OTTAWA, ON - MAY 23: Kyle Turris #7 of the Ottawa Senators skates during warmups prior to a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Canadian Tire Centre on May 23, 2017 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
As the NHL playoffs are underway, I figured it would be appropriate to revisit the Eastern Conference Finals Team in a “Where They Are Now” type of piece. I’ll start by breaking down the forwards, and in my next piece, I’ll look at defense and goaltending. For the purpose of this series, I will only count players who played a minimum of 10 games that season.
Revisiting the 2016-17 Ottawa Senators. dark. Next
Mike Hoffman
This season would be a great one for Mike Hoffman with the Ottawa Senators, as he would pot the best numbers of his career up until that point. In 74 games, he was able to score 26 goals and 35 assists for 61 points. Unfortunately for Hoffman, his stay in Ottawa would not last too much longer as the next season would see him feud with the team’s superstar and captain Erik Karlsson, and would see both players moved in separate trades in order to kickstart a multi-year rebuild. Hoffman would be traded to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Julius Bergman, Mikkel Boedker, and a 6th-round pick in 2020. Boedker would be the only piece from that trade that would play a role with the Senators up until this point, but the 6th round pick was used to select Phillip Daoust. Hoffman was immediately flipped to the Florida Panthers in exchange for three draft picks, a second, a fourth, and a fifth-round pick. Hoffman would play in Florida up until his contract would need to be extended and he would opt to test free agency, signing a PTO with the St Louis Blues. In Florida, Hoffman would play the best hockey of his career, reaching a career-high of 36 goals and 34 assists for 70 points in the 2018-19 season. Hoffman’s reputation would be tarnished due to the whole debacle with his former team captain. Hoffman would eventually see his way out of St Louis and sign a contract with the Montreal Canadiens, where he currently plays. He scored 14 goals and 20 assists for 34 points in 67 games this season. It’s unfortunately been a downward spiral for the 33-year-old forward. Let’s hope he can revitalize his career and shake the reputation of being a tyrant in the lockerroom
Kyle Turris
I will try to keep my personal bias to a minimum for Kyle Turris. Turris is one of my all-time favorite players as he is the first professional hockey player I have met in my short life. Turris would score 27 goals in the 2016-17 season, which is still a career-high to this day as he has since retired at the end of last season. Turris would unfortunately not be re-signed in Ottawa and would be part of a mega deal that would land the Ottawa Senators Matt Duchene in a three-way trade. Turris would go to Nashville. He would start off great in Nashville before signing a 6-year contract extension, but by year two, things were not going as well for him and he would be ultimately bought out after his third year there. He would then make his way to the Edmonton Oilers for two seasons before calling it quits and retiring. In Edmonton, he would serve as a bottom 6 forward mainly, even seeing time as the team’s 13th forward.
Mark Stone
Largely believed to be the team’s best forward, Mark Stone was just beginning to make things happen with the Ottawa Senators. After captain Erik Karlsson would be traded, Stone would be the fan favorite for the role, but things did not end up going that way. Stone would stay in Ottawa for two more seasons in which he would finish his Ottawa Senators tenure with 123 goals and 188 assists for 311 points in 316 games. He would be traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in a deal that would land the Senators Erik Brannstrom and a Second-Round pick. Stone would be the first of many stars that the Golden Knights would acquire every season as they hope to win the cup year after year, and would be named the team’s first captain in franchise history. Unfortunately for Stone, he’s been struggling with back injuries pretty much each of his five seasons with the Golden Knights, and up until this point, the closest he would come in his entire career to play a full season would be the 2020-21 COVID Shortened season in which he would play 55 of 56 games that year. Nonetheless, when Stone is healthy, he is one of the best defensive forwards hockey has ever seen and it is a crime that he has not won a Frank J Selke trophy yet.
