The Ottawa Senators are eight days away from beginning the 2025 preseason against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Canadian Tire Centre. Excitement is buzzing throughout Canada's capital for the upcoming 2025-26 season.
After making the playoffs for the first time in eight years, the Senators will be eager to show that last year's playoff appearance wasn't a fluke. This off-season, moves were made by general manager Steve Staios to keep a strong team.
Even with under one month before the 2025-26 season begins, bold trades and rumors will be talked about. Teams still could be interested in making a trade or signing before the new season starts. Recently, the Senators were named as a potential suitor for two players that could be on the move at some point in 2025-26.
Senators named potential suitor for both Flames' Andersson and Penguins' Rakell
Yesterday, Sara Civian of Bleacher Report wrote an article titled "6 Bold Trade Predictions Ahead of the 2025-26 Season." While Civian didn't have the Senators as the bold prediction in the article, the team was named as another potential suitor for both Rasmus Andersson and Rickard Rakell.
Rumors that the Calgary Flames would trade Andersson have been talked about during the Summer, but he's is still on the Flames' roster.
Andersson has spent his whole career with the Flames at 28 years old. Andersson has recorded 231 points in 536 games. However, the 2024-25 season was a tough one for Andersson. While Andersson did record 31 points, his -38 rating was the worst in his career for a single season.
Andersson will be an unrestricted free agent after this season with a $4.5 million cap hit, and is due for a solid new contract. However, with a down year defensively, it could be best for the Senators to stay away from Andersson. The Senators already have eight defensemen on the roster on PuckPedia at the moment.
For the Pittsburgh Penguins' Rakell, he was dynamic on a struggling Penguins team last season. Rakell's 70 points last season was the second-highest on the roster only behind Sidney Crosby. At 32 years old, Rakell can be a solid top-six player in the lineup.
Rakell's contract isn't that terrible with a $5 million cap hit until 2028. The Senators do have expiring contracts on the roster that the team could trade away if they wanted to acquire Rakell. However, with the season he had last year, Pittsburgh's asking price for Rakell could be high.
The Penguins are in a tough position as a franchise with aging players on the roster like Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson. The Penguins have missed the playoffs every year since 2023. The Penguins can be a team that could be interested in trading away contracts to free up cap space to build for the future. That is where the Senators trading for Rakell could be a better option than Andersson if they were to given his play and the position of the roster at the moment.
More rumors and bold trade predictions will be made with the new season drawing closer. With a playoff year last year, the Senators could seek interest in making another trade for a player before the new season begins on Oct. 9 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.