OTTAWA — Last Monday, Steve Staios hit a home run by landing Linus Ullmark.
And when free agency opened on Monday, the Ottawa Senators general manager pretty much checked off all the boxes on his to-do list.
He traded for a right-shot defenceman.
He signed a Stanley Cup-winning veteran to play inside his top six.
And he also added some depth to help his bottom two lines.
Yet if you gauge the reaction from a lot of Ottawa fans — as I did on social media on Monday — you get the sense many of them feel like Staios struck out on the opening day of free agency. Or at best, he hit a bloop single.
That type of cynicism is to be expected when you’re in the midst of a seven-year playoff drought. The fans are understandably frustrated and until they see a winning product on the ice, they have earned the right to be skeptical and highly suspicious of every single move this organization makes. The unfortunate reality for Staios and his new hockey operations regime, is they’ve inherited the scars of the past. Sure there is a fresh start, but it comes with old wounds.
As I wrote last week, however, the time to judge Staios will come at the 20-game mark of the regular season. Two summers ago, we did cartwheels during the “Summer of Pierre” and it really didn’t amount to anything in the regular season. So to suggest the Senators somehow emerged as clear losers on Monday seems a tad premature. Monday’s winners and losers will only be determined once the puck drops in October and not a moment sooner.
Still, the palpable anger in this marketplace should be understood and respected. And that will only evaporate once this team starts winning on the ice.
For his part, Staios wanted to exude a message of a hockey operations department that took a clear and levelheaded approach to the opening of free agency. They didn’t want to toss out money and term for the sake of satiating a fan base that is starving for a winner.
“We were disciplined in what we were doing today,” said Staios.
Staios is tasked with trying to significantly improve a team that was underwhelming and inconsistent en route to 78 points last season. The general manager believes that all of his moves over the past week — which include landing Ullmark — put them in a position to move up in the Eastern Conference standings.
But he stopped well short of slapping postseason expectations on this franchise.
“We’re set up well for the team to take that next step,” said Staios. “When I say the next step, I want to see us improving consistency.”
During his post-free agency media session, Staios walked Ottawa reporters through a wide range of topics and issues surrounding the team.
Shane Pinto has not asked for a trade out of Ottawa
There was certainly a lot of noise around Shane Pinto in the hours leading up to July 1.
There was a suggestion his camp was angling for an offer sheet.
Or that he was looking for a trade out of Ottawa.
But on Monday afternoon, Staios tried to lower the temperature around the negotiations involving his young centreman.
“He did not ask for a trade,” Staios said flatly.
It’s clear things have gotten a bit tense in the negotiations between Staios and Pinto’s agent Lewis Gross. The only time these rumblings emerge is when there is a general feeling of unhappiness on one or both sides.
Gross has the reputation of being a hardline negotiator who goes to the wall for his clients. His most famous contractual showdown came in 2018, when he took negotiations with his star client William Nylander up to five minutes before the deadline to re-sign him on December 1.
At this juncture, the agent wants to maximize the value for his client. The hockey team wants a reasonable deal. And therein lies the conundrum.
Even Pinto himself acknowledged to The Athletic in April, “It’s just about finding a middle ground here.”
But in that same conversation, Pinto also said last summer’s contractual stalemate with Staios’ predecessor Pierre Dorion taught him a valuable lesson.
“I learned that it’s a business. You have to get what you’re worth while you can,” Pinto explained. “You only have so many years in this league, so you have to get your value. It’s a business, for sure. You can’t take it for granted because it can go for a turn quickly.”
So we’ve got an athlete who is seeking some form of medium to long-term security, but also wanting to make sure he is not underpaid. And he’s got an agent who is determined to see that through for his client. We also have a hockey team that is already committed to spending more than $88 million in real cash next season and only has $4.4 million left in available cap space after Monday’s signings.
It’s not as awkward or bad as last summer when the Senators signed Vladimir Tarasenko to a one-year, $5 million deal that left virtually no room for Pinto to join the fold. Staios has not painted himself into a corner, but it’s also going to take some finagling to get this one done.
