2020–21 Ottawa Senators season

2020–21 Ottawa Senators
Division	6th North
2020–21 record	23–28–5
Home record	14–10–4
Road record	9–18–1
Goals for	157
Goals against	190
General Manager	Pierre Dorion
Coach	D. J. Smith
Captain	Vacant
Alternate captains	Thomas Chabot Erik Gudbranson (Jan-Apr) Nick Paul (Apr-May) Brady Tkachuk
Arena	Canadian Tire Centre
Minor League Affiliate(s)
Team leaders
Goals	Connor Brown (21)
Assists	Thomas Chabot (25)
Points	Brady Tkachuk (36)
Penalties in minutes	Brady Tkachuk (69)
Wins	Matt Murray (10)
Goals against average	Filip Gustavsson (2.16)

The 2020–21 Ottawa Senators season was the 29th season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Senators finished the season out of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

Due to the Canada–U.S. border restrictions brought in as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL realigned its divisions. The Senators were re-aligned with the other six Canadian franchises into the newly-formed North Division. The league's 56–game season is to be played entirely within the new divisions, meaning that Ottawa and the other Canadian teams played an all-Canadian schedule for the 2020–21 regular season as well as the first two rounds of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Senators' season started off poorly with a nine-game losing streak and the team could not make up for the poor start, although they finished the season with a very good final month of play, finishing the season on a 10-3-1 run. In the off-season, the Senators had picked up a number of veteran free agents and traded for veteran goalie Matt Murray. The team had not played in over a year at the start of the season and it showed in the long losing streak. As the season wore on, the team played more of their younger players and traded a number of the veterans at the trading deadline. Brady Tkachuk was the leading points scorer for the team and Connor Brown scored 21 goals to lead the team.

Team business

The team introduced three new jerseys for the season. Two were updated versions of the team's original jerseys used from 1992–1997 and a third was a "Reverse Retro" incorporating the style of the black original jersey, using red as the base colour instead.

In December 2020, the team announced a seven-year lease extension with the city of Belleville, Ontario, to host their American Hockey League affiliate, the Belleville Senators, through the 2026–27 AHL season. However, due the COVID-19 pandemic, the Belleville Senators played their delayed-start season in Ottawa at the Canadian Tire Centre instead.

As there were ongoing restrictions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the season was delayed and the Senators were granted permission by the provincial government to play in its home arena as long as it was without spectators. Owner Eugene Melnyk made public his proposal to seat up to 6,000 fans, but withdrew the proposal after criticism.

In January 2021, former team general John Muckler passed away and was honoured at the first game. Muckler was the team's general manager when the team played in the 2007 Stanley Cup Final. Also in January 2021, the team's former head of graphic design Kevin Caradonna passed away. Caradonna had designed the "forward-facing" logo used from 1997 until 2020 and the team's mascot "Spartacat."

In February 2021, the Brampton Beast, the team's ECHL affiliate, announced that it had ceased operations permanently. The team had been one of several ECHL teams to voluntarily suspend operations before the 2020–21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Off-season

The Senators parted ways with long-time goaltender Craig Anderson, announcing that they would not offer him a new contract. The team also parted ways with forward Bobby Ryan, buying out his contract. The team did not offer contracts to Mark Borowiecki and Anthony Duclair. The team also traded players on the long-term injured list: Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who used the contracts for salary cap relief.

On the second day of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, the team traded for veteran Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray, giving up a 2020 second-round pick and Jonathan Gruden, a 2018 fourth-round pick. The team picked up several veterans in trades, including Braydon Coburn, Erik Gudbranson, Cedric Paquette, Derek Stepan, and Austin Watson. The team acquired NHL veterans Evgenii Dadonov and Alexander Galchenyuk as free agents.

Regular season

The team played its first game of the season on January 15, 2021, defeating the "Battle of Ontario" rival Toronto Maple Leafs at the Canadian Tire Centre. It was the team's first game in 310 days. The team had nine new players in the lineup, including 2020 first-round pick Tim Stuetzle. The Senators proceeded to lose nine games in a row in January, before defeating the Montreal Canadiens on February 4.

On February 15, 2021, the Senators made their first-ever comeback in team history from being four or more goals behind. The team was down 5–1 in Toronto to the Maple Leafs near the end of the second period. Nick Paul started the comeback with a shorthanded goal. In the third period, Artyom Zub scored his first NHL goal on a breakaway after exiting the penalty box. Connor Brown later scored just after a power play, and Evgenii Dadonov tied the game with two minutes to play with Ottawa goalie Marcus Hogberg on the bench for an extra attacker. In the overtime, the Maple Leafs nearly scored, however, Dadonov made a save while in the crease, then was set up on a breakaway. Dadonov scored to win the game 6–5.

