SENSNEWS

After sustaining an injury against the Nashville Predators in the Ottawa Senators’ home opener, it has now been confirmed that Brady Tkachuk will be out for at least 6 to 8 weeks as he recovers from a thumb injury.

Ottawa Senators Without Brady Tkachuk

Brady Tkachuk Injury

The Senators confirmed yesterday that Tkachuk will be out until at least December after undergoing a successful procedure to repair a ligament issue in his thumb.

As we know, the Senators have not had the start to the season they were hoping for.

They currently sit with a 2–3 record; however, they should be feeling a little better about their game after a shootout win against the Seattle Kraken last night.

The Senators’ Offence

It was Dylan Cozens who played hero for the Senators, tying the game late, and Shane Pinto continued his hot streak, scoring another goal as well as the shootout winner.

All in all, the Senators’ offence is not quite where we expected it to be. They haven’t been downright terrible, but their lack of 5-on-5 scoring this season has been a recurring concern.

Losing their captain for the next two months will only hurt that even more—or at least, it should.

Should The Senators Trade For A Tkachuk Replacement?

So, it begs the question: should the Ottawa Senators go out and trade for a top-six winger to replace Brady Tkachuk while he recovers from his thumb injury?

Darren Dreger recently mentioned that the Senators will likely look to replace Tkachuk’s offence with internal options.

Fabian Zetterlund has been slow out of the gate, but we know there’s potential for him to break out and contribute at a higher level than he has so far in a Senators uniform.

Dylan Cozens has had a strong start to the season, which is refreshing after a playoff run that wasn’t bad but left some offensive production to be desired.

Tim Stützle also got his first goal of the season, but he too hasn’t quite reached the level we expect from him.

The biggest bright spot—and the most important offensive player for the Senators so far this season—has of course been Shane Pinto, who pushed for the league lead in goals last night against the Kraken.

The return of Drake Batherson also helps the offence, and we know what to expect from him once he gets going; it’s just a matter of getting back up to game speed.

Why This Will Be Difficult

One of the reasons I think the Senators will reportedly be looking for internal options is that the trade market isn’t really active this early in the season.

As many insiders have noted, the only team actively selling and trying to get worse right now is the Pittsburgh Penguins. They certainly have top-six options available, but not for a cheap price.

You could look at someone like Rickard Rakell or potentially Bryan Rust as options—but again, they won’t come cheap.

The Senators, without their 2026 first-round pick, will have a hard time putting a package together to bring one of those players in.

If the offence can’t get going and the Senators continue to struggle, Staios and the management team may be forced to make a move to try and spark some chemistry.

Even though they achieved the result they wanted against the Kraken, it is still worth mentioning that it was far from a great game by the Senators.

Bigger Fish To Fry

The most pressing issue before addressing any roster changes certainly has to be the penalty kill, which once again looked terrible against Seattle.

Even when they were successful on kills, it looked rough—the Kraken generated grade-A chances one after another. That’s something that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

But let’s not go too far off on a tangent. The point of today’s message is to discuss whether or not Brady Tkachuk should be replaced.

The fan in me says yes—the Senators certainly need another top-six player as we await Tkachuk’s return.

But from a more realistic standpoint, it would be quite difficult to make any move given the landscape of the NHL, the Senators’ asset pool, and the inevitable cap circumstances once Tkachuk returns from injury.

After all, this is not a season-ending injury. The Senators would need to factor in that any additional player brought in would have to fit under the cap once Tkachuk is activated.

Getting a top-six–ready player with a low cap hit is much easier said than done.

So, while the Senators could definitely use a top-six winger, I’m not sure it’s the most likely scenario right now. For the time being—unless things go off the rails quickly—I believe it’ll be status quo for the Ottawa Senators.

Players like Fabian Zetterlund will need to spark the offence and start producing as legitimate top-six wingers.

Will that happen? We’ll have to wait and see. But let’s just hope the Ottawa Senators can carry the positive momentum from their shootout win over the Kraken into Saturday’s matchup against the New York Islanders.