2010s- Mika Zibanejad
At the 2011 NHL Draft, the Senators held the sixth overall pick in the draft. The 2011 NHL Draft was filled with talent, and the Senators would draft Mika Zibanejad with the sixth pick. Zibanejad would only play nine games in the 2011-12 season.
Over the next four seasons, Zibanejad kept improving and recorded higher point totals in every season. Zibanejad would contribute to help the Senators reach the playoffs in 2013 and 2015. In the 2015-16 season, Zibanejad record career-highs in goals with 21, assists with 30, and points with 51.
Even though Zibanejad kept improving, the Senators appeared to have seen enough of Zibanejad. The Senators would trade Zibanejad and a 2018 second-round pick in exchange for Derick Brassard and a 2018 seventh-round pick from the New York Rangers.
Brassard recorded a 60-point season and 58-point season in his final two seasons with the Rangers. In the 2016-17 season, Brassard would only record 39 points for the Senators. In the following 2017-18 season, Brassard's tenure ended in Ottawa as he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In New York, Zibanejad's career took off immediately. Zibanejad has recorded three 70-point seasons, one 80-point season and one 90-point season. Zibanejad also has recorded two 50-assist seasons and one 40-goal season.
Since the 2017-18 season, the Senators have yet to make the playoffs and the Rangers have made the playoffs four times and have made two Conference Finals over the past three seasons.