The Brady Tkachuk trade is a tough one to swallow for the Ottawa Senators, which had rebuilt to the point that the team had made the playoffs two years in a row and still had some upside to it. 

With their captain now off to the Florida Panthers, the Sens will have to recalibrate. 

Part of the Tkachuk return was two first-round draft picks in 2026, Nos. 9 and 25. That draft happens to kick off Friday in Buffalo, so GM Steve Staios doesn't have a ton of time to get a plan sorted. 

There's always the possibility he trades one or both selections as part of a package for a roster player, but for the sake of argument, let's say he keeps both picks.

What should Ottawa do with those selections?

With No. 9, it's very likely the Big Five defensemen – Chase Reid, Keaton Verhoeff, Carson Carels, Daxon Rudolph and Alberts Smits – will already be gone. If one of them is still available, you definitely jump on that. 

But looking at Ottawa's pipeline, three of the Senators' top five prospects in Future Watch were defenders, led by Carter Yakemchuk. So let's look at forwards for that first pick.

Again, there's a lot of variation in the draft, so if still available, I'd be looking at either Viggo Bjorck or Tynan Lawrence in that spot. Bjorck can play center or wing, and if it wasn't for his shorter stature, he'd be a lock to go top-five in this class. I'm just gun-shy because when it comes to the actual draft day, NHL teams have historically and consistently ignored sub-5-foot-11 players. But Bjorck has already proven himself to be an incredible talent, and scouts have noted that he's strong – he's just not tall.

In Lawrence, you're getting a skilled, two-way center who had a weird draft year. 

Injured at the start, he came back and dominated the United States League with Muskegon before making the jump to Boston University midway through the campaign. As it turns out, the NCAA was too big a jump at the time. But Lawrence has the profile of a 1B pivot, or maybe a No. 2. He's probably the second-best center in the class behind Caleb Malhotra.

At No. 25, the Sens can be a bit more risky. 

This could be the spot to take a goaltender – and depending on what teams do in front of them, it could be the first netminder off the board. 

Tobias Trejbal had an incredible rookie season in the USHL with Youngstown, while Brady Knowling from the USA Hockey National Team Development Program is 6-foot-5. Dmitri Borichev is the top Russian available, and that nation has minted a lot of great keepers over the years. The Senators had two goalies in their Future Watch top 10: Lucas Beckman at No. 7 and Mads Sogaard (already 25 years old) at No. 10.

Another route would be to go with high risk, high reward. 

Ryan Roobroeck is a big, goal-scoring left winger who hasn't always impressed with OHL Niagara, but the IceDogs also go through coaches and GMs like they're rolls of hockey tape. Roobroeck was recently traded to Guelph, and the Storm are hosting the Memorial Cup next season, so he's guaranteed to play important hockey in 2026-27.

There's also Marcus Nordmark, another offensively gifted winger who had scouts pulling their hair out with his inconsistency in Sweden this season. If Nordmark figures that part of his game out, you've got a dynamic threat whose profile otherwise would have him going ten picks higher.

Another player who battled consistency issues was center Maddox Dagenais. When he's on, Dagenais is a physical force and a leader who can put up points. 

Again, if Ottawa still has multiple picks (and they also have No. 32, let's not forget) on draft day, they can swing for the fences on that second one.

It may not heal the Tkachuk wound, but it's a start.

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