In the spirit of perpetual hope and the optimism the New Year brings, let’s talk about the Ottawa Senators 2024 roster. The recent news of the front office positions being locked up allows for the next steps forward. A team without a permanent general manager in place can be in disarray. Now they have Steve Staios assigned to that role. Therefore, the focus can shift to hiring a head coach and also the direction of the club. Here we will focus on what lies ahead for the Sens in terms of which players to go forward with. These will be the players to build with, and grow with, and be considered untouchables when it comes to trade talks.
Why Does the Ottawa Senators 2024 Roster Potentially Need Change?
The Ottawa Senators 2024 roster will be inherently linked to whether or not they are expected and physically contending for the playoffs. In this current 2023-24 campaign, it had been anticipated that they were at least going to fight for a wild card position. As we enter play today, January 2nd, 2024, the Senators sit in dead last in the entire Eastern Conference.
Now their only possible saving grace is they have a minimum of two games in hand on all their fellow Eastern Conference opponents. However, one thing that does need to change is their inability to secure bonus points. Their 14-18-0 would look a lot better if they could muster out some bonus points. The team just ahead of them in the standings, the Columbus Blue Jackets, has eight regulation tie points. They would have an overall 12-26 record if only counting wins and losses. In that perspective, the Sens do have some hope. In contrast, given that teams are narrowing in on the halfway, the sense around Ottawa is the team is out of playoff contention.
How Could the Changes Come?
With that said, the Ottawa Senators are in no position to rebuild their roster in 2024. Once this tough 2023-24 season is under their belts, they will use it to learn and gain experience. The fourth-youngest roster in the NHL still needs to do these things. Thus, they should comfortably contend for the playoffs in 2024-25. So, before we head into the trade deadline, the draft, and ultimately the summer free agency period, what changes does the Sens roster need to have completed? We will begin to answer that today, focusing on who will stay.
If we want to apply a simple formula to our strategy, let’s borrow the one used for the expansion draft. In the recent rules, teams are allowed to protect five forwards, three defencemen, and one goaltender. When you really think about it, you can see how Vegas and Seattle were able to succeed, being built of second-line type players.
Let’s Look at the Defence and Goalies on the Ottawa Senators 2024 Roster
To start with goalies and defence, the Sens would protect: Joonas Korpisalo, Artem Zub, Jake Sanderson, and Jakob Chychrun. Now, of course, this isn’t an expansion draft, and we are free to do what we like essentially. Given how important we know he is to the club, as evidenced by the team’s struggles with him out of the lineup. That player is, Thomas Chabot, who has only played 10 games this year. One more name to add on defence as an immovable object would be prospect Tyler Kleven. The Sens organization is very high on him. Once he makes the leap to the NHL, he will provide a key element of size and toughness to the backend for years to come.
Ultimately the Senators are fairly comfortable with these four defencemen and their goaltending. The future of their goaltending looks bright with prospects Mads Sogaard and Leevi Merilainen in the pipeline. Moreover, some may argue their goaltending has struggled, but it is likely more of a result of their team game. For example, both Filip Gustavsson and Cam Talbot, recent Sens goalies, have been very successful the year immediately after leaving Ottawa.
There we have it, looking at the goalies and defence, there are eight names. Eight names that aren’t to be included in trade packages. Conversely, you can very well argue that their defence is too heavy on a left-shot defenceman. That is true, but it just seems each of the individual pieces is too important. For instance, if you were to trade Thomas Chabot and not receive a Noah Dobson-type equivalent player in return, it would hurt. All right, time to move up front.
Who on the Forwards Are Keepers?
The Ottawa Senators 2024 roster when it comes to the forwards is a bit more interesting. Let’s first use our rule of five and check them off as possible trade targets. This group of five includes Joshua Norris, Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, and Ridly Greig. Now, once again, we can do what we want, so let’s add two more. Those names include Claude Giroux and Mark Kastelic. Giroux’s contract would be nearly impossible to move, he is from not far away, and great amongst the fans. Not to mention how important he was in the development of Stutzle’s offensive game from 2022-23. Also, Kastelic is inexpensive and would offer more value to the club than he would in any trade.
There are other considerations, but the idea is that if you weren’t named you would be trade bait. We will do a follow-up article, focusing more on trade possibilities leading up to the deadline. However, these are the guys that we should see leading the core into 2024-25. One consideration is that these collective 15 players currently earn around $60 million. With this amount, there is some wiggle room on those not included. Now, this does shift for next year, as Jake Sanderson leaps to over $8M annual cap hit. Also, some not discussed, those earning around the league minimum, would not be ideal trade bait and are better off being used as depth forwards. Angus Crookshank and Rourke Chartier are good examples of that purpose.
Are There Any More to Keep Around?
Their bottom six forward group does need size and toughness, so there are players in Belleville who fit that bill. Until the exact names of Tyler Boucher, Zack Ostapchuk, Roby Jarventie, and perhaps a couple of others are identified, they likely won’t be moved. Finally, there is the wild card in the situation, and that is centre Shane Pinto. It really depends on how much his next contract is and where he fits. This will determine how the club’s extra money can be spent. Re-signing the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko makes sense for a couple of reasons. One, his abilities and experience are very hard to duplicate in any replacement, and at his current salary, it does seem like a decent fit.
Main photo: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