The Senators goaltenders suffered a rash of injuries, causing the team to use five goaltenders. Matt Murray, Marcus Hogberg and Joey Daccord were all injured at one time. Daccord's injury ended his season. The Senators called up Filip Gustavsson for his first NHL game and picked up Anton Forsberg on waivers.

Prior to the trade deadline, the Senators picked up Ryan Dzingel for his second term with the team, trading Alex Galchenyuk and Cedric Paquette to the Carolina Hurricanes. At the trade deadline, well out of a playoff spot, the Senators traded several veterans for draft picks. Eric Gudranson went to the Nashville Predators for Brandon Fortunato and a 2023 seventh-round draft pick. Mike Reilly was traded to the Boston Bruins for a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Braydon Coburn was traded to the New York Islanders for a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.

Connor Brown set a team record, scoring in eight consecutive games, beating the previous record of six, held by Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson.

Standings

North Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Toronto Maple Leafs	56	35	14	7	29	187	148	+39	77
2	x – Edmonton Oilers	56	35	19	2	31	182	150	+32	72
3	x – Winnipeg Jets	56	30	23	3	24	170	154	+16	63
4	x – Montreal Canadiens	56	24	21	11	20	159	168	−9	59
5	e – Calgary Flames	56	26	27	3	21	156	161	−5	55
6	e – Ottawa Senators	56	23	28	5	18	157	190	−33	51
7	e – Vancouver Canucks	56	23	29	4	16	147	187	−40	50

Schedule and results

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.

