SENSNEWS

After revisiting my hot takes from the 2024–2025 season, it’s time to make five more bold claims for the Ottawa Senators heading into the 2025–2026 campaign.

Overall, last year’s hot takes held up quite well. Jake Sanderson did indeed receive Norris votes, the Ottawa Senators did finish in the first wildcard position.

And while I predicted they’d have three representatives at the NHL Four Nations Faceoff, I actually undershot—it turned out to be four.

So without further ado, let’s get into five hot takes for the Ottawa Senators heading into the 2025–2026 NHL season.

5 Hot Takes For The Ottawa Senators’ 2025-2026 Season

1. Tim Stützle Records a Career High in Points

Ever since recording 90 points in the 2022–2023 season, Tim Stützle has taken a slight step back offensively. Over the past two seasons, he’s posted 79 and 70 points, respectively.

Many have attributed this decline to Stützle shooting far less. That’s evident in his goal totals—just 42 goals over the last two seasons combined, compared to 39 in 2022–2023 alone.

That said, his game has taken huge strides defensively, helping the Senators become a better all-around team and ultimately make the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

But this season, I see Tim Stützle getting back to elite offensive form and recording a career high in points.

With Dylan Cozens now on the team to alleviate pressure as the second-line centre, Stützle won’t have to match up as frequently against the opponent’s top players.

He’ll also have more winger options who can keep pace with him. A line of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, and Fabian Zetterlund could be absolutely deadly.

I’m not necessarily saying he’ll hit 100 points—but I do think he’ll be back somewhere in the 90s. Hopefully, for the Senators’ sake, he proves me right.

2. Jordan Spence Breaks Out for 40+ Points

This hot take is contingent on the belief that Jordan Spence will slot in as the team’s second-pair right-shot defenseman. After being acquired from the Los Angeles Kings, it’s clear that Spence has much more to offer.

His biggest issue in LA was ice time—he simply wasn’t getting the minutes his play warranted.

He was excellent in third-pair minutes with the Kings, both offensively and defensively. And in the AHL with the Ontario Reign, he was one of the best defensemen in the entire league.

As a 21-year-old in the AHL, he was nearly a point-per-game player. That shows there’s real offensive upside in his game. With increased responsibility and opportunity, I think he can reach another level.

If he ends up stuck on the third pair again, reaching 40 points will be tough. But if he plays on the second pair like I believe he should, I could absolutely see him breaking out.

3. Jake Sanderson Takes Another Step and Finishes with 65+ Points

The third hot take is that Jake Sanderson continues his offensive ascent and finishes with 65 or more points. Now, the odds of both this and the Spence prediction coming true are slim—but that’s the fun of hot takes.

Sanderson had a slow start to the 2024–2025 season. He himself admitted it. But after the Four Nations Faceoff, it was like a switch flipped—Jake Sanderson became incredible.

Over the final 25 games of the season, he was nearly a point-per-game player. He looked more confident offensively and was one of Ottawa’s most dangerous players in all three offensive zone.

It’s almost like he took a page out of Stützle’s book because he started shooting the puck much more. That was an area of focus during the offseason, and the results showed.

If Sanderson hits 65+ points, he’ll no doubt be in the Norris conversation once again. With Ottawa looking to generate more offense at 5-on-5, Sanderson could be a key driver.

4. Leevi Meriläinen Outperforms Linus Ullmark—Statistically

This might be the spiciest take of the bunch: Leevi Meriläinen will outperform Linus Ullmark from a statistical standpoint.

What I mean is that Meriläinen could have a better save percentage and goals-against average than Ullmark—though he’ll also likely get easier starts.

It’s definitely a stretch, but based on what Meriläinen showed last season in limited NHL action, it’s within the realm of possibility.

If this prediction holds true, it could mean the Senators have one of the best goalie tandems in the entire NHL. Even if it doesn’t, that statement might still hold weight.

We’ve seen veteran-young goalie duos work before—think of Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros in Nashville.

5. Arthur Kaliyev Earns a Call-Up and Scores 12+ Goals

This prediction is somewhat similar to what Adam Gaudette achieved last season.

Gaudette was originally expected to be an AHL piece, competing for a fourth-line role. He not only won that role but went on to score 19 goals as Ottawa’s fourth-line center—something almost nobody expected.

This year, I’m betting on Arthur Kaliyev to have a similar breakthrough.

We already know Kaliyev has the scoring touch. He’s put up goals at every level he’s played at.

What makes this a hot take is that I don’t expect him to make the NHL roster out of training camp. An injury will likely be needed for him to get a shot.

But if he does get called up—and especially if he’s placed in an offensive role—I could see him quickly becoming an effective scorer. While I’m only projecting 12 goals, keep in mind that I don’t expect that over a full 82-game season.

So those are five hot takes I have for the Ottawa Senators going into the 2025–2026 season. In about a year, we’ll revisit them to see what came true and what was a little too ambitious. Until then, we’ll just have to wait and see.