Down and Out: What’s the Ottawa Senators’ biggest offseason priority?

For the first time since their magical run to the Eastern Conference final in 2017, the Ottawa Senators went into a season with higher expectations than being the perennial bottom feeder that they have been for the past four seasons, partially due to a strong run late in the shortened 2020-21 season.

But, if anything, they took a step back. Sure, they had some solid seasons from some of their young up-and-comers, but they struggled to find any consistency all year, only stringing together more than two wins in a row three times.

Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna continued the Down and Out series on The Daily Faceoff Show and talked about what the Senators’ biggest priority is this offseason.

Mike McKenna: They need support players. Right now, they have an amazing core of young talent. I mean, when you look at Tkachuk and Batherson and Norris and Brown and Chabot, there’s a lot of players to really like in that locker room that are going to be good for a long time. I didn’t even mention Stutzle.

So that’s what you have as your base, but you can’t expect just the young guys to carry the mantle. You have to support them and surround them with quality veterans, with leaders. I mean, Brady Tkachuk, great leader, but you need more of that in the room. So, if the Senators are just going to wheel another lineup that’s $15 million under the salary cap, they’re not going to be successful next year. Don’t tell that to the Rangers or the Predators this year, who aren’t up against the cap, but just about every other decent team is.

And I just don’t know where Ottawa goes in terms of spending right now considering when Eugene Melnyk passed, for what we can understand, the team was put into the hands of his two daughters that live in Barbados, and I’m not sure of their interest level, so what’s the plan here? Will they spend? That’s what it comes down to. They just need more and better to support that young talent.”

Frank Seravalli: I think they’ll spend. I think this is the year that they know that they need to break through and make up some ground on the Atlantic Division. You take a look at those teams at the top, they’re going to be really tough to catch, and to try and break into that playoff position, but you’re also kind of right near the floor as well, the salary cap floor, and probably will need to spend a bit.

When you talk about surrounding this team with proper veterans, are you surprised that they traded away a player like Nick Paul instead of re-signing him to what probably could’ve been a contract that could’ve been had, four years, $3 million, something like that? When you’ve got a homegrown player that has developed into a nice support player, as you mentioned, is he someone that the Sens should’ve kept?

Mike McKenna: I thought so. I thought it came down to not a lot of money to be able to keep him. And it’s a bigger message. It was yet another homegrown talent that walked away. And you can go down the list, Mark Stone, Nick Paul, I know those two are in a little bit of a different category, but it just keeps happening.

I will put one caveat on this with Ottawa: I think they’re actually in a pretty good place for goaltending. Forsberg was really good this year, and I know Murray’s been in and out of the lineup, but at least going into next year, they’re pretty stable there. I wouldn’t say great or top end, but I think it’s not necessarily their biggest concern.

Frank Seravalli: You couldn’t have said that last summer given the concerns about Murray, and you’re right, the way that Forsberg has stepped up has certainly been a nice improvement for the Ottawa Senators. I wonder what they do on their back end to maybe get a little bit better there, as well. They have some players coming.

And another name that’s been kicked around a lot: what happens with Ottawa resident Claude Giroux this summer, pending unrestricted free agent, as he embarks on his playoff run with the Florida Panthers, where he’s been north of a point per game player since being acquired by the Cats, and a lot of people are wondering will the Sens go after a player like Giroux to help fill out their lineup. I think it makes it a lot easier if Giroux and the Cats go one a deep long run and perhaps hoist that Stanley Cup. Then all of a sudden it maybe changes a little bit of the equation for Giroux, who doesn’t have to chase that Cup quite as much, and he can be in a really comfortable setting and scenario.

You can watch the full episode here…