The Ottawa Senators failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.
The Senators (33-39-4) were eliminated from contention Saturday when they lost to the New Jersey Devils.
After qualifying for the playoffs 16 times in 20 seasons from 1997-2017, including reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2007, the Senators are in their longest playoff drought in team history.
Here's a look at what happened in the 2023-24 season for the Senators and why things could be better next season.
The skinny
Potential unrestricted free agents: Dominik Kubalik, F; Rourke Chartier, F; Matthew Highmore, F
Potential restricted free agents: Shane Pinto, F; Parker Kelly, F; Boris Katchouk, F; Erik Brannstrom, D
Potential 2024 Draft picks: 8
What went wrong
Goaltending woes: It's hard to make the playoffs when a team doesn't have a goalie with a plus-.900 save percentage. Joonas Korpisalo is at .890 in 51 games, Anton Forsberg has a .885 save percentage in 28 games, and Mads Sogaard had a .859 in six games. All told, Ottawa has an NHL-worst .882 save percentage. The Senators allow 3.50 goals per game, fourth most in the League, despite being one of 17 teams to allow less than 30 shots on goal per game (29.8).
Special teams struggles: The Senators have spent 94:12 minutes more this season on the power play (440:45) than they have on the penalty kill (346:33), but it hasn't translated. They are 23rd in the NHL on the power play (18.2 percent) and 30th on the penalty kill (74.1 percent). They have such a plus-differential in power play ice time vs. penalty kill ice time because more often they're spending the full two minutes of a single man-advantage on the power play and not doing that on the penalty kill. But that partly goes back to their goaltending woes.
Losing streaks: The Senators have had three losing streaks of at least five games, going 0-6-0 from Dec. 12-21, 0-5-0 from Jan. 2-11 and 0-6-1 from Feb. 26-March 9. Count it up and that's three stretches of the season that equal a 0-17-1 record. The losing streaks came at bad times too. They won three of four games before the six-game losing streak in December and three of four before the five-game slide in January. They were 11-4-3 in 18 games from Jan. 13-Feb. 24, a positive stretch that provided a sliver of hope, but that was dashed by the seven-game losing streak that ended on March 12.
Reasons for optimism
Core players are there: The Senators have a young core to continue to build around, led by captain Brady Tkachuk, 24, that extends to forwards Tim Stützle, 22, Drake Batherson, 25, and Josh Norris, 24, and defensemen Jake Sanderson, 21, Thomas Chabot, 27, and Artem Zub, 28. They're all signed for at least three more seasons. Stutzle might be the key. He has 70 points in 75 games this season, a drop from his 90 points in 78 games last season. The big drop is in his goals, 39 last season versus 18 this season. He shot 17.1 percent last season, 9.4 percent this season. He needs to find a middle ground and return to being at least a 30-goal scorer, if not better. He's 22 years old.
Sanderson's emergence: Sanderson has had a big year, which is huge for the Senators since it isn't until next season that the 21-year-old defenseman will start playing on an eight-year, $64.4 million contract ($8.05 million AAV) he signed in September. Sanderson has 34 points (nine goals, 25 assists) in 73 games. He had 32 points (four goals, 28 assists) in 71 games last season. The difference this season is he has shot the puck more (154 shots on goal this season, 132 last season) and he's playing more (21:55 per game last season, 23:05 this season). He has 22 points at even strength after having 15 last season. Continued growth from Sanderson will be expected and is necessary if the Senators are going to advance into playoff contention next season.
Owner, GM motivated: Michael Andlauer is wrapping up his first season as the Senators owner and Steve Staois is doing the same as Ottawa's president and general manager, but this will be their first full offseason to really put their fingerprints on the franchise. Andlauer wasn't finalized as the Senators new owner until Sept. 21 and he hired Staois eight days later. They know what they have now and have a better understanding of what they need and want. And they're dialed in on turning the Senators into a winning team again. Expect the Senators to be active in the offseason, especially with seven selections in the first four rounds of the 2024 NHL Draft, including two in the first round.
