Ottawa Senators Build Roster In Seeking Next NHL Title

Ottawa Senators are 41.00 to win the Stanley Cup at BetMGM Sportsbook, bet now!

With a league-wide salary cap for the upcoming NHL season at $83.5 million, some players have been forced to take shorter-term deals, and general managers are having to get creative in building rosters as they look to take the Stanley Cup home next season.

The Ottawa Senators are an up-and-coming team, with a good core that finished 11th in the Eastern Conference last season, having posted a record of 39-35-8, for 86 points.

Betting Odds For Ottawa Title Run

Ottawa has a talented roster, led by LW Brady Tkachuk, LW Tim Stutzle, C Josh Norris, D Thomas Chabot and D Jakob Chychrun. 

Currently, BetMGM has the Sens at 41.00 to win the Stanley Cup and 21.00 to finish first in the Eastern Conference.

For those seeking NHL betting options, Bet365 has the Sens at 36.00 to capture the NHL title. PointsBet Canada also has the Sens at 36.00

Alex DeBrincat Eyes Options 

According to CapFriendly, the Senators have just over $7.5 million in current cap space, and all eyes are on what they do with LW Alex DeBrincat.

He was OK last season –- 27 goals, 39 assists, but was a -31. DeBrincat had 78 points with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2021-'22, including 41 goals. 

DeBrincat is a restricted free agent, and the team filed salary arbitration last month. 

DeBrincat is not committing to sign long term with the Senators. The Ottawa Sun has reported that the team gave DeBrincat’s agent permission to negotiate a contract with three teams for an extension, but the price is too high for all of them (reportedly just south of $9 million per season). That salary level apparently is holding up a trade.

Other media reports indicate the Sens are interested in signing RW Vladimir Tarasenko if they can work out a trade for DeBrincat. The situation is another case study in how teams are forced to operate during these flat-cap times. 

Senators Address Goaltending Needs

In the meantime, the Senators added RW Zack MacEwen to a three-year contract. MacEwen is a depth player who’s hard-nosed and will go into hard areas, Senators General Manager Pierre Dorion said.

Other than that, over the past week or so the Senators signed D Jacob Bernard-Docker to a two-year contract, G Joonas Korpisalo to a five-year contract and D Erik Brannstrom to a one-year deal.

The Korpisalo signing was the move to address the team’s goaltending issues going into the off-season. That’s a big commitment. The annual value of the deal is $4 million. Last season, Korpisalo went 7-3, 2.13 GAA with the L.A. Kings, then went 11-11, 3.17 GAA with the Columbus Blue Jackets.