Ottawa Senators depth chart: Where should they upgrade before the trade deadline?

The Ottawa Senators were booed off the ice Thursday evening.

It was the teams first game back after a nine-game road trip but fans were exasperated after a 4-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres .

With one win in their last seven games, the stakes are too high to dismiss the game as a one-off disappointment.

Advertisement The Senators best offensive players failed to score for the second time in three games.

The usually steady pairing of Nick Jensen and Thomas Chabot had their worst game as a duo.

Chabot was on the ice for all four goals allowed, including a Ryan McLeod goal that banked off him and into the net.

Goaltender Anton Forsberg allowed four goals on 21 shots.

Its not good, Chabot said.

It just wasnt good.

Theres no way around it.

Nobody can hide behind anything.

Its just, from top to bottom, the whole team (was) just not good enough.

Simple as that.

As the team nears the seasons midpoint, the Senators are under pressure to keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Their January schedule wont make matters better, with three sets of back-to-back games each weekend this month.

You can debate which of the Senators needs a scoring forward, another defenceman, possibly some goaltending help is more pressing but the recent skid, about two months before the trade deadline, has amplified the need for general manager Steve Staios to make a move.

Forwards The Senators were at their best during the six-game win streak just before the holidays.

But that win streak is now sandwiched by tougher stretches and a lack of consistent goal scoring.

Since Nov.

15, the day after their season-worst five-game losing skid began, the Senators are tied for a league-low 59 goals.

Ottawa is 11-11-2 in that span of games.

Tim Stutzle , who was once on pace for a 100-point season, has two goals in his last 10 games.

The same goes for Claude Giroux and Josh Norris .

Brady Tkachuk only has three.

Drake Batherson has one goal in his previous 12 games.

Shane Pinto has one point in his last seven games.

Its a severe power outage of point production.

Sometimes its going to happen throughout the year, Norris said.

Obviously, it would be nice to have a little more offence in our game.

But when thats not going your way you have to bear down a little bit more defensively.

Advertisement Ottawas secondary scoring has taken a hit too.

David Perron and Michael Amadio have missed time.

Noah Gregor will be out a while after suffering a lower-body injury against Buffalo.

Adam Gaudette remains healthy but has gone cold after a strong start.

He has one goal and four points in his last 17 games.

Even before their scoring woes, the Senators couldve used a bit more punch up front in the form of a scoring winger.

The cost could be a roster player and/or draft capital, and considering their lack of cap space, Ottawa might need salary retention if its shopping at the top of the market.

GO DEEPER NHL trade board 3.0: Is a Canucks blockbuster coming to rock the market? Defencemen The injury bug has struck the Senators defence corps.

Artem Zub is back in the fold.

But Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker are now out with injuries.

This team JUST got Artem Zub back.

But Travis Hamonic is out up to four weeks.

And now this: https://t.co/A1Mvyluzne Julian McKenzie (@jkamckenzie) January 6, 2025 Even prospect Carter Yakemchuk is out week to week with a lower-body injury playing in the Western Hockey League.

Weve been banging the drum for the Senators to acquire a right-shot defenceman since the beginning of the season.

Injuries have now forced the team to rely on youngsters like Nikolai Matinpalo.

But their depth is lacking after that.

If the Senators are buying at the deadline, it makes sense for them to be linked to players like David Savard , Mario Ferraro and Vincent Desharnais .

Think of affordable defenders who can round out their defence corps and play top-four minutes in a pinch.

If the Senators want to go after a bigger name, Ivan Provorov is the highest-ranked defenceman on Chris Johnstons trade board .

Goalies Linus Ullmark remains out week to week with a back injury.

Before the injury, Ullmark had won eight of his last nine starts.

The Senators have slid down the standings since their No.

1 goalie has been sidelined.

Until further notice, Forsberg and rookie Leevi Merilainen are their NHL goalies.

Forsberg made 30 saves on 33 shots Tuesday night against the Detroit Red Wings , including an all-world save to keep the Senators afloat in the third period.

Anton Forsberg with an unbelievable save to keep the game tied at 2.

After a rough start to the season, this is the kind of timely, big save the Senators needed from him.

#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/p85SvrdD9T Jacob Billington (@JacobBillingt10) January 8, 2025 On Thursday, Forsberg allowed four goals on 21 shots in a loss against the Sabres.

Forsberg, who was playing his third game since returning from a lower-body injury, has one win in his last eight appearances.

And now hes being asked to hold the fort while a young goalie with six NHL games of experience in Merilainen is the backup.

Advertisement Conventional wisdom says the Senators should consider other options.

But many of them are on teams also chasing a wild-card spot in the East.

James Reimer has bounced around a handful of NHL teams throughout his career.

He even began the season in Anaheim before being flipped to Buffalo, a team with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and a young Devon Levi who still needs to marinate before becoming a full-time NHLer.

Maybe he could be an answer by the trade deadline, but Buffalo might not be quick to move him.

Alex Lyon in Detroit might have made sense if Detroit gave up on its season.

But the Red Wings are now on a five-game win streak after firing Derek Lalonde and hiring Todd McLellan.

Lyon was also in net against Ottawa on Tuesday night before getting hurt.

Detroit is now down to Cam Talbot and the expensive Ville Husso .

The Columbus Blue Jackets have been one of the biggest surprises in the NHL standings, so Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov arent viable options.

Jet Greaves NHL numbers (14 games played, 3.45 goals-against average, .907 save percentage) leave a lot to be desired.

You could say the same for Cayden Primeau in Montreal, too.

Now that the Canadiens have thrown themselves into the race, they might not be so likely to move around goaltending depth, either.

Pittsburgh is Ottawas next opponent on Saturday afternoon.

Is Alex Nedeljkovic at $2.5 million AAV an option? Are the Senators willing to take their chance on a goalie with a 3.21 goals-against average and an .891 save percentage? Is he clearly an upgrade on Forsberg? For comparisons sake, Forsberg is at a 3.10 goals-against average with a .883 save percentage.

It could be a moot point anyway as the Penguins have suddenly surged into playoff contention with their recent play.

Depending on how long theyll be without Ullmark, and if Forsberg and Merilainen cant do the job, the Senators may have no choice but to be creative in their search for a goalie.

(Top photo of Ryan McLeod and Jake Sanderson : Andre Ringuette / NHLI via Getty Images).

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