2020–21 game log
January: 1–7–1 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 15 Toronto 3–5 Ottawa Murray 0 1–0–0 2 2 January 16 Toronto 3–2 Ottawa Murray 0 1–1–0 2 3 January 19 Winnipeg 4–3 Ottawa OT Murray 0 1–1–1 3 4 January 21 Winnipeg 4–1 Ottawa Murray 0 1–2–1 3 5 January 23 Ottawa 3–6 Winnipeg Hogberg 0 1–3–1 3 6 January 25 Ottawa 1–7 Vancouver Murray 0 1–4–1 3 7 January 27 Ottawa 1–5 Vancouver Hogberg 0 1–5–1 3 8 January 28 Ottawa 1–4 Vancouver Murray 0 1–6–1 3 9 January 31 Ottawa 5–8 Edmonton Hogberg 0 1–7–1 3
February: 6–8–0 (Home: 3–4–0 ; Road: 3–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 10 February 2 Ottawa 2–4 Edmonton Hogberg 0 1–8–1 3 11 February 4 Ottawa 3–2 Montreal Murray 0 2–8–1 5 12 February 6 Montreal 2–1 Ottawa Murray 0 2–9–1 5 13 February 8 Edmonton 3–1 Ottawa Murray 0 2–10–1 5 14 February 9 Edmonton 3–2 Ottawa Hogberg 0 2–11–1 5 15 February 11 Ottawa 1–5 Winnipeg Murray 0 2–12–1 5 16 February 13 Ottawa 2–1 Winnipeg Hogberg 0 3–12–1 7 17 February 15 Ottawa 6–5 Toronto OT Hogberg 0 4–12–1 9 18 February 17 Ottawa 1–2 Toronto Murray 0 4–13–1 9 19 February 18 Ottawa 3–7 Toronto Murray 0 4–14–1 9 20 February 21 Montreal 2–3 Ottawa OT Murray 0 5–14–1 11 21 February 23 Montreal 4–5 Ottawa SO Murray 0 6–14–1 13 22 February 25 Calgary 1–6 Ottawa Murray 0 7–14–1 15 23 February 27 Calgary 6–3 Ottawa Murray 0 7–15–1 15
March: 5–5–3 (Home: 4–0–3 ; Road: 1–5–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 24 March 1 Calgary 1–5 Ottawa Murray 0 8–15–1 17 25 March 2 Ottawa 1–3 Montreal Daccord 0 8–16–1 17 26 March 4 Ottawa 3–7 Calgary Murray 0 8–17–1 17 27 March 7 Ottawa 4–3 Calgary SO Murray 0 9–17–1 19 28 March 8 Ottawa 2–3 Edmonton Daccord 0 9–18–1 19 29 March 10 Ottawa 1–7 Edmonton Murray 0 9–19–1 19 30 March 12 Ottawa 2–6 Edmonton Daccord 0 9–20–1 19 31 March 14 Toronto 3–4 Ottawa Daccord 0 10–20–1 21 32 March 15 Vancouver 3–2 Ottawa OT Daccord 0 10–20–2 22 33 March 17 Vancouver 3–2 Ottawa SO Gustavsson 0 10–20–3 23 34 March 22 Calgary 1–2 Ottawa Gustavsson 0 11–20–3 25 35 March 24 Calgary 1–3 Ottawa Gustavsson 0 12–20–3 27 36 March 25 Toronto 3–2 Ottawa OT Forsberg 0 12–20–4 28 — March 28 Ottawa Montreal Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 17.
April: 7–7–0 (Home: 3–4–0 ; Road: 4–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 37 April 1 Montreal 4–1 Ottawa Gustavsson 0 12–21–4 28 38 April 3 Ottawa 6–3 Montreal Forsberg 0 13–21–4 30 39 April 5 Ottawa 3–4 Winnipeg Forsberg 0 13–22–4 30 40 April 7 Edmonton 4–2 Ottawa Hogberg 0 13–23–4 30 41 April 8 Edmonton 3–1 Ottawa Forsberg 0 13–24–4 30 42 April 10 Ottawa 5–6 Toronto Forsberg 0 13–25–4 30 43 April 12 Winnipeg 2–4 Ottawa Forsberg 0 14–25–4 32 44 April 14 Winnipeg 3–2 Ottawa Murray 0 14–26–4 32 45 April 17 Ottawa 4–0 Montreal Murray 0 15–26–4 34 46 April 19 Ottawa 4–2 Calgary Murray 0 16–26–4 36 47 April 22 Ottawa 3–0 Vancouver Murray 0 17–26–4 38 48 April 24 Ottawa 2–4 Vancouver Hogberg 0 17–27–4 38 49 April 26 Vancouver 1–2 Ottawa Hogberg 0 18–27–4 40 50 April 28 Vancouver 3–6 Ottawa Hogberg 0 19–27–4 42
May: 4–1–1 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 1–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 51 May 1 Ottawa 2–3 Montreal OT Gustavsson 0 19–27–5 43 52 May 3 Winnipeg 1–2 Ottawa Gustavsson 0 20–27–5 45 53 May 5 Montreal 1–5 Ottawa Forsberg 0 21–27–5 47 54 May 8 Ottawa 4–2 Winnipeg Gustavsson 0 22–27–5 49 55 May 9 Ottawa 1–6 Calgary Forsberg 0 22–28–5 49 56 May 12 Toronto 3–4 Ottawa OT Gustavsson 0 23–28–5 51
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Tkachuk, BradyBrady Tkachuk	56	17	19	36	−17	69
Brown, ConnorConnor Brown	56	21	14	35	+1	12
Norris, JoshJosh Norris	56	17	18	35	−12	13
Batherson, DrakeDrake Batherson	56	17	17	34	−17	8
Chabot, ThomasThomas Chabot	49	6	25	31	−15	36
Stuetzle, TimTim Stuetzle	53	12	17	29	−18	14
Dadonov, EvgeniiEvgenii Dadonov	55	13	7	20	−9	4
Paul, NickNick Paul	56	5	15	20	+5	19
Tierney, ChrisChris Tierney	55	6	13	19	−12	8
Reilly, MikeMike Reilly ‡ || 40 || 0 || 19 || 19 || −2 || 18
White, ColinColin White	45	10	8	18	−6	16
Zaitsev, NikitaNikita Zaitsev	55	4	13	17	−13	26
Zub, ArtyomArtyom Zub	47	3	11	14	+4	26
Brannstrom, ErikErik Brannstrom	30	2	11	13	+3	25
Watson, AustinAustin Watson	34	3	7	10	−7	40
Dzingel, RyanRyan Dzingel † || 29 || 6 || 3 || 9 || −3 || 19
Anisimov, ArtemArtem Anisimov	19	2	7	9	+1	2
Pinto, ShaneShane Pinto	12	1	6	7	+6	10
Formenton, AlexAlex Formenton	20	4	2	6	+6	6
Stepan, DerekDerek Stepan	20	1	5	6	−6	8
Gudbranson, ErikErik Gudbranson ‡ || 36 || 1 || 2 || 3 || −13 || 47
Wolanin, ChristianChristian Wolanin ‡ || 15 || 0 || 3 || 3 || −7 || 6
Bishop, ClarkClark Bishop	13	0	3	3	+2	4
Mete, VictorVictor Mete † || 14 || 1 || 1 || 2 || +5 || 2
Coburn, BraydonBraydon Coburn ‡ || 16 || 0 || 2 || 2 || −3 || 10
Galchenyuk, AlexAlex Galchenyuk ‡ || 8 || 1 || 0 || 1 || −6 || 6
Paquette, CedricCedric Paquette ‡ || 9 || 1 || 0 || 1 || −8 || 4
Kelly, ParkerParker Kelly	1	1	0	1	+1	0
Amadio, MichaelMichael Amadio † || 5 || 0 || 1 || 1 || +2 || 2
Peca, MatthewMatthew Peca	5	0	1	1	+1	0
Brown, JoshJosh Brown	26	0	1	1	−1	30
Haley, MichealMicheal Haley	4	0	0	0	−1	5
Bernard-Docker, JacobJacob Bernard-Docker	5	0	0	0	+2	0
Chlapik, FilipFilip Chlapik ‡ || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || +1 || 0
Alsing, OlleOlle Alsing	4	0	0	0	−1	0
Abramov, VitaliiVitalii Abramov	2	0	0	0	0	0
Brown, LoganLogan Brown	1	0	0	0	0	2

