The Ottawa Senators enter the final day of the 2025-26 NHL season with a bit of an iffy salary cap situation.
The club has a touch over $9 million in space, according to PuckPedia. That’s not great, but it isn’t bad, either.
However, that cap space should suffice to round out the roster. And that might lead to a bit of a tight situation.
Regarding the forward group, the only major pending UFA is Claude Giroux. The 38-year-old is supposed to return this season. But there is now some doubt about his return next season. If he does, his contract should not be prohibitive by any means.
Aside from Giroux, there are Lars Eller and Nick Cousins. Eller should walk, while I wouldn’t see any reason why the Senators would not bring back Cousins. The 32-year-old is a decent depth player and should command something like an $850K cap hit next season.
On defense, Ottawa will be looking to round out the defense with at least one more veteran piece. It’s unlikely that Nick Jensen returns, so Dennis Gilbert could re-sign. If he doesn’t, then someone like Lassi Thomson or perhaps another UFA defenseman out there could get the call.
That seems all right. Nevertheless, the real issue lies in the crease.
Senators will need to target backup goalie
The biggest hit on the $9 million in cap space will be in the crease. The Senators will push to re-sign Samuel Ersson. Since passing on his qualifying offer, he is set to become a UFA. That means he could easily walk. But it also means that the Sens could re-sign him at a lower price point than his $1.4 million qualifying offer.
Veteran James Reimer should also remain in the mix, with potentially Leevi Merilainen, who’s an RFA, getting another contract.
Unless Ersson somehow prices himself out of the equation, the Senators should have at least three goalies heading into next season. That situation would mean eating up about $5 million to $6 million of the $9 million in cap space.
That situation, unfortunately, might not leave the Senators with much room to play with during the season. So, we’ll see if there’s a cap-clearing move at some point down the line.
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