The Wait is Over

After over seven years of poor performances, off ice controversy, and premature declarations that the rebuild was over, the Ottawa Senators are heading to the playoffs.

The moment Senators fans have been waiting for since 2017 probably didn’t arrive in the way many imagined. Coming off a flat 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Senators fans found themselves cheering on the Montreal Canadiens to beat the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. When the Canadiens sent the Red Wings packing - along with that team’s dwindling playoff hopes - they mathematically clinched things for the Senators.

This flurry of events led to the humorous scenes of Senators players trying to remain stoic and serious in their postgame interviews following their loss to Columbus. While NHL players are conditioned to never express happiness after a loss, Tim Stützle, Thomas Chabot, and others toed the line between showing the requisite amount of contrition for their on ice performance while celebrating finally getting over the hump. “You’re not going to see me smile a whole lot after a loss,” said alternate captain Chabot in his postgame comments on Tuesday night. “But man, it feels great.”

Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot waves hi to a couple of young Sens fans during a pre-game warmup. Photo taken by The Senstennial Podcast.

Another person likely to be feeling great is head coach Travis Green. Lots of Senators fans, including yours truly, were skeptical following Green’s appointment as head coach this past offseason. But Green has silenced most of his doubters in the nation’s capital, guiding the team to its first playoff berth since 2016-17 and for the first time in the Michael Andlauer and Steve Staios era. As of game 78, the Senators have 90 points; that’s a full 18 points better than the 72 the team had at the same point last season.

Green has consistently preached the importance of playing a 200-foot game to his players, even going so far as to travel to Germany in the offseason to make that case to star centre Stützle. It is a lesson that the team has seemingly embraced. The Senators are on-track to concede significantly fewer goals against per game (2.79) compared to last year (3.43), and their lowest rate since 2014-15. Ottawa’s 10 shutouts lead the NHL, a testament to how goaltending has gone from the team’s Achilles heel in seasons past to one of its greatest strengths in 2024-25. Linus Ullmark, Leevi Meriläinen, and Anton Forsberg all deserve their share of the credit for that stat - contributing 4, 3, and 3 shutouts respectively. The team’s defence have also stepped up in a big way this season. Jake Sanderson has emerged as the team’s undisputed number one defenceman, setting career highs in goals, assists, and points along the way. Chabot is playing some of the best hockey of his career, forming an effective second pairing with Nick Jensen and improving his play at even strength. Even Tyler Kleven and Nikolas Matinpalo have put up respectable numbers for a bottom-pairing.

For the first time in years, the Senators can think beyond game 82. They are likely to meet either Toronto or Tampa Bay in Round 1, either of which would be a tough matchup. Ottawa will need to maintain its strong defensive play, regain its scoring touch, and hope that Ullmark can steal a game if they want to progress. But, after watching from the sidelines for so many seasons, expect the Senators players to come out of the gate strong. In an April 9th conversation with the media, Sens President and CEO Cyril Leeder noted that Brady Tkachuk in particular would be “unleashed” come playoff time. Much of the speculation has focused on Tkachuk, whose hard-nosed playing style and tendency for clutch goals has people salivating at what he could do in the postseason. But arguably the entire core has something to prove this April. Chabot has been on the team longer than Tkachuk and may be even more motivated. Drake Batherson said he hasn’t played a playoff game since junior. Even Ullmark, who can at least point to some recent postseason appearances, was largely passed over by the Boston Bruins last season in favour of Jeremy Swayman. Ullmark has shown himself to be unflappable, be it in net or in front of the media. His calming presence will be an asset to the team as well.

Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark gets dialed-in during a pre-game warmup. Photo taken by The Senstennial Podcast.

Of course, the wheels could also come off the team as soon as they step on the ice. This is a group with precious little playoff experience, outside of veteran forwards like David Perron, Claude Giroux, and Michael Amadio. The team could easily get blitzed in four games or fall apart after a game or two. But right now, none of that matters. All teams start at zero when the playoffs kick off, and history has shown that anyone can win a series against anyone else. Even then, if the worst does happen, this season will still go down as a success.

This year, Ottawa got the monkey off its collective back. The core is locked up for years to come. This spring is a free hit. Next year, the hard work begins: to show that this team can hang with the best over another 82 games and punch their ticket to the playoffs all over again.