Ottawa Senators Stanley Cup Checklist – Update 2025 Offseason – The Hockey Writers Ottawa Senators Lict News, Analysis & More

Now that the senators of Ottawa have returned to the Play -Offs, the next step is to really start competing for the Stanley Cup.

House of Luszczyszyn van Athletics A “Stanley Cup checklist” made, and here we will take a look into how far the senators are to meet those requirements.

With research that returned to the Stanley Cup Championship of Chicago Blackhawks 2010, Luszczzyn followed the positional trends that every Stanley Cup champion had in their selection and how many impactful players they had. The list he has made is as follows:

• An elite first -line center
• An elite first -line winger
• Two top-line caliber wing players in the top six
• Another Top-Line Caliber Center for the second line
• Two more top-six caliber forward in the middle six
• An elite no. 1 defender to play in the top pair
• Another no. 1-caliber defender to play behind him
• A top pairing caliber defender for the second pair
• Another top-caliber defender for a soft-minute third-pair
• A TOP-10-caliber Starting goalkeeper

(from “The Athletic”, “Cup checklist: Analysis of the schedules of the last decade of champions” The AtletiC, September 21, 2020)

An elite first-line center-✅

The Sky is the limit for Tim Stutzle. During the first few seasons of his career, he has shown that he can be attacking offensively, he has taken great steps defensively and can take over every match. He is only 23 years old, has three consecutive 70-point seasons and remains better and better every season. There is not much argument for having Stutzle outside the top 15 centers in the competition, and it only gets better.

An elite first-line winger-✅

After a decline in 2024-25, there are certainly people who disagree with Brady Tkachuk who fills this role. With only 29 goals and 55 points, everyone can admit that it was an attacking year, but he was still dominant with his chances, physicality and leadership. Tkachuk received the play -offs and it is honest to expect that he will do everything in his power to come back there next season.

Two top-line caliber wing players in the top six-❌

Outside of Tkachuk, the senators are a bit weak on the wings in terms of high-end talent. There is certainly an argument for Drake Batherson, but I think Batherson is better suited for a second line role in an ideal team.

The only other options for this category are Claude Giroux and Fabian Zetterlund. A few seasons ago Giroux could be sure here, but he is starting to slow down, and although he is still a very good player, he is no longer a top-line caliber player.

Zetterlund could agree with this conversation, but not yet. He will have every opportunity to prove that he can be a top player this season.

Another Top-Line Caliber Center for the second line ❌

Is there a world in which Dylan Cienss can break in a center for top-line caliber? Certainly, but he’s just not there. In Buffalo he had shown signs that he scored 68 points a few seasons ago. There is a good chance that he will not reach this height, but successfully in a team around him and the chemistry that he started to develop with Batherson is a chance.

Two more top-six caliber ahead in the middle six-✅

Here we can talk about Batherson, Giroux and Zetterlund.

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Batherson has set a career high of 68 points last season, he has shown time and again that he can be a strong offensive threat. The only gap in his game that is worried is the defensive side of the game. During the play-offs, his defensive IQ and decision-making were exposed, but they can be further developed with more experience.

Giroux is Giroux. He is still a great two-way wing, can take the faceoffs and certainly qualifies as a top-six player to play in the Midden-Zes.

As for Zetterlund, it seems that the senators have a lot of faith in him. He played very well on the San Jose Sharks, but in 20 games with the senators last season he only scored five points.

An elite no. 1 defender to play in the top pair – ✅

Just like Stutzle, this is an easy one. Jake Sanderson has broken into the competition and has become one of the top options, especially among the wave of young people in the competition. He is fairly physical, excellent defensive, one of the best skaters, and has developed a strong offensive game. There is not much to criticize Sanderson. He had a slump in November/December last season, but turned it around.

Another no. 1-caliber defender to play behind him-❌

There is a large group of people who like to criticize Thomas Chabot and do not reasonably judge him or appreciate his skills. He is a big defender who can offer offensive, but is not defensive strong enough to be a real number one caliber defender.

A top-pairing-caliber defender for the second couple ✅

Chabot could certainly fit in the best caliber place. He has not shown that he can be the go-to man all the time, but he is certainly good enough to be familiar with a top pair. Playing behind Sanderson takes a lot of weight and pressure from him, and he has performed much better in his current role.

A Top-Pairing-Kaliber defender for Soft-Minutes third pair-❌

Depending on the way in which the schedule shakes, there is a chance that we will see one of Nick Jensen or Artem ZUB on the third pair for points of the season, and in that case, both top-pair caliber players can be on the third pair, but the chance is great, Nikolas Matinpalo, or even Carter Yakemchuk, will do that job on the third pair.

A top 10 caliber starting goalkeeper-✅

Since Linus UllmarkThe carousel around the goalkeepers of the senators seems to have finally been resolved, while this only explains the starter, Leevi Merilainen has also made the task of Ullmark a little easier. Not long ago, Ullmark won the Vezina, was one of the most consistent goalkeepers, at least for the regular season, and was great for the senators in his first season.

Staios on the right track to build a competition

The senators are closer than last year. They have playoff games under their belt, they are all a year older and they just get better and better. They have a fairly young team, they are deep in the most positions and they have added a number of quality veterans to help.

For many of the categories, there are young players in the selection who can fulfill that role as quickly as possible. Shane Pinto, Ridly Gray, Zetterlund and the rest of the core are all so young and still improve and can provide a very strong group this season.