Senators vs. Maple Leafs: Ottawa Opens a New Era

Senators vs Maple Leafs opens Ottawa’s post-Tkachuk era against a Toronto team already 1-1 after two very different games.

Ottawa gets one of the NHL’s least subtle ways to begin a new era: Saturday night in Toronto.

The Senators open their season with Thomas Chabot wearing the captain’s “C” for the first time, Brady Tkachuk now in Florida and several new pieces being asked to immediately replace the offense, physical presence and personality that disappeared with him. Toronto has already played twice, losing 3-2 to Montreal before recovering with a 2-1 win over the Islanders.

That gives Saturday a useful contrast. Ottawa arrives fresh and largely unknown in its new form. Toronto has already shown two versions of itself: loose enough with the puck to let Montreal punish mistakes, then disciplined enough to protect a narrow lead against New York.

The pregame numbers barely separate them. That feels appropriate. These teams enter from very different starting points, but neither has done enough in 2026-27 to deserve much certainty yet.

Ottawa Starts Life After Brady Tkachuk

The Senators spent eight seasons building around Tkachuk before trading him to Florida in June after his request to move. Ottawa received three first-round picks and a second-rounder, then immediately used one of those first-round assets to acquire William Eklund from San Jose. General manager Steve Staios spent the summer insisting the organization had no intention of stepping backward.

Saturday is the first real test of that claim. Ottawa finished 44-27-11 last season and reached the playoffs for a second straight year, so this is not a teardown disguised as transition. Tim Stützle scored 34 goals last season, Drake Batherson had 33, Dylan Cozens had 28 and Shane Pinto had 23. Eklund arrives after consecutive 50-point seasons in San Jose.

Replacing Tkachuk therefore becomes a distribution problem. Ottawa needs several good players to absorb what one very visible player used to provide. Saturday’s projected lineup reflects that approach, with Warren Foegele beside Stützle and Batherson, while Eklund joins Cozens and Fabian Zetterlund on a second line built to carry legitimate scoring responsibility.

Chabot Gets the C for Opening Night

Chabot was named Ottawa’s 11th captain on Tuesday, four days before the opener. He is the longest-tenured Senator, having first appeared with the organization in 2016-17, and takes over after Tkachuk’s five seasons wearing the “C.” Claude Giroux, Stützle and Jake Sanderson will serve as alternates.

The choice fits the roster Ottawa is bringing into Toronto. Chabot is no longer being asked to represent a young team waiting for its window. He is captaining a group that has already made the playoffs, watched its previous captain leave and spent the offseason trying to prove the rest of the core was sturdy enough to continue without him.

His first defensive partner Saturday is Jordan Spence, while Sanderson returns beside Nikolas Matinpalo after missing time late in camp. Carter Yakemchuk also opens the season in the lineup. Artem Zub remains out with a knee injury, leaving Ottawa slightly thinner on the blue line than it would prefer for this matchup.

Toronto Has Already Shown Both Versions

The Maple Leafs’ first two games could hardly have offered cleaner examples of what Jim Hiller is trying to fix. Montreal beat Toronto 3-2 on opening night after the Leafs repeatedly turned possessions into problems for themselves. William Nylander scored twice, but defensive-zone mistakes and poor puck management gave Montreal enough opportunities to leave Scotiabank Arena with the win.

One night later, Toronto looked much more controlled. Colton Sissons and Easton Cowan scored in the first period against the Islanders, Anthony Stolarz made 26 saves and the Leafs protected a 2-1 lead through a penalty-filled third. Toronto went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and finally gave Hiller his first win.

That second game looked closer to the version Toronto needs while so many new pieces learn each other. This is a team integrating Sergei Bobrovsky, Darren Raddysh, Gavin McKenna, Nick Paul, Jack Roslovic, Teddy Blueger, Sissons and Brandon Duhaime at the same time. The Leafs were never going to look fully assembled after 120 minutes.

Bobrovsky Returns to the Toronto Net

Bobrovsky gets his second Toronto start after Stolarz handled Wednesday’s win. His Leafs debut against Montreal produced 21 saves on 24 shots and several difficult situations created in front of him. Saturday gives him a more direct test against an Ottawa team with speed through the middle and enough shooting on both top lines to punish loose defensive coverage.

Ottawa counters with Ullmark, whose season may be as important to the Senators as any lineup addition. Ottawa finished 29th in team save percentage last season despite Ullmark finishing strongly after the Olympic break. He went 12-4-3 over his final 19 regular-season games and carried that form into the playoffs.

That version of Ullmark gives Ottawa room to play a more ambitious game. Stützle and Cozens can attack through transition knowing a single failed possession is less likely to become an automatic goal against. Toronto has enough talent to make that confidence dangerous, but Ottawa’s entire ceiling changes when its goaltending becomes stable.

Ottawa’s Second Line Can Change the Matchup

Eklund, Cozens and Zetterlund may be the most interesting line on the ice. Eklund arrives after scoring 53 points for San Jose last season, and his history with Zetterlund gives the unit some familiarity despite being newly assembled in Ottawa. Cozens supplies the middle with a 28-goal season behind him and one of the more physical profiles among scoring centers in the league.

Toronto’s second line has its own fascination. McKenna remains beside John Tavares and Nylander while searching for his first NHL point in his third game. His first two nights have already shown why his early development will be impossible to separate from Toronto’s larger season. The Leafs have enough established scoring around him that he can learn without being asked to drive the entire line.

