Twelve players who suited up for the Senators last season have already moved on, creating more roster turnover than it might seem at first glance.
At first glance, the Senators don't look dramatically different from the team we watched last season.
Yes, the captain abandoned ship, but you still have a ton of the usual suspects. The core guys like Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, Dylan Cozens, Drake Batherson, Shane Pinto, Linus Ullmark and others are all still here.
But dig a little deeper, and there's actually been quite a bit of turnover in the past year.
In fact, 12 players who appeared in at least one game for the Senators last season are now somewhere else.
#7 Brady Tkachuk – 60 games
As news goes, this one is bigger than all the other 11 exits put together.
After eight seasons in Ottawa, Tkachuk requested a trade and was dealt to the Florida Panthers in June. The former captain leaves the biggest hole of anyone on this list, but many fans think it may be a case of addition by subtraction. Even some teammates aren't convinced his exit will be a major loss at all for this group,
Time will tell.
#89 Lars Eller – 68 games
Tkachuk isn't the only former Senator headed to Florida. Eller played 68 games for Ottawa last season after signing a one-year deal last summer.
He provided veteran depth down the middle but was always going to be a short-term solution. He was solid, but the Senators were ready to try someone else, and that's probably Stephen Halliday.
#3 Nick Jensen – 61 games
Jensen became an important part of the Sens' defence after arriving in the Jakob Chychrun trade in 2024.
He played 61 games last season before another injury ended his year and has since signed a two-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks. It will be interesting to see if Jensen can get back to where he was before he began to break down in 2024-25.
The Sens will now lean more heavily on Artem Zub and Jordan Spence while Nikolas Matinpalo and Carter Yakemchuk battle for the third spot on the right side.
#57 David Perron – 49 games
Perron's two-year stay in Ottawa actually ended before the season did.
The Senators traded the veteran winger to Detroit at the deadline after he appeared in 49 games. It closed the book on a somewhat disappointing free-agent signing, although Perron did provide some useful experience during Ottawa's return to the playoffs.
As the Sens tried to rally from a 0-3 series deficit in their 2025 first round against Toronto, Perron's game-tying goal in the third period of Game 6 will always be a highlight.
Perron remains a UFA, and at 38, he might still be a PTO option for someone.
#47 James Reimer – 14 games
Reimer wasn't even a Senator when last season began. He signed in January after Linus Ullmark took a long leave of absence and goaltending became a concern. A grave concern. Reimer provided some stability, appearing in 14 games.
But with Samuel Ersson brought in this summer, Reimer has moved on and, at 38, he remains a free agent. After historically giving the Sens fits over the years, it was nice for a change that they could benefit from his play.
#6 Dennis Gilbert – 8 games
Gilbert's second go-around with the Senators wasn't much longer than the first. He played in 8 games and then three more in the playoffs after spending much of the year in Belleville. He provided some depth when injuries began piling up on Ottawa's blue line.
He's now back in Buffalo, where the Sens first acquired him, along with Dylan Cozens, in 2025.
#60 Lassi Thomson – 11 games
Thomson's second tour with the Senators organization is over.
The former 19th overall pick returned to Ottawa last season and eventually got into 11 NHL games, recording three assists. He also suited up for one playoff game.
He's since returned to Europe (again), likely closing the book on his time with the organization that drafted him in 2019. Thomson was, by far, the best asset to come from the trading of Matt Duchene to Columbus, which speaks loudly about the quality of that deal.
#15 Olle Lycksell – 7 games
Lycksell actually made Ottawa's opening-night roster after signing as a free agent last summer, but his stay in the NHL didn't last long.
He appeared in seven games for the Senators and spent most of the season in Belleville. He was a depth player who signed in Switzerland for the coming season.
#34 Arthur Kaliyev – 2 games
Kaliyev was an intriguing low-risk signing last summer because of his shot, his goal-scoring ability, and his OHL days when he played for Steve Staios. Nothing really came of the signing, though Belleville fans would disagree. Kaliyev led the B-Sens and the AHL with 40 goals last season.
He appeared in two games for Ottawa in October but never made it back to the NHL club. Kaliyev finished the season as a dominant scorer in Belleville. Despite leading the AHL with 40 goals, he remains a UFA.
#37 Donovan Sebrango – 2 games
Sebrango got another brief taste of the NHL last season, appearing twice for the Senators.
The Ottawa-area product had been part of the organization since coming over from Detroit in the Alex DeBrincat trade in 2023, but he was claimed off waivers by the Panthers in October after the Sens tried to send him down to Belleville.
Sebrango went on to have his best year yet, playing 40 games for Florida and signing a one-way deal with them last month.
#40 Mads Søgaard – 2 games
There was a time when Søgaard was considered a legit candidate to become the Sens' goalie of the future.
That never happened.
Sogaard appeared in just two games for Ottawa last season and has since signed with Tampa Bay. The last 6-foot-7 Sens goalie who left for Tampa was Ben Bishop. If Sogaard can only be half as good, the Lightning will be thrilled.
#31 Hunter Shepard – 1 game
Shepard's Senators career lasted exactly one NHL appearance.
Ottawa signed him as organizational goaltending depth last summer and eventually traded him to Montreal in March in a minor league swap. Shepard will give the KHL a go this season.
Obviously, no two exits carry the same impact on the Sens roster. At the top, it's Tkachuk, while a few of these departures won't move the needle at all.
But it does illustrate just how quickly an NHL roster turns over. 12 players who pulled on a Senators sweater at some point last season have already moved on.
So while the names at the top of the lineup remain highly recognizable, there's actually been quite a bit of change under the hood.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article was first published in The Hockey News. For more Sens coverage at The Hockey News, click on one of the Sens headlines below:
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