from where we were last year to be able to play the type of hockey to give us a chance to make the playoffs [is huge],” said Staios.
Steve Staios
It was the way Green changed Ottawa’s mindset, and installed a winning structure, which brought the organization’s playoff vision to life. Staios knew that Green was capable of leading the Senators towards victory in hockey games. But many coaches can design the X’s and O’s. What has made Green special is how the players received his message and actually implemented it, which is ultimately changing Ottawa’s course.
“I know how much they want to win,” Green said. “You don’t always get to the playoffs, but being on the side of our locker room, I really felt this group was willing to do whatever it took to take the next step. Now we’ve arrived.”
Travis Green
Ottawa Fixed Its Defense and Got the Right Goaltending
This was the Senators’ pièce de résistance: a large-scale acceptance of the defensive side of their game.
Ottawa had to lock down at both ends of the court if it was ever going to see the playoffs. Green provided a blueprint. The players got to work to carry it out.
“I’ve learned a lot from [Green], especially [with] the defensive side of things,” Tkachuk said. “It’s easy to see now when he shows the mistakes we’ve made and how we can correct them.”
Brady Tkachuk
Once again, it comes down to Ottawa’s patience. Because the Senators did not start this season as defensive stalwarts. Ottawa began the season with an 11-12-2 record, ranking 26th overall and eighth in goals against per game (3.20).
Emotions were running high and often spilled over. But Green stuck to his philosophies and supported his players as they absorbed what he was trying to teach them. The faith Green had that he could turn Stutzle, Tkachuk and company into 200-foot players was a complement to his belief in their abilities. The Senators’ core just needed to apply themselves.
“He has a unique way of being tough and holding players accountable,” Staios said of Green. “But also developing that relationship and having a real, honest, and open line of communication.”
Steve Staios
Eventually, Ottawa was on its way. In the following 25 games, from early December to January, the Senators showed real progress on the defensive end, going 15-8-2 and conceding the second-fewest goals per game in the league (2.20).
Overall, Ottawa has dramatically improved. They went from allowing 2.34 goals per game at 5-on-5 last season to just 1.84 this season. The Sens have 21 wins this season in which they were outshot by an opponent, tied for fourth in the NHL. For comparison, that’s more than the Senators had in their previous two seasons combined.
Ottawa had to be diligent defensively, as it couldn’t always rely on offense to save the day. The Senators rank 22nd this season in scoring (2.89 goals per game) and 30th in even-strength goals (131). The club’s power play, ranked 15th (22.8%), has been helpful at times.
Anyway, what Green is establishing in Ottawa is not a “one-and-done” system. This is a foundation for the Senators to be able to be reborn as a team that anticipates a postseason run every year. And Ottawa’s defensive resurgence is due not only to Green and the skaters up front, but to the (finally) reliable goaltending of the Senators.
Ottawa had gone through its share of goalies during that seven-year playoff drought. Craig Anderson made the most starts (133) in that span before departing in 2020. There were failed experiments with Matt Murray and Talbot. Anton Forsberg (with 130 starts) did his best to fill the gaps and Joonas Korpisalo also had a brief and unsuccessful season with the Senators.
It wasn’t until June that Ottawa landed the right number 1. Staios negotiated a deal with Boston to bring in Linus Ullmark, and immediately signed a four-year extension to affirm his own commitment to the organization.
Ullmark had just won the Vezina Trophy in 2023 and shared the William M. Jennings Trophy that same season with his Bruins teammate Jeremy Swayman. Boston’s decision to back Swayman as their go-to guy and not Ullmark was even better for Ottawa; in particular, the Senators are in the playoffs this season, while Boston is in line for a top-5 draft pick.
Ullmark suffered injury problems, but emerged as a good-faith bulwark compared to what Ottawa was accustomed to in the goaltending area. Last season, the Senators boasted a collective save percentage of .879. This season, Ullmark has a record of 24-14-3, with a save percentage of .911 and a goals-against average of 2.67. It’s the third-most wins by a goaltender in his first full season with Ottawa. And Ullmark has been a fantastic partner for Forsberg, who has also seen his own stats improve this season (10-12-2, .904% SV and 2.66 GAA).
Now, Ullmark wants the Senators’ tandem to excel in a playoff scene. The veteran has his own memories of long periods without playoffs from a seven-year streak with the Buffalo Sabres. And although Ullmark was able to experience the second hockey season in three consecutive years with Boston, he still pities the Ottawa teammates who are just entering that stage.
“I’m happy now that the guys who have been there for a long time,” Ullmark said. “Like [Chabot] and [Tkachuk], for example, to have been there longer, and now they have the opportunity to play really meaningful games and get to a position where they can fight for the Cup.”
Linus Ullmark
Ottawa may not lift the Lord Stanley’s trophy this season, nor in the coming years. The point is that they are now officially in the fight. That’s all Chabot wanted when he came to Ottawa, to be a player, rather than a spectator, of late spring hockey.
Finally, for the Senators, that dream has officially come true.
