With veteran Nick Jensen recovering from hip surgery and uncertain to start the 2025–26 season, the Ottawa Senators would be wise to explore the free agent market for some reliable, defensively sound options to stabilize and provide some top-four depth to their blue line.

Trouble is, everyone needs help on the right side of their blue line. If the Senators opt to shop in free agency, they'll have plenty of competition for the few UFA options who represent an obvious upgrade.

Here are two potential fits among right-shot defensemen who are scheduled to become UFAs on July 1st.

Aaron Ekblad

Age: 29 | Shoots: Right | 6-4, 220 lb | ATOI: 23:31 | Current Cap Hit: $7.5M | 33 pts in 56 games

If the Senators want to make a big move to shore up their top four, Ekblad is the kind of player who can elevate Ottawa’s defence corps overnight. Admittedly, he has some hard miles on him and he also comes with the red flag of a 20-game PED suspension. But he's still five years younger than Jensen and his résumé is otherwise stellar. Despite what golfer Brooks Koepka thinks, big-minute, right-shot, two-way defensemen with leadership qualities and a Stanley Cup ring (and maybe a second on the way later this week) don’t grow on trees.

If Ekblad and the Florida Panthers went their separate ways, he’d not only backfill on Ottawa’s right side, he’d immediately become the Senators’ best right-shot defenceman by a wide margin. But Ekblad, a former first overall selection, will have other options, so Ottawa would have to significantly outspend other destinations and clear out a lot of cap space. If you get that chance, maybe that’s something you go ahead and do for a top-pairing right-shot defenceman on the defending two-time Cup winner (yes, after Game 3, I’m calling my shot now).

Staios Says He's Not Ready To Make Announcements On Any Of Ottawa's UFAs It’s been over a month since the Ottawa Senators’ season ended. For players under contract, this has meant a well-deserved break filled with activities like golf, travel, and cottage time. However, for general manager Steve Staios, his scouting team, and players who will become free agents on July 1st, it's not time yet to relax.

Dante Fabbro

Age: 26 | Shoots: Right | 6-0, 189 lbs | Current Cap Hit: $2.5M | 26 pts in 68 games

Okay, so Ekblad is the unicorn of the UFA bunch. Let's get a little more real.

For a more cost-effective, slightly younger option, Dante Fabbro might also fit the bill in Ottawa. After struggling to find consistency in Nashville, he found his game with Columbus this season after they claimed him off waivers. He posted a career-high 26 points in 62 games. Fabbro is reliable defensively and put up top-four minutes for the Jackets in ATOI (21:39), a lot of it with Zach Werenski, who cracked 80 points for the first time in his career.

So we already know he can support a star partner, which is what he'll be tasked with in Ottawa alongside Jake Sanderson or Thomas Chabot. At 27 later this month, Fabbro also offers a possible long-term upside, which the veteran Jensen does not.

Fabbro was chosen 17th overall in 2016, right after Charlie McAvoy and Jakob Chychrun. Some D don’t hit their stride until their mid-20s. Maybe Fabbro is one such player.

With Jensen’s status unclear, the Sens have several roads they can take. If they veer toward free agency, Ekblad is the “go big” option, offering experience and top-pair impact, while Fabbro is the far more signable, under the radar option at a reasonable price. Both would help address the Senators’ needs.

Even if everything goes well with Jensen and he misses little to no time this fall, he is going to be 35 in September and entering the final year of his contract. One way or another, whether it’s through free agency, trade, or adding from within (looking in your direction, Carter Yakemchuk), the Sens have no choice but to start thinking about life after Jensen.

Steve Warne
The Hockey News

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