To look Mark Stone dominated last night because the Vegas Golden Knights against the Toronto Maple Leafs not only stings if you’re an Ottawa Senators fan; it shows the team’s folly throughout the seasons. The Senators don’t just lose games. They lose endgames.
The Senators continue to make bad trade decisions
Every few years, Ottawa reaches a crossroads and makes a choice. And more often than not, the choice is to take a step back rather than lean forward. The result is a franchise that constantly feels like the board is being reset just when the pieces matter.
The team’s moves throughout their franchise’s history fit that pattern. Sometimes they’re not bad trades in and of themselves, but they still remain a signal that this team is almost always closer to a rebuild than a push. And once you admit that, everything else comes into focus.
Over the course of the Senators’ history, they have moved some great talent
History is important here. Ottawa has consistently struggled to keep elite players in-house. Zdeno Chara walked. Mika Zibanejad was traded. Steen continues. Erik Karlsson left. Goalkeepers flourish elsewhere. It’s not just about asset management, it’s about reputation. Players don’t see Ottawa as a place where the struggle stabilizes. They see it as a stopover.
This has real consequences for trade.
If you’re Boston, Toronto or another competitor sniffing Ottawa’s roster, you’re not just asking, “Is this player good?” It makes you wonder, “Is Ottawa ready to hold the line – or will they fold early again?”
The senators’ influence is always shaped by that perception. Teams know Ottawa doesn’t like noise. They know patience is running out. And they know that there is often a breakpoint at which futures start to look safer than the current risk.
The risk is that the Senators move players before the future is defined
That’s the danger now. The danger is not that Ottawa will trade players, but that they do so before the window is clearly defined. The reconstruction that would have started in 2017 still feels incomplete. The result is a franchise stuck between timelines and never fully committed.
Until Ottawa proves it’s possible keep stars instead of exporting them, the trade negotiations will never stop. And every time Mark Stone (or another former Senators player) performs well, fans will feel less like these moves are less than coincidences and more like warnings.
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