The past couple of seasons have seen the Ottawa Senators come in with playoff expectations, only to have them end in disappointment. But this season, players are coming in with an even greater hunger to change the Sens' fortunes.
The past couple of seasons have seen the Ottawa Senators come in with playoff expectations, only to have them end in disappointment. But this season, players are coming in with an even greater hunger to change the Sens' fortunes.
A universal theme emerges when listening to a few of the players who will be instrumental to the Ottawa Senators' success this coming season.
Shane Pinto, David Perron and Claude Giroux are all consistent in their messaging that there can be no excuses this season, and this team needs to make the playoffs and start contending.
Recently re-signed forward Shane Pinto stressed the importance of the 2024-25 campaign on the Empty Netters Podcast.
“This is a big year for us, we gotta stop underachieving,” Pinto said. “There’s no more excuses; we can’t use that ‘we’re young’ anymore.”
Pinto is heading into the season with a contract already signed, a two-year deal worth $3.75 million annually. Negotiations on a deal last year, in contrast, dragged into the beginning of the season before the NHL suspended him for 41 games for violating the league's sports wagering rules.
The year before that, RFA Erik Brannstrom didn't sign a new contract until Sept. 5, 2022. And back in 2021-22, Brady Tkachuk's contract negotiations lasted through the pre-season before signing a seven-year deal.
"It's just the first year where we don't have any bulls--- coming into the year where we don't have any guys not signed," Pinto said. "We can all just focus on hockey, get ready to go and just be ready."
Pinto also mentioned new additions Perron and Michael Amadio and said the players would like to get to Ottawa to train right after Labor Day.
Perron told the Coming in Hot Podcast his job is to serve a similar role to the one he was brought in to serve in Detroit: help the team take the next step and get into the playoffs as the team is making its way up and moving forward.
“I don’t want to be just a guy who collects a paycheck,” Perron said.
Perron added that he felt the Senators were poised to take a step two seasons ago. He wants to be part of the team finally doing that. Perron said he plans to bring the heat into practice and push the pace.
He also said Ottawa must make a statement early and decide what kind of team it’s going to be.
As for Giroux, who also spoke with the Coming In Hot Podcast, he emphasized that he hasn’t talked with the team or his family about a new contract, nor has he given it much thought. But he's focused on having a good year and helping the Senators take the next step, talking at another point of the podcast about the lessons learned when missing the playoffs for the younger core.
"When you keep losing, and you keep not finding the ways (to win), one day, it might just click, be like, 'Oh, this is how we got to do this,' and that's what needs to happen this year," Giroux said. "It needs to click. We need to be consistent, and that's one thing that, if we're consistent at what we do, we're just going to win more than we lose."
Rubber Meets the Road In Ottawa This Season
This is the season the Senators must move past the idea that they are a team with potential and deliver on that potential.
With roster changes, a new goaltender in Linus Ullmark and some talented players on the roster already, not moving forward could bring speculation that it’s time to pivot and take a new direction, analyst Mike Rupp said on NHL Network
“They will make the playoffs this year, or the whole thing will be busted up,” Rupp said. “The rubber meets the road this year in Ottawa.”
The Senators will compete against a handful of Eastern Conference teams looking to stay in the playoffs or try to climb back in and end their droughts.
In the Atlantic Division, there are the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings trying to end the NHL's longest active droughts – Ottawa has the third-longest at seven seasons. Whether either of those teams could grab a top-three spot from the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs is up for debate, but there's the Tampa Bay Lightning ahead of them as well, trying to hang on.
In the Metropolitan Division, the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils are hoping to snatch a spot after missing out last season, while the Washington Capitals, New York Islanders and possibly Philadelphia Flyers could be in the wild-card conversation again.
While it won't be easy to pass the competition and land a playoff spot, that's a challenge these Senators are determined to take on and not an excuse they plan to lean on.
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