Danny McCloskey
The time for trades is over! With the NHL Trade Deadline having passed, the Ottawa Senators are ready to play their last 21 games with a slightly adjusted roster. In is Warren Foegele, out is David Perron. With the Sens currently sitting four points out of a playoff spot, did they do enough? Let’s dive into the details.
A Look at the Two Trades
For a full analysis of the two Senators trades, you can take a look here and here. These are the basics:
- In: Warren Foegele, conditional 2026 3rd round pick, conditional 2026 4th round pick
- Out: David Perron, 2026 2nd round pick, conditional 2026 3rd round pick
To simplify, the Senators moved down in the draft with a couple of their picks in exchange for an upgrade on Perron, with Foegele signed through next season. With Perron currently hurt, adding a healthy winger to play the last quarter of the season should help with the playoff push. Of course, in order for Foegele to be an upgrade, he’ll have to return to last year’s 24 goal form. This season has been a struggle, with Foegele scoring just 9 points in 47 games.
The Moves the Senators Didn’t Make
The Senators have long been linked to right shot defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, who ended up with the Utah Mammoth. On Elliotte Friedman’s 32 Thoughts podcast, he said “I suspect Ottawa was in on Rob Thomas as well.”
The problem for the Senators was that they don’t have a ton of trade chips. They have one of the weakest prospect pools in the NHL and no first round pick. While Steve Staios has come out and said that Stephen Halliday sitting against the Flames was a coach’s decision, I wonder if he was being held out just in case. If the Senators were to have made a bigger trade, he was the most likely piece going the other way.
As it stands, the Senators defense and goalies remained the same. That’s no real surprise in net. There weren’t exactly a ton of goalies available. The good news is, Ullmark has played better lately. He’s gone 4-0-2 with a .909 SV% since he returned from his leave of absence. Don’t look for Leevi Merilainen to return anytime soon. He has an .890 SV% down in Belleville in 14 games. On defense, they could insert Nikolas Matinpalo into the lineup if they need a change. They could also call up top prospect Carter Yakemchuk. His 27 points in 44 games is impressive. His minus 37 rating is not.
The Senators Lineup
Here’s what the Senators will look like in their last 21 games:
- Batherson-Stützle-Giroux
- Tkachuk-Cozens-Greig
- Foegele-Pinto-Amadio
- Cousins-Eller-Zetterlund
- Sanderson-Zub
- Chabot-Jensen
- Kleven-Spence
- Ullmark
- Reimer
Final Thoughts
The Senators have a playoff lineup. They’ve played at the level of a playoff team all season, outside of their goaltending and penalty kill. Ullmark has been better lately. Same with the penalty kill. Since Mike Yeo took over with the penalty kill, the Senators PK is at 80%. Before that, the PK was a woeful 71.7%. They are currently on pace for 93 points. The Bruins, who hold the last wildcard spot, are on pace for 98. You can’t forget about the Blue Jackets, who brought in Conor Garland at the deadline and are currently ahead of the Sens by three points.
In their final 21 games last season, the Senators went 14-5-2. If they could replicate that, they would finish this season with 99 points. That should be good enough to make the playoffs. Of course, that would take no bad stretches from here on out. That’s hard to do, but the Senators have what it takes.
Sure, the Senators didn’t make a blockbuster move at the deadline, but they didn’t exactly have the assets, nor were they in the position in the standings to do so. Warren Foegele should help this team. If he can be another hard-working two way forward that can help on the penalty kill, that will be good enough. One more reason for optimism- The next two Senators games are on the road. After that, though, they finish the season playing 12 of their remaining 19 games at home.