Zack Smith
After scoring 25 goals the year prior, Zack Smith would earn a regular spot in the top-6 partly due to Clarke MacArthur‘s concussion struggles. (On that note, I won’t have a full paragraph for MacArthur as the 16-17 season would be his last in the NHL, as concussions would force him to retire). Smith would score 16 goals in the 2016-17 season, followed by scoring 4 the next season. He would be mainly used as a bottom 6 winger again, and his point totals would drop off. But that’s okay cause he wasn’t always going to score 25 goals every year. He’s the classic case of taking advantage of an opportunity and earning a decent paycheck from it. Smith would play all but one season of his 12-year NHL career with the Ottawa Senators before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks ahead of the 2019-20 season. He would play 50 games with the Blackhawks before announcing his retirement, mostly due to injury.
Derick Brassard
In his first season with the Ottawa Senators, Derick Brassard would perform relatively well, scoring 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points in 81 games. He would take it to the next level in the playoffs and score lots of clutch goals earning him the nickname “Big Game Brass”. Brassard would not last long in Ottawa before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brassard would then play for 7 more teams (Florida, Colorado, New York Islanders, Arizona, Philadelphia and Edmonton) before making his way back to the Ottawa Senators in the 2022-23 season on a PTO, and would play in his 1000th NHL game this past season, scoring two goals in that effort against his former team the New York Rangers. What’s next for Brassard is not set in stone yet, but he has a PTO waiting for him should he decide he wants to give it one more go, according to General Manager Pierre Dorion.
Bobby Ryan
The 2nd overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, Bobby Ryan would not be able to stay healthy, battling with numerous hand injuries, and dealing with some personal issues away from the rink, battling alcoholism. Ryan established himself as a fan favorite in Ottawa with his very kind demeanor, always being incredibly nice to fans and media, and his clutch performance in the playoffs. He scored 9 goals and 5 assists for 15 points in 16 playoff games in the 2016-17 playoffs. He was one of the main reasons the Ottawa Senators made it as far as they did that season. Unfortunately for Ryan, he would not finish out his contract with the Senators, as he was bought out with the final year remaining in his deal, after the 2019-20 season and would sign a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings. Ryan has since retired and is now a co-host on the Coming in Hot Podcast with Brent Wallace, Jason York, and Bobby Ryan.
Alex Burrows
Acquired as a longer-term rental, Alex Burrows was brought in to fill the void that Clarke MacArthur left on the ice. Burrow impressed in his first game with the Senators, scoring two goals in a victory against the Colorado Avalanche. He immediately signed a two-year extension with the Ottawa Senators. He would however be suspended for 10 games after kneeing Taylor Hall in the head. This would spark controversy among NHL fans alike as he crossed the line. He would later apologize for the incident but it still lives on as part of his complicated legacy as an agitator in the NHL. While serving his suspension, the Ottawa Senators placed him on waivers hoping he’d get claimed but this would not happen. He would be bought out at the end of the first year of his new two-year extension. He would retire and has since served as an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens organization.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Known for his clutch performance against the New York Rangers (on multiple occasions), Jean-Gabriel Pageau is regarded as a fan favorite. Pageau would play in three more seasons with the Ottawa Senators before being traded to the New York Islanders for three draft picks. Pageau goes down as one of the best third-line centers in franchise history. He’s currently just been eliminated from the Playoffs, falling to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Viktor Stalberg
Acquired in the 2016-17 season, Viktor Stalberg would end his career with the Ottawa Senators. He ended up playing in 18 games for the Senators, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists, but being used as a shutdown forward, and a penalty kill specialist. He’s since moved on from the NHL, playing in Europe for a couple of seasons. He last played professional hockey during the 2020-21 season with HC Fribourg-Gotteron of the National League, scoring 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points in 35 games.
Tommy Wingels
Longtime San Jose Shark Tommy WIngels would be traded to the Ottawa Senators close to the trade deadline as a depth option. He would suit up in 36 games with the Sens scoring 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points. He would not return to the Senators come free agency, signing in Chicago, and was later traded to the Boston Bruins in exchange for a fifth-round pick. He would sign in Europe at the conclusion of his contract and would announce his retirement on June 11th, 2020, mid-pandemic.