That creates a useful middle-six battle. Ottawa’s new line has more NHL experience together individually but is still building chemistry. Toronto’s has an elite veteran scorer, one of the league’s most creative wings and an 18-year-old learning how quickly NHL possessions close.

Toronto’s Third Line Already Matters

Cowan’s opening week has given Toronto an early source of stability. He scored and assisted against the Islanders, including the power-play goal that became the winner, and now lines up with Nick Paul and Sissons. That line gives Hiller three forwards comfortable playing without the puck and enough offense to punish weaker matchups.

Ottawa’s third group of Michael Amadio, Shane Pinto and Giroux has a similar job with a different shape. Pinto gives the line more scoring than a typical third-line center, while Giroux remains one of Ottawa’s best possession players and can handle difficult minutes against Matthews or Tavares.

This game can easily be decided away from the headline names. Matthews and Stützle will get the attention. Cowan, Pinto, Giroux and Sissons can decide who spends the middle 20 minutes chasing the puck.

Sanderson’s Return Changes Ottawa’s Defense

Sanderson’s availability removes one of the biggest questions Ottawa carried into Saturday. He left a preseason game on September 26 for precautionary reasons and had been held out before returning Friday. NHL’s morning status report confirmed he will play.

His skating becomes especially valuable against Toronto’s top six. Matthews’ line can establish possession quickly, while Nylander and McKenna can attack through space before coverage gets organized. Sanderson gives Ottawa a defenseman who can recover against both styles and move the puck out before Toronto’s forecheck gets a second chance.

Ottawa will need those exits because Zub is unavailable. Toronto can make a depleted defense pay by extending shifts, especially when Matthews, Marchenko and Roslovic get the puck below the circles.

Ottawa Enters Fresher

The Senators have spent the week preparing for one opponent. Toronto has already played Montreal and the Islanders. The Leafs had Thursday and Friday off, so fatigue should not dominate the night, but Ottawa still enters with a full training block and no regular-season wear on its top players.

That freshness should matter most in the first period. Ottawa can play with pace immediately, pressure Toronto’s reorganized defense and force Bobrovsky to see traffic before the Leafs settle into their preferred matchups. Toronto has already experienced how dangerous a slow structural start can become.

The Senators also know the environment. This is the ninth time in franchise history Ottawa has opened a season against Toronto, and the provincial rivalry requires very little manufactured intensity.

Special Teams Could Break the Game Open

Ottawa’s power play finished eighth in the NHL last season at 24.0 percent and scored 63 times, fourth-most in the league. Eklund adds another player with a history of producing on the man advantage, while Stützle, Batherson, Giroux and Sanderson already give Travis Green several different ways to move the puck.

Toronto just killed all four Islanders power plays after struggling with its structure against Montreal. That improvement cannot turn into an invitation to keep testing the unit. Ottawa has too many shooters capable of converting one failed clear into a clean look.

The Senators have their own discipline issue with Ridly Greig serving the first game of a two-game suspension. His absence removes some edge from the lineup and pushes Nick Cousins, Stephen Halliday and Hayden Hodgson into the fourth-line minutes.

Toronto Still Has the Best Individual Threat

Matthews remains the single player most capable of making every matchup discussion irrelevant. Ottawa can control shifts, manage changes and protect the middle for 15 minutes, and one Matthews release can still put Toronto ahead.

Marchenko gives that line another dangerous shooter, while Roslovic adds pace on the opposite side. Toronto has enough offense at the top to make Ottawa’s missing defensive pieces matter much more than they would against a shallower team.

Ottawa’s response has to come from depth and possession. Stützle can attack Matthews’ line with speed, Cozens’ unit can pressure Toronto’s second group and Giroux can make the third line difficult to play against. The Senators have several ways to create offense even without a direct replacement for Tkachuk.

Ottawa Can Push Toronto Into a Faster Game

The Senators should prefer this game with pace. Stützle, Eklund, Batherson and Sanderson all become more dangerous when possession changes hands quickly, and Toronto is still developing habits across a roster that changed heavily during the summer.

The Leafs looked much better against the Islanders once they made the game smaller. They scored twice in the first, protected the middle and made Stolarz’s saves cleaner. Ottawa has more offensive depth and more transition speed than New York showed Wednesday, which makes maintaining that structure harder.

Bobrovsky can erase some of those breakdowns. Ullmark can do the same at the other end. That leaves the game likely to stay close until one team finally turns sustained pressure into consecutive chances.

Ottawa Has Enough to Win Its Opener

Toronto has home ice, Matthews and a lineup already two games into its season. The Leafs also looked considerably more organized Wednesday than they did against Montreal, particularly on special teams and in their own zone.

Ottawa brings the fresher legs and the deeper transition game. Sanderson is available, Ullmark starts and Eklund gives the Senators another top-six creator at the exact moment they begin finding out how much offense remains after Tkachuk’s departure. Chabot’s first night as captain adds a little more weight to an opener that already carries plenty.

Prediction: Ottawa Senators 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 3. Toronto’s first two games have shown improvement without fully settling the roster. Ottawa arrives with enough speed through its first three lines to force another difficult night of puck management, while Ullmark gives the Senators the goaltending foundation to survive the stretches where Matthews and Nylander take over.

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