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Murray, MattMatt Murray	27	25	1,404:11	10	13	1	79	3.38	738	.893	2	0	1	2
Gustavsson, FilipFilip Gustavsson	9	7	471:34	5	1	2	17	2.16	254	.933	0	0	0	0
Hogberg, MarcusMarcus Hogberg	14	10	641:51	4	7	0	40	3.74	322	.876	0	0	0	0
Forsberg, AntonAnton Forsberg † || 8 || 8 || 448:33 || 3 || 4 || 1 || 24 || 3.21 || 264 || .909 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
Daccord, JoeyJoey Daccord	8	6	403:22	1	3	1	22	3.27	214	.897	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Senators. Stats reflect time with the Senators only.
^‡No longer with the Senators.

Awards and honours

Milestones

Player	Milestone	Date
Tim Stuetzle	1st career NHL game	January 15, 2021
Matt Murray	200th career NHL game	January 15, 2021
Josh Norris	1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point	January 15, 2021
Tim Stuetzle	1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point	January 16, 2021
Josh Norris	1st career NHL goal	January 19, 2021
Josh Brown	100th career NHL game	January 28, 2021
Artyom Zub	1st career NHL game 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point	January 31, 2021
Tim Stuetzle	1st career NHL assist	February 4, 2021
Artyom Zub	1st career NHL goal	February 15, 2021
Brady Tkachuk	100th career NHL point	February 17, 2021
Nikita Zaitsev	300th career NHL game	February 18, 2021
Evgenii Dadonov	300th career NHL game	February 21, 2021
Thomas Chabot	100th career NHL assist	February 27, 2021
Evgenii Dadonov	100th career NHL goal	March 10, 2021
Shane Pinto	1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point	April 17, 2021
Shane Pinto	1st career NHL goal	May 5, 2021

Transactions

The Senators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07)	To Pittsburgh Penguins Jonathan Gruden CBJ's 2nd-round pick (52nd) in 2020	To Ottawa Senators Matt Murray
October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07)	To Toronto Maple Leafs NYI's 2nd-round pick (59th) in 2020 3rd-round pick (64th) in 2020	To Ottawa Senators 2nd-round pick (44th) in 2020
October 8, 2020 (2020-10-08)	To Anaheim Ducks EDM's 5th-round pick in 2021	To Ottawa Senators Erik Gudbranson
October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10)	To Nashville Predators COL's 4th-round pick in 2021	To Ottawa Senators Austin Watson
December 21, 2020 (2020-12-21)	To Nashville Predators Michael Carcone	To Ottawa Senators Zach Magwood
December 26, 2020 (2020-12-26)	To Arizona Coyotes CBJ's 2nd-round pick in 2021	To Ottawa Senators Derek Stepan
December 27, 2020 (2020-12-27)	To Tampa Bay Lightning Marian Gaborik Anders Nilsson	To Ottawa Senators Braydon Coburn Cedric Paquette 2nd round pick in 2022
January 12, 2021 (2021-01-12)	To Carolina Hurricanes Maxime Lajoie	To Ottawa Senators Clark Bishop
January 27, 2021 (2021-01-27)	To San Jose Sharks Christian Jaros	To Ottawa Senators Jack Kopacka 7th round pick in 2022
February 13, 2021 (2021-02-13)	To Carolina Hurricanes Alex Galchenyuk Cedric Paquette	To Ottawa Senators Ryan Dzingel
March 29, 2021 (2021-03-29)	To Los Angeles Kings Christian Wolanin	To Ottawa Senators Michael Amadio
April 11, 2021	To Boston Bruins Mike Reilly	To Ottawa Senators 3rd-round pick in 2022
April 11, 2021	To New York Islanders Braydon Coburn	To Ottawa Senators 7th-round pick in 2022
April 12, 2021	To Nashville Predators Erik Gudbranson	To Ottawa Senators Brandon Fortunato 7th-round pick in 2023

