Fantasy Sleepers, Breakouts and Busts From Every NHL Team: Ottawa Senators

Ottawa's fantasy outlook is entering uncharted territory this draft season, following a summer defined by the departure of franchise captain Brady Tkachuk. 

The Senators are coming off their best season in years, finishing 44-27-11 for 99 points and a sixth place spot in the Eastern Conference, good for back to back playoff appearances behind an 83 point campaign from Tim Stützle. That postseason run ended quickly, though, with Ottawa swept in four games by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.

The bigger story came after the season ended. Amid persistent speculation about his long term future in Ottawa, Tkachuk was traded to the Florida Panthers in June, reuniting him with brother Matthew in exchange for a package of draft picks. 

The Senators wasted little time putting that return to use, flipping the ninth overall pick in a separate deal with San Jose to land winger William Eklund along with additional pieces.

The move brought in a legitimate talent, but it has also left fantasy managers with real questions about how Ottawa's offense will look without its captain, and whether the team can hold its ground in a crowded Atlantic Division.

Conventional wisdom suggests Tkachuk's exit should hit Stützle hardest, but the two rarely shared a line last season outside of power play time. 

At even strength, Stützle spent most of his minutes alongside Drake Batherson and Claude Giroux, while it was actually Dylan Cozens, who skated regularly with Tkachuk and Ridley Greig, who stands to lose the most from the departure. 

Stützle finished last season as a top 20 fantasy player and is somehow being drafted as late as 48th overall this year. With Eklund now added to the mix as a legitimate scoring option, Stützle's case as a true superstar talent remains fully intact.

Ullmark's overall numbers last season, including a winning record and goals against average below 2.75, told a different story than his save percentage, which cratered to a career-worst .891 across a career-high 49 starts. 

Likely due to off-ice person reasons that caused a leave of absence, his dip in numbers has pushed his draft stock down to as late as 132nd overall, behind 38-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky and Buffalo's Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who could be dealt elsewhere and pushed into a backup role. 

Ullmark enters this season as Ottawa's unquestioned number one goaltender with no real competition, and he'll benefit from a healthier blue line in front of him after Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, Jordan Spence and Tyler Kleven all missed 10 or more games a year ago. A bounce back toward his career norms looks likely.

The concern with Sanderson isn't talent, it's draft price. The 24 year old was on a pace for north of 65 points before missing 15 games last season and still finished inside the top 100 fantasy players overall. This year, though, he's being ranked as high as the top 60, ahead of established names like Jakob Chychrun and Adam Fox, as well as rising Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider. 

Ottawa is expected to take a step back offensively after swapping a 60 to 80 point player in Tkachuk for Eklund, who has never topped 50 to 60 points in a season on a bottom tier Sharks club. If the Senators' offense slips, Sanderson could also see more defensive responsibility, which would cap his upside further. 

He'll likely still land in the 60 to 70 point range, but with Chychrun, Fox and Seider currently going ahead of him on average, Sanderson looks like a name worth letting fall rather than reaching for. Once other options are off the board, he becomes a far more reasonable target.

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