OTTAWA — Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk was absent from the team’s Monday morning postmortem, tending to his wife, Emma, after the birth of their second child. But he remained the biggest talking point.
The body is still warm on the Senators’ season, despite being eliminated from the playoffs two days ago by the Carolina Hurricanes in four games. It was still difficult for players to fully process it. Defenceman Thomas Chabot said losing in the playoffs felt like getting “punched in the face.”
“It hurts, and it should hurt, and it will hurt for many, many more weeks, and it should be. That’s the way it really should be,” Chabot said. “But this group, man, everybody cares so much. And seeing the look on guys after the game, and still being in the room and nothing was said in that locker room. I know, coming back next year, this one will be a good reminder for us.”
But there is speculation, once again, over the future of their captain, who is a free agent in 2028. Publicly, Tkachuk has frequently pushed back on any notion of him wanting out. His teammates, like Chabot, have also questioned the validity of those rumours. Team owner Michael Andlauer even accused the New York Rangers of “soft tampering” over a trade report. But still, the winger remains in the rumour mill.
GM and president of hockey operations Steve Staios dismissed speculation of moving Tkachuk as “nonsense.”
“There’s nothing that we have talked about or thought about where that conversation should happen,” Staios said.
Tkachuk scored 22 goals and 59 points in 60 games played this season, missing 20 of them after surgery on his right thumb. But he was healthy in time to play for the gold-medal winning American squad at the Olympics and help the Senators make the playoffs.
“I think we lose sight of the season that he had,” Senators coach Travis Green said. “I feel like I’m repeating myself a lot in this room, getting questioned about the player that 31 teams would love to have. Was he his absolute best? I don’t know if any player was their absolute best on our team. That rarely happens. Were there games that he could have played better? Yeah, for sure, every player does.
“(He) might have his highest point per game total that I’ve never heard one person in the room say anything about that. (He’s a) pretty sought-after guy in the league. So, I don’t know why I have to keep being asked about it.”
Even if speculation might not cease this offseason, the Senators got out in front of it on Monday. Staios has enough on his plate to consider when it comes to improving his team.
What could be on Staios’ offseason checklist?
Staios isn’t one to divulge his cards on locker cleanout day, and he’ll understandably consider all options to make his team better. Even though the Sens were swept, he might not feel he has to do something drastic to improve his club.
“We have good players that come together as a team. They’ve shown a lot they’ve shown a lot of character, resilience,” Staios said. “They’ve shown that they’ve grown from last year to this year again. I don’t know if many of them are in their prime right now. I think that there’s still room for improvement. But we’ll look to do anything that we can to improve the team in all areas.”
The Senators struggled to score against the Hurricanes in Round 1, with five goals scored across two players and only one power-play goal in four games. It prompted some belief that a goalscorer might be needed this offseason.
“I mean, it’d be nice,” Staios said. “They’re hard to find. And what you have to give up to get it is one thing. But we were eighth in goals for in the National Hockey League this year. I always like to, you know, add to the group and give them more support in certain areas. But, you know, we didn’t score in the playoffs against a very good defensive team. But we scored through the regular season. We improved our five-on-five scoring, and we finished eighth in goals for in the league.”
Staios, however, admitted he could’ve done a better job of “supporting” his goaltenders Linus Ullmark and Leevi Meriläinen. The Senators began the year with that tandem, but struggled with their goaltending, with a team save percentage among the NHL’s worst in the last 35 years. Meriläinen was eventually sent down to the AHL, with James Reimer joining the team as a free agent. The 38-year-old netminder had a 7-4-2 record to go with a 2.42 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage.
Ullmark, meanwhile, posted a .932 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average in four playoff games to cap off an emotional year where he left the team for mental health reasons. But despite that, Ullmark did his part to help his team reach the playoffs after their chances of making it looked scarce in January. He said he benefited from a few days of rest entering the playoffs, was pleased to have his longtime goalie coach Maciej Szwoch around the team, and said his game in the playoffs was the “first real time” he felt like himself all season.