“The negotiations continue to move on,” Staios said Monday. “Sometimes these things take time, but certainly Shane knows what we think of him and we’ll continue to work at it.”
Senators blue line starts to take shape with Chychrun trade
It was clear that Staios was never going to recoup the value for Jakob Chychrun that Dorion paid to acquire him from Arizona at the trade deadline in 2022. At that point, Dorion surrendered a first-round pick and a pair of seconds to land the defenceman.
Staios had conversations with Washington about Chychrun during the draft weekend in Vegas, but only felt comfortable pulling the trigger on a deal Monday morning. He acquired defenceman Nick Jensen and a third-round pick in 2026 for Chychrun — certainly a diluted return when measured against the original price Ottawa paid.
“I think there was a lot of interest,” Staios said on the market around Chychrun. “He’s a good hockey player and we had lots of conversations on him.”
At some point, Staios had to address the fact that his roster featured three left-shot defencemen in Chychrun, Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot who were all set to be paid like top-end defenders. With Chychrun headed into the final year of his contract with a $4.6 million cap hit, he was the most logical candidate to be moved.
“I was looking at an opportunity to balance out our defence,” said Staios.
In Jensen, the Senators landed a right-shot defenceman who will very likely slide into their top four on opening night. With two more years and a cap hit of $4.05 million on his contract, Jensen certainly fits the profile of someone who can fill that slot.
“He’s a hard-nosed player with some experience and a right shot. And he brings it and gives it everything he’s got,” said Staios.
Jensen, who will turn 34 before the start of the season, averaged 19:38 of ice time with Washington last season. His underlying numbers, however, were not impressive. At five-on-five, he carried a 45.83 goals-for percentage and a 44.01 shots-for percentage playing mostly alongside Rasmus Sandin and Joel Edmundson according to Natural Stat Trick. But in 2021-22, Jensen carried a 63.37 goals-for percentage when he played primarily with Dmitry Orlov. The Senators will need to bank on that version of Jensen being in their lineup this season if he plays with either Sanderson or Chabot.
Staios admitted “the market on right-shot defencemen is pretty lean” when trying to land someone to play inside his top four.
He also said that free agency tends to get a bit “silly” and that overpaying on term and dollar was not something he was prepared to do to land a right-shot defenceman. Instead, adding a veteran with two years left on a reasonable cap hit was the preferred method from Staios.
“That was our best approach at this time. This one made sense and the timing was right,” said Staios. “We certainly feel comfortable with what we’re able to accomplish with that trade.”
Staios also the decision to part with Erik Brannstrom — who was not given a qualifying offer — was due to the fact it simply wasn’t a good fit with players like Sanderson and Chabot ahead of him on the left side. Brannstrom would likely never see meaningful power-play time in Ottawa as the blue line is currently constructed.
“I saw great growth in Erik’s game. He’s a quality person, quality player. But I think with the makeup of the defence, I don’t think it gave him the best opportunity,” said Staios.
Curiously, with the departures of Chychrun and Brannstrom, Ottawa only has two left-shot defencemen on their NHL roster. They’re now flooded with right-shots with Jensen, Artem Zub, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Travis Hamonic. But we should probably anticipate that 22-year-old Tyler Kleven will make the jump from the AHL and be on the opening-night roster, playing on the left side on Ottawa’s third pairing.
“I don’t want to put any expectations on it, but certainly the way he performed last year and how consistent he was and how his game grew last year, leads me to believe he is ready,” Staios said of Kleven.
Staios certainly left the door open to further changes on his back end, but for now he seems content with the group.
“I like the balance we have throughout our D pairings now,” Staios said. “We’ll continue to have dialogue with other teams and we’ll look at opportunities to see if there is anything that might make sense for us.”
Senators add David Perron after nasty incident against Ottawa
For a brief window last season, David Perron was public enemy No. 1 for Ottawa fans.