Chris Kelly
After starting his career in Ottawa, but then going to Boston, Chris Kelly would return to the Ottawa Senators ahead of the 2016-17 season, serving as the team’s fourth-line center for the whole season. In his return to Ottawa season, he would appear in all 82 games, and score 5 goals and 7 assists for 12 points. He would not be re-signed at the end of the year, he would sign a PTO with the Edmonton Oilers but would be released from that PTO. He’d represent Canada at the Spengler Cup and would impress NHL teams. He would sign with the Anaheim Ducks and would play in 12 games, scoring 2 assists. He would retire, and join the Senators as a Development coach on September 4th, 2018. On August 2021, he was hired as an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins, where he still is to this day.
Chris Neil
The 2016-17 season would be the final season of Chris Neil‘s career. The enforcer would play in his 1000th NHL game on December 10th, 2016, where he would fight against Jordan Nolan of the LA Kings. Neil’s biggest moment of that season was when he fought against Tanner Glass in game 5 of the Second Round.
Neil was inserted for game 5 of the second round in 2017. He played just 2:26, but shifted all momentum by handling Tanner Glass- who had been taking runs at Ottawa’s stars all series.
He would go on to be displeased with head coach Guy Boucher’s decision to deploy him quite less than he was used to, and it was announced that Neil would not be re-signed at the end of the season. He would receive offers from a handful of teams but would decide to retire as he would not want to play anywhere other than Ottawa. Since retirement, Neil coached his son’s ice hockey team, has opened a business called “Icelynd Skating Trails” in Stittsville, and was announced as Vice President of Business and Community Development for the Ottawa Senators in September 2022. Neil’s jersey was retired in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on February 17th of this past season. He will go down in history as one of the greatest Ottawa Senators.
Matt Puempel
Senators draft pick Matt Puempel would take quite a while to make the NHL, and when he did, he would not stick around for long. Infact, the 2016-17 season would be the first where he would make the opening night NHL roster. Unfortunately for him, he was not able to remain consistent at the NHL level and was placed on waivers on November 20th, 2016, where he would be claimed by the New York Rangers. He would struggle to stay at the NHL level, mainly playing in the AHL. He would be traded to the Detroit Red Wings, and would mainly play with their AHL affiliate. He would be signed to a two-year extension. He went unsigned at the end of that contract and opted to go overseas signing in the SHL. After that one season, he wold go to the DEL signing with the Augsburger Panthers, and is poised to play there again next season.
Tom Pyatt
Being one of Guy Boucher’s favorite players in Tampa Bay, Tom Pyatt would make his way to the Ottawa Senators via free agency. Pyatt also played under Boucher in the AHL. Pyatt would impress as a penalty kill specialist at first, but would sour on fans as time went on and Boucher would clearly play favorite with him, playing him in situations he should not be played. His final NHL season would come in 2018-19 where he played 37 games before being placed on waivers and go unclaimed. Eventually, he would be traded to the Vancouver Canucks alongside Mike McKenna for Anders Nilsson. At the 2019 NHL Draft, his UFA Rights would be traded to the San Jose Sharks, before signing in Europe. He retired from professional hockey in 2020.
Curtis Lazar
Despite always having a smile, things would not go too well for Curtis Lazar during his tenure with the Ottawa Senators. He was drafted 17th overall in the 2013 draft, but would not turn out to be what was expected of him in Ottawa. Despite being an extremely versatile player, he did not find his forever home with the Senators, being traded to the Calgary Flames on the 2017 Trade Deadline after fighting Monno. He would only play in 4 games with the Flames that season. As an RFA, he re-signed for two years in Calgary, before eventually being demoted to the AHL. He signed with the Buffalo Sabres for a one-year contract, and found somewhat of a home in the NHL, signing an extension with the team. Eventually, he was traded to the Boston Bruins with Taylor Hall and finished the season with the Bruins. He would not be re-signed and would sign with the Canucks to a three-year deal on July 13th, 2022. As the 2022-23 season would not go as planned, Lazar would be traded to the New Jersey Devils where he’s playing in the playoffs right now.
I figured the forwards would be a pretty big read in itself so I thought this would be best broken into a three-part series. I completely forgot a few of the players in this article and it’s always fun to reminisce about good times. One more thing I will say is my goodness I’m surprised the Sens made it as far as they did that season. The Forward core was very bare bones in my opinion. The 2022-23 edition of the Ottawa Senators definitely is better than the 2016-17 team.
