Senators 2026 NHL Draft preview: Are more trades on the horizon?

OTTAWA — Steve Staios is in the midst of his most consequential week as general manager of the Ottawa Senators — one that may define his legacy.

Move over Tkachuk Era; welcome to the Age of Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson.

The first step in this new epoch was Staios trading away the ninth-overall pick he acquired from Florida for Brady Tkachuk, in exchange for youngster William Eklund and two prospects from the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

Staios clearly stated his belief in his youthful core by acquiring the 23-year-old Swede.

Still, typically, the team that acquires the best player in a given trade is viewed as the winner. Well, if you combine the Panthers and Sharks deals, Eklund, two prospects and two more first-round picks likely still don’t make the Senators better than they were last year with Tkachuk.

However, if Staios is shrewd, it may still be possible that next season's Senators are better than any prior Tkachuk-led team — outlandish as it may seem.

And he may not be done on the trade market even after the Eklund move.

“I have no intention of this group taking a step back," Staios said Monday.

It’s a weird time to be a Senators fan, with grief, anger, relief and excitement all rolled up into curiosity about what shiny new toys may arrive. The NHL is having a wild few days, and expect the Senators to continue being in the middle of it all.

If Staios uses his remaining draft capital to acquire NHL-ready talent before Friday’s draft, don’t assume it's someone who's been subject to trade speculation. Nobody publicly expected Tkachuk to be traded when he was, or for Eklund to be available. Remember the shock when Josh Norris was traded for Dylan Cozens.

Staios’ nickname is Steady Steve, but maybe Stealthy Steve would be more apt.

With $19 million in cap space, the Senators can go after any player they see fit, though those on long-term contracts or willing to sign in Ottawa may be more appealing.

The Senators clearly need another top-six forward. Potential targets could include Mason McTavish, Jared McCann, Kirill Marchenko, Pavel Dorofeyev and Alexis Lafreniere. The most likely target may be someone you don’t know is available.

You’d hope with that cap space, Staios has the courage to use the offer sheet as a weapon. He has the money and assets to do so.

In a perfect world, after the addition of Eklund, the Senators would add another high-level top-six forward and a right-shot defenceman. There’s a decent likelihood that Staios trades the 25th pick he also got from Florida in the Tkachuk trade for a scoring forward, as Eklund is a playmaker and not a natural goal scorer. The Senators still need to find more goals for a lineup that out-chanced teams most nights but didn’t out-finish opponents often enough.

The challenge will be to get the right players for Ottawa without being overly aggressive in a way that weakens the team in the long term. The Eklund deal already shows how aggressive Staios is willing to be; trading a top-10 pick for a good player with lots of upside but not yet a bona fide star. It’s a risky move, but a calculated one.

There’s a real case to be made that the most prudent step right now for the Senators would be to retain their first-round picks to restock the cupboards. In addition to the 25th pick from Florida, Ottawa recently received the 32nd pick from the league, which it is not allowed to trade — a reduction of the penalty for the botched Evgenii Dadonov deal.

The Senators have a bottom-five prospect pool, and outside of Carter Yakemchuk, there are very few high-level prospects in the system — although the acquisitions of Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda alongside Eklund slightly improve things. The window to compete for a Stanley Cup is not next season, but two to three seasons from now. Ottawa cannot afford to go all-in on rentals or players on short-term deals. That’s why Eklund’s team control until 2030 made sense and likely informs us of what Staios is eyeing.

Just look at Carolina, which, having traded Mikko Rantanen and after losing Jake Guentzel as well as a plethora of defencemen in free agency in 2024, regrouped to win the Cup with a few shrewd moves.

Lord Stanley won’t be won in a week, but the pathway can be lost with short-sightedness.

The Tkachuk trade was the easy part for Staios. Eklund represents Step 1 of the mighty challenge of landing the plane to keep the Senators on their ultimate journey to win the Stanley Cup after trading away their superstar captain.

Draft picks

Potential Round 1 options

Ruck twins

Liam Ruck, 5-foot-11, 179 pounds, right-shot winger, Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)

Markus Ruck, 5-foot-11, 164 pounds, left-shot centre, Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)

If the Senators keep picks 25 and 32, they could conceivably choose both of the Ruck twins. It would be nice to have two brothers in the NHL who want to play for a Canadian team. Both could bring middle-six scoring punch; they play with ferocity and have the skill to make plays at a high level, too. It would be a cool story for a team in desperate need of one right now.

Xavier Villeneuve

Five-foot-10, 164 pounds, left-shot defenceman, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)

Villeneuve would provide some offence in transition as well as defensive aptitude and swagger. He doesn’t back down from a fight despite his slight frame. He could be a left-shot, Jordan Spence-esque defenceman for a team in need of just that as Thomas Chabot ages.

Oscar Hemming

Six-foot-three, 193 pounds, left-shot winger, Boston College (NCAA)

Rarely do you say that a team needs to pick a winger in the draft. Well, in Ottawa, there is a case to be made. With Stutzle, Dylan Cozens, Shane Pinto, Ridly Greig and Stephen Halliday all young and talented down the middle, the Senators have only two natural left-wingers on their current roster and no true NHL-calibre wingers in their pipeline.

Hemming, a power forward with nifty, skillful attributes and two-way ability, could be that fix.

Last year's top pick

Logan Hensler, last year’s 23rd overall selection by the Senators, had a down season. He struggled mightily for Team USA at the world juniors and then endured a pretty choppy sophomore season at the University of Wisconsin, where he'll return next season. The Senators hope that the elite skating, good hands and decent offence for the rangy right-shot defenceman will coalesce into a more complete performance next season. It’s unlikely Hensler reached the NHL next season unless something dramatic changes.

One bold prediction

The Senators will acquire McTavish by the end of the draft, completely overhauling their forward group.