The Red Wings forward delivered a flying cross-check to the side of Artem Zub’s head — an action that warranted a six-game suspension from the league. On Monday, the Senators inked Perron to a two-year contract that carries a $4 million cap hit.
Staios said he received a text from owner Michael Andlauer that read, “We should probably put Perron and Zub in stalls beside each other so they can sort it out.”
That anecdote brought a moment of levity to an otherwise straightforward and serious media session for Staios. He explained that adding Perron — who is a seven-time 20-goal scorer and a Stanley Cup champion — will bring some much-needed veteran influence inside Ottawa’s room.
“I think I was pretty clear with our young core, they’re continuing to mature. To bring in someone with that type of experience, success, leadership, that was an important quality that we were looking for,” said Staios.
Perron can play either wing and will probably plugged in somewhere inside Ottawa’s top six to start the season, but Staios admitted new head coach Travis Green probably hasn’t settled on a spot for him. Perron has been a fairly consistent 20-goal, 50-point performer in each of the last five seasons, although his numbers dipped to 17 goals and 47 points last year.
Staios said Perron is there to add some scoring touch, but to also bring a harder edge to Ottawa’s forward group. He even pointed to the incident with Zub as an example of the tenacity Perron can bring — although that cross-check certainly crossed the line.
“That action in particular shows the competitive spirit of the player,” said Staios. “He’s got great hockey sense and is a competitive player.”
Staios also changed the complexion of his bottom six by bringing Michael Amadio to the mix on a three-year deal worth $2.6 million per season. That salary should place Amadio squarely on Ottawa’s third line and he does have the potential to play all three forward positions. Amadio had a brief cup of coffee with the Senators during the 2020-21 campaign, in which he played five games for the Senators. But he seemed to really blossom afterward, scoring a combined 30 goals over the past two seasons with Vegas. And when the Golden Knights won their Stanley Cup last season, Amadio was a very useful player, scoring 10 points in 16 playoff games.
“We liked the versatility of Michael. Experienced and a Cup champion,” said Staios. “We looked at what he could provide for us and he could move and down the lineup and play multiple positions.”
The Senators also made a change to their fourth line, parting ways with Parker Kelly and replacing him with former Toronto forward Noah Gregor. The 25-year-old was not given a qualifying offer from the Maple Leafs, making him a free agent and able to sign a one-year, $850,000 deal with Ottawa on Monday.
Staios said the decision to choose Gregor over Kelly came down to foot speed.
“It was a tough decision. Parker is a great all-around player and a fantastic kid and teammate. I think when it came to it, we were looking for a differencing quality in that position,” explained Staios. “With Noah Gregor, I feel like he has a differencing quality with his speed. We want to continue to improve on the penalty kill and we feel that Noah can help.”
Senators have not talked extension with Ullmark
Staios made a big splash last week when he landed former Vezina-Trophy-winning netminder Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins.
Not only did Ottawa get out from under most of Joonas Korpisalo’s contract, but they were able to add a bona fide No. 1 goaltender in return. It was a tidy piece of business, but Ullmark is heading into the final season of a contract that carries a $5 million cap hit. He is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and Staios said on Monday that his plan is to let Ullmark come into Ottawa and get familiar with his surroundings before he starts talking about a contract extension.
Staios confirmed that he has not had any contract extension talks with his new goaltender.
“At the appropriate time we’ll sit down and discuss that,” said Staios. “Linus is a family man and I think Ottawa might be the best place in the league to be able to feel that comfort and warmth and also have the competitive juice to play in a Canadian market.”
Staios also added that Josh Norris is in Ottawa this week. The centre suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in February that required another surgery on his shoulder. Norris is checking in with the medical and strength and conditioning staff, who have given promising reports to Staios this week.
“He is making great progress and we feel good about how he’s doing and the timeline that he’s on,” said Staios. “We’re going to take the best approach for Josh to be prepared to play the entire season.”
(Photo: Jeff Vinnick / NHLI via Getty Images)
