OTTAWA — In the hockey world, what gets headlines in the off-season are the blockbuster trades — or a disgruntled free agent leaving Toronto.
But in Ottawa, it was a balanced, calculated and mostly quiet summer. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had a great summary of Ottawa Senators general manager’s Steve Staios’ off-season on the 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, saying, “He hit a bunch of singles.”
Look at the Toronto Blue Jays. With the conspicuous exception of George Springer, they are winning through singles, not home runs. Consistent singles lead to consistently winning.
Staios accomplished his off-season goals: He re-signed Claude Giroux after a tense negotiation, ultimately agreeing to a great value contract; he acquired a much-needed puck-moving right-shot defenceman in Jordan Spence through a pick acquired by moving down two spots in the first round; and he acquired a fourth-line centre, Lars Eller, who kills penalties and wins face-offs.
The Senators are a better team than they were last season, evidence that it doesn’t matter how you improve, just that you do.
DEPTH CHART
Forwards
Tkachuk — Stutzle — Giroux
Zetterlund — Cozens — Batherson
Greig — Pinto — Perron
Cousins — Eller — Amadio
Defence
Sanderson — Zub
Chabot — Jensen*
Kleven — Spence
Matinpalo — Yakemchuk**
*Jensen had off-season hip surgery and is unlikely to start the season
**Yakemchuk could make the team if he excels in training camp, and or later in the season in Belleville
Goal
Ullmark
Merilainen
Sogaard
Total forward cap hits: $51,355,714
Total defence cap hits: $28,675,000
Total goalie cap hits: $9,300,000
Cap space remaining: $4,294,286
What’s left to do this summer
If you gave Staios truth serum, which his predecessor didn’t need, he’d say this Senators team is short of an elite top-six winger who can score. We won’t give you the whole “top-six forwards don’t grow on trees” spiel, but we are sure Staios is perusing the league despite the limited options, lack of cap space and assets at his disposal.
One interesting name that has been bandied about in the 613 area code is that of local forward Mason McTavish, who is without a contract in Anaheim. McTavish, 22, a third-overall pick in 2021, plays centre (and could play the wing), is from Carp, which is just outside of Ottawa, and is a restricted free agent who put up 52 points last season. Notably, McTavish was on Staios’ Hamilton Bulldogs team that made it to the Memorial Cup in 2022. The hockey world is small.
There have been rumblings that Anaheim and McTavish aren’t a happy family. If McTavish is on his way out of Southern California, don’t be surprised if Staios is all over that. McTavish surely would want to play at home, but he’s also young, talented, has pedigree and would become a long-term part of the future in Ottawa. Maybe McTavish won’t come to Ottawa this summer or before the trade deadline, but Staios knows what Ottawa is missing and will try to acquire a vaunted top-six forward, whether it’s McTavish or someone of his ilk.
The second off-season priority for the Senators should be trying to extend Shane Pinto, who has one season left on his contract at $3.75 million and is also three years away from becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency. Staios admitted he will hold extension talks with Pinto during the summer.
Pinto is a versatile, shutdown third-line forward who has quietly become one of the best defensive centres in the league who can also put up 20 goals a season. That’s hard to find. Pinto is similar to Florida’s Anton Lundell, a Swiss Army knife who has helped Florida win back-to-back Stanley Cups, thriving on a third line and scoring while shutting down opponents alongside Brad Marchand in last season’s post-season.
Extending Pinto to a reasonable long-term contract would give Ottawa a 1-2-3 down the middle that would be as good as any outside of Florida’s. Pinto loves Ottawa and would be open to staying, if the price was right. During the playoffs, head coach Travis Green put Pinto on Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner over the entire series: neither scored with Pinto on the ice at five-on-five. He’s an elite-thwarting defensive menace.
However, the question is: does Pinto want a bigger role and does Ottawa try to pay him as a third-liner? Pinto is the ultimate team player but would like more ice-time and power-play time. In a recent 32 Thoughts: The Podcast episode, Friedman said he believed the negotiations between Pinto and the Senators could be a “battle.” Staios wants good relations with players but also doesn’t want to fold in negotiations like the Sens’ southern provincial rival did on so many contract disputes a half decade ago. Six by $6 million, anyone?
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32 Thoughts: The Podcast
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.
The Senators would sorely benefit from adding a depth left-shot defenceman behind Tyler Kleven, as the Senators do not have many left-shot defencemen in Belleville who are ready for NHL minutes (no offence, Donovan Sebrango).
And, lastly, Staios reiterated his belief in Mads Sogaard, but he is waiver-eligible this season on a one-way contract; if he hits waivers, Ottawa will have no clear third goaltender. With cap space, Ottawa should bargain-shop for serviceable depth options.
Grading the off-season: A-minus
Although Staios didn’t make a massive splash like he did last off-season, he didn’t need to. He just needed to tinker, and that happened, pulling off another strong off-season mirroring his first by mostly keeping intact the Senators team that made the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade.
At the same time, Staois managed the Giroux negotiations and acquired a top-four right-shot defenceman, Spence, thanks to an incredible feat of asset management by barely moving down in the draft, and filled a gap at fourth-line centre by nabbing Eller in free agency.
Plus, Staios still has enough cap space to pull something off this summer or in-season before the trade deadline. The only quibble that prevents Staios from getting a higher grade is that Ottawa still needs that top-six scoring forward. Staios single-handedly turned Ottawa from a laughingstock to a playoff contender in just a year: that’s a home run feat.
