The Senators were scheduled to forfeit their 2026 first-round pick but the NHL changed its mind on Thursday morning.
After a difficult loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night, the Ottawa Senators got some good news from the NHL on Thursday morning.
The Senators will be able to make a selection in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft after all.
The league has modified the penalty originally handed down to Ottawa for its role in the 2021 trade that sent Evgenii Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Senators failed to properly communicate the details of Dadonov's contract, which later contributed to the botched 2022 deal when Vegas tried to flip Dadonov to the Anaheim Ducks, a team that was on his no-trade list.
Initially, as punishment, the NHL ordered the Senators to forfeit their first-round pick in one of the 2024, 2025, or 2026 drafts. They kept their picks in 2024 (Carter Yakemchuk) and 2025 (Logan Hensler), hanging on to the notion that maybe the league would soften someday and approve their application for reconsideration and relief.
It's a good thing they did.
Instead of completely forfeiting the pick, the Senators will now be allowed to make the final selection of the first round, 32nd overall, in the 2026 draft. Ottawa will not be permitted to trade the pick, and the organization must also pay a $1 million fine. The Senators will still participate in the draft lottery, but they will not be eligible to win it. If they win the right to move up, a re-draw will occur.
The decision is very similar to one the NHL made 12 years ago involving the New Jersey Devils. In that case, the league effectively returned the Devils’ forfeited first-round pick as part of a reduced penalty stemming from the 2010 Ilya Kovalchuk contract circumvention case. New Jersey was allowed to select last in the first round and was also barred from winning the draft lottery.
While Ottawa’s 32nd overall pick is essentially a glorified second-rounder, it still represents a meaningful win for the organization. The Senators are somewhat thin in the prospect department, and after dealing away a second-round pick to the Los Angeles Kings for Warren Foegele last week, Ottawa’s best selection in the 2026 draft was tracking to be a third-rounder.
Sens owner Michael Andlauer was more than happy to accept Thursday's ruling.
When the penalty originally came down, Andlauer wondered, since it happened under previous ownership, why the Dadonov screwup was his problem. He also wondered why the league and the Melnyk estate didn't reveal the seriousness of the problem during the franchise sales negotiation. It's a little like someone selling a home and not letting the buyer know there's a leak in the home's foundation that they'll have to deal with.
After getting the news of the penalty from the league, Andlauer relieved GM Pierre Dorion of his duties and replaced him with Steve Staios.
In its Thursday morning press release, the NHL made it clear it will have no further comment on the matter.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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