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Source
May 19, 2020 (2020-05-19)	Mikkel Boedker	to HC Lugano (Swiss NL)	1-year
July 22, 2020 (2020-07-22)	Jordan Szwarz	to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)	1-year
September 20, 2020 (2020-09-20)	Andreas Englund	to Vasterviks IK (Allsv)	1-year
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Mark Borowiecki	to Nashville Predators	2-year
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Logan Shaw	from Winnipeg Jets	2-year, two-way
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Bobby Ryan	to Detroit Red Wings	1-year
October 15, 2020 (2020-10-15)	Evgenii Dadonov	from Florida Panthers	3-year
October 16, 2020 (2020-10-16)	Scott Sabourin	to Toronto Marlies (AHL)	1-year
October 19, 2020 (2020-10-19)	Jayce Hawryluk	to Vancouver Canucks	1-year, two-way
October 28, 2020 (2020-10-28)	Alex Galchenyuk	from Minnesota Wild	1-year
November 13, 2020 (2020-11-13)	Micheal Haley	from New York Rangers	1-year, two-way
December 17, 2020 (2020-12-17)	Anthony Duclair	to Florida Panthers	1-year
January 13, 2021 (2021-01-13)	Craig Anderson	to Washington Capitals	1-year
March 2, 2021 (2021-03-02)	Filip Chlapik	to Lahti Pelicans	1-year

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref
January 12, 2021 (2021-01-12)	Rudolfs Balcers	to San Jose Sharks
March 17, 2021 (2021-03-17)	Anton Forsberg	from Winnipeg Jets

Contract terminations Date Player Via Source September 26, 2020 Bobby Ryan Buyout February 26, 2021 Filip Chlapik Buyout

Retirement Date Player Source

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Source
October 5, 2020	Josh Brown	2 years
October 9, 2020	Matt Murray	4 years
October 9, 2020	Matthew Peca	1-year, two-way
October 14, 2020	Nick Paul	2 years
October 16, 2020	Rudolfs Balcers	1-year, two-way
October 17, 2020	Joey Daccord	3-year, two-way
October 19, 2020	J.C. Beaudin	1-year, two-way
October 22, 2020	Connor Brown	3 years
October 26, 2020	Chris Tierney	2 years
October 27, 2020	Filip Chlapik	1-year, two-way
November 4, 2020	Christian Jaros	1-year, two-way
November 20, 2020	Egor Sokolov	3-year, entry-level
December 27, 2020	Tim Stuetzle	3-year, entry-level
December 29, 2020	Ridly Greig	3-year, entry-level
March 17, 2021	Angus Crookshank	3-year, entry-level
April 1, 2021	Shane Pinto	3-year, entry-level
April 1, 2021	Jacob Bernard-Docker	3-year, entry-level
April 3, 2021	Max Guenette	3-year, entry-level
April 13, 2021	Mads Sogaard	3-year, entry-level
April 16, 2021	Cole Reinhardt	3-year, entry-level
April 27, 2021	Roby Jarventie	3-year, entry-level
May 5, 2021	Anton Forsberg	1-year extension
May 14, 2021	Artem Zub	2-year extension
May 20, 2021	Clark Bishop	1-year, two-way

Draft picks

See also: List of Ottawa Senators draft picks

Below are the Ottawa Senators' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020 at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was held October 6–7, 2020 virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	Nationality	Club team
1	3	Tim Stuetzle	C	Germany	Adler Mannheim (DEL)
1	5	Jake Sanderson	D	United States	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
1	28	Ridly Greig	C	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
2	33	Roby Jarventie	LW	Finland	Ilves Tampere (SM-liiga)
2	44	Tyler Kleven	D	United States	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
2	61	Egor Sokolov	LW	Russia	Cape Breton Eagles (QMJHL)
3	71	Leevi Merilainen	G	Finland	Karpat (SM-liiga)
5	155	Eric Engstrand	LW	Sweden	Malmö Redhawks (SHL)
6	158	Philippe Daoust	LW	Canada	Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
6	181	Cole Reinhardt	LW	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)