“We went to the playoffs, showed everybody a little middle finger,” Ullmark said. “You didn’t believe in us, but we managed to do it otherwise.”
Staios says he’ll keep all options open, including adding a goalie who can play in the NHL and AHL. Reimer will need time to consider his future in the meantime.
Linus Ullmark put up a .932 save percentage in four games in the playoffs. (Marc DesRosiers / Imagn Images)
Depending on how Staios views his defence, there could be room to add — internally or externally. Injured defenceman Nick Jensen and AHL reinforcements Dennis Gilbert and Lassi Thomson are free agents this summer (the latter being a Group 6 UFA).
Rookie Carter Yakemchuk was given opportunities to play in the regular season and playoffs as a result, even picking up a pair of points in Game 4 against the Hurricanes. But “nothing’s given” when it comes to a potential roster spot next season for the 20-year-old.
“We’ve come a long way in two years with depth and with options for (Green) to be able to use in the lineup,” Staios said. “I think Carter continues to push. But he has to have a big summer. We say that to all of our players. Because we’re not satisfied sitting here (on) April 27 and not moving on.”
Speaking of UFAs, it will soon be time to consider the dossier of future Hall-of-Fame forward Claude Giroux. At last year’s exit day, Giroux said he had “a lot left in the tank” when asked about his future. It led to an eventful negotiation, culminating in an incentive-laden one-year contract extension. But Giroux’s tone was much more pensive when speaking to the media on Monday. Even at 38, Giroux is the team’s highest-profile unrestricted free agent this summer, alongside Nick Cousins, Lars Eller, and Gilbert, Thomson, Jensen and Reimer.
“It’s too early to even answer that question for me,” Giroux said. “I need to calm down a little bit still — still fired up for about the series — and sometimes you need to take a step back and give yourself a chance just to kind of chill and then see what’s next.”
However, if Giroux decides to return, when asked in French if his “priority” would be to return to Ottawa, he said yes.
“When I come to the arena with all the players, we have a lot of fun. It’s fun to play for this organization,” Giroux said.
Defensive injury report
The playoff exit wounds are still fresh for Chabot, figuratively and literally.
“S—ty,” Chabot said, when asked to describe his season. “Just lots of injuries. You start the year and you get hurt. You miss two, three weeks. You come back, play one game, get hurt again for another two, three weeks. And then from there, I thought I was playing some good hockey. And then, unfortunately, I broke my arm to finish the year right before playoffs.
“It’s unfortunate. I feel like you end up playing more catch up all year to get back to what you want to do.”
Chabot was among the many Senators defencemen rotating in and out this season due to injury. Thirteen different defencemen played for the Senators this year.
Chabot broke his arm in a March game against the New York Rangers, the latest in a string of injuries he suffered this year, having only played 57 games. He kept his arm in a cast and had “plates and screws” to keep his bone in place. But Chabot still returned to play nearly three weeks later, and played the final two games of the regular season before logging an average time on ice of 31:07 through the Senators’ four playoff games against Carolina.
He says it will take three to four weeks before his arm heals fully.
“I just wanted to get back out there and play,” Chabot said. “Doctors, team therapists, everybody was on the same page. (They) were all aware. But just glad I got to play, to be honest. Because I didn’t think playoffs was even in the books when it happened.”
The Senators’ defensive injury woes hit hard after the Olympic break when they were forced to play rookies Carter Yakemchuk and Jorian Donovan. AHL farmhands Dennis Gilbert, Lassi Thomson and Cameron Crotty were also pressed into service. It didn’t get any better in the playoffs as the Senators lost Artem Zub to a left-leg injury in Game 1 after a collision with Canes forward Seth Jarvis — which will take another month to heal — and Jake Sanderson to a concussion suffered in Game 3.
