In the middle of the 2021-22 season, the Ottawa Senators made a trade with the Vacouver Canucks to acquire defenseman Travis Hamonic. After the trade, Hamonic went on to play in 201 games as a Senator.
While Hamonic was steady in the defensive lineup for most of his Senators tenure until 2025, the same couldn't be said for Nikolas Matinpalo. However, the Senators made a decision on both defenseman this off-season.
The Senators re-signed Matinpalo to a two-year contract, but Hamonic wasn't re-signed and went on to sign a one-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings last month. However, there's reason why losing Hamonic benefited Matinpalo big for upcoming the 2025-26 season.
Losing Hamonic benefits Matinpalo to become seventh defenseman on depth chart
With Hamonic now in Detroit, it now creates the chance for Matinpalo to be the clear seventh defenseman on the Senators roster. If a Senators defenseman gets injured or is having struggles, Matinpalo is the first choice to insert into the lineup by head coach Travis Green as the seventh defenseman. This could potentially open up more playing time for Matinpalo.
With the season he had last year, Matinpalo showed improvement. Last season, Matinpalo played in 41 games and recorded four points. Matinpalo added 29 blocked shots and 25 hits defensively while averaging over 12.5 minutes of ice time per game, and got to play all six games in the 2025 playoffs. After playing in four games prior to last season, Matinpalo needed and got more NHL experience.
While Matinpalo was learning and gaining more NHL experience, Hamonic had struggles last season. While Hamonic recorded seven points in 56 games, his -16 rating was the lowest on the Senators roster last season. Even with struggling at times defensively, Hamonic was still inserted into the lineup by Green.
Hamonic spoke highly of the Ottawa community and playing for the Senators after the playoffs concluded despite having some struggles. Now at 35 years old, Hamonic is off to Detroit for his fifth different NHL team.
At 26 years old, Matinpalo is still capable of growing his game more. With playing half the season last year, it can be the first step for more NHL experience along with the experience Matinpalo got outside of the Senators.
In 2025, Matinpalo got more important experience while representing Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off and the IIHF World Championships. The Senators can hope that playing with and against the best from each country is helpful for Matinpalo to get used to better competition.
Matinpalo will be relied on by the Senators deeply when needed. With Hamonic gone, it creates the opportunity for Matinpalo to become a reliable and dependable seventh defenseman on the Senators roster.