# 2018–19 Ottawa Senators season

The 2018–19 Ottawa Senators season was the 27th season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Senators failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive year. The season saw the trading away of several notable veterans including Erik Karlsson, Matt Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel and the firing of coach Guy Boucher.

## Team business

In May 2018, the club announced the appointment of Nicolas Ruszkowski as its new chief operating officer. Ruszkowski has a background in public relations. Ruszkowski will be in charge of business operations and will not have a role in hockey operations.
Assistant general manager Randy Lee was suspended by the club in June, after being charged for offences during the NHL Entry Draft Combine in Buffalo, New York. He resigned from the position in August.
The Belleville Senators head coaching vacancy was filled in June when the Senators announced the hiring of Troy Mann, a veteran of ten seasons in the North American minor leagues.
The Senators named a new assistant general manager on September 17. The new assistant general manager is Peter MacTavish, who was previously with law firm Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, and CAA Hockey.
The Senators announced that the Brampton Beast will be the team's official ECHL affiliate after the Montreal Canadiens decided not to renew their affiliation with the Beast.
The Senators' plans to build a new arena downtown in partnership with Trinity Developments came apart after it was revealed that the Senators were suing Trinity for CA$700 million in damages. Trinity was developing a site adjacent to the LeBreton Flats site and the Senators felt this was inappropriate competition. Trinity responded with a CA$1 billion dollar lawsuit, accusing the Senators of being unwilling to contribute any money to the project. The National Capital Commission (NCC), in charge of the public lands the arena would be situated on, announced the cancellation of the partnership's bid to develop the site, but gave the sides an extension when the two parties agreed to mediation. On February 27, 2019, it was announced that mediation between the parties had failed to come to an agreement and that the NCC would explore other options for the site's redevelopment.

## Off-season

In July, the Senators avoided arbitration with winger Mark Stone coming to agreement on a $7.3 million one-year contract. Contract negotiations with defenseman Cody Ceci went to arbitration, where he was awarded a $4.3 million one-year deal.
In August, the Senators' 2018 first-round pick Brady Tkachuk decided to forego further seasons in university to turn professional with the Senators, signing a three-year entry-level contract. The Senators hired former player Chris Kelly as a development coach on September 4, 2018. He joins former player Shean Donovan as development coach.
A contract extension was offered to captain Erik Karlsson on July 1, with no terms disclosed publicly. Karlsson turned down the offer, prompting media speculation about his status. The media reported that Karlsson was free to negotiate terms with other teams, however, no trade was made at the time. Trade speculation heated up as the team neared training camp, and the team finally made a deal with the San Jose Sharks on September 13, one day before training camp. The team received two NHL players (Dylan DeMelo, Chris Tierney), two young prospects (Josh Norris and Rudolfs Balcers), and first-round and second-round draft picks in exchange for Karlsson. Karlsson did not agree to a contract extension with the Sharks, and a second-round draft pick of the Sharks will go to the Senators should he re-sign with San Jose. An additional pick will go to the Senators should the Sharks trade Karlsson to the Eastern Conference.

## Pre-season

The Senators played in the Kraft Hockeyville game again in pre-season, playing the Toronto Maple Leafs in Lucan, Ontario on September 18. The team played a six-game pre-season schedule, including two against Toronto, two against Montreal and two against Chicago.

## Regular season

The Senators' first game of the season, also the home opener, was on October 4, 2018, versus the Chicago Blackhawks. In the team's 26 seasons of play, this was the first time the Blackhawks were the opening night opponent.
During November, a video leaked of seven Senators players, including Matt Duchene, Chris Wideman, Chris Tierney, Dylan DeMelo and Thomas Chabot, mocking the team during an Uber ride from a game. The five-minute video featured the players laughing at the team's low ranked penalty kill, poor special teams and insulting assistant coach Martin Raymond, who was not present in the vehicle. The video quickly went viral, and started a dialogue about privacy and consent about recording conversations. The players involved issued apologies for their comments.
At the trade deadline, the Senators traded away their top three scorers: Mark Stone, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel; all were scheduled to become unrestricted free agents in July and had not agreed to contract extensions. Duchene and Dzingel were traded away to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Stone was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights. At the trade deadline, the Senators were in last place in the NHL, a position they would hold for the rest of the season.
On March 1, 2019, head coach Guy Boucher was fired and associate coach Marc Crawford was named as interim head coach.

## Playoffs

The Senators failed to qualify for the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs after being eliminated on March 9, 2019, following a 3–2 loss to the Boston Bruins.

## Standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | p – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 62 | 16 | 4 | 56 | 325 | 222 | +103 | 128 |
| 2 | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 49 | 24 | 9 | 47 | 259 | 215 | +44 | 107 |
| 3 | x – Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 46 | 28 | 8 | 46 | 286 | 251 | +35 | 100 |
| 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 44 | 30 | 8 | 41 | 249 | 236 | +13 | 96 |
| 5 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 36 | 32 | 14 | 33 | 267 | 280 | −13 | 86 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 33 | 39 | 10 | 28 | 226 | 271 | −45 | 76 |
| 7 | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 29 | 227 | 277 | −50 | 74 |
| 8 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 29 | 47 | 6 | 29 | 242 | 302 | −60 | 64 |
Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | ME | x – Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 44 | 245 | 223 | +22 | 99 |
| 2 | ME | x – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 47 | 31 | 4 | 45 | 258 | 232 | +26 | 98 |
| 3 | AT | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 44 | 30 | 8 | 41 | 249 | 236 | +13 | 96 |
| 4 | AT | Florida Panthers | 82 | 36 | 32 | 14 | 33 | 267 | 280 | −13 | 86 |
| 5 | ME | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 37 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 244 | 281 | −37 | 82 |
| 6 | ME | New York Rangers | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 26 | 227 | 272 | −45 | 78 |
| 7 | AT | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 33 | 39 | 10 | 28 | 226 | 271 | −45 | 76 |
| 8 | AT | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 29 | 227 | 277 | −50 | 74 |
| 9 | ME | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 31 | 41 | 10 | 28 | 222 | 275 | −53 | 72 |
| 10 | AT | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 29 | 47 | 6 | 29 | 242 | 302 | −60 | 64 |

## Schedule and results
### Pre-season

The pre-season schedule was published on June 18, 2018.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.
2018–19 game log (Record: 29–47–6; Home: 18–19–4; Road: 11–28–2) :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Players
### Statistics

Final Stats

#### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Mark Stone‡ | 59 | 28 | 34 | 62 | 13 | 22 |
| Matt Duchene‡ | 50 | 27 | 31 | 58 | −2 | 6 |
| Thomas Chabot | 70 | 14 | 41 | 55 | −12 | 32 |
| Chris Tierney | 81 | 9 | 39 | 48 | −22 | 26 |
| Brady Tkachuk | 71 | 22 | 23 | 45 | −10 | 75 |
| Ryan Dzingel‡ | 57 | 22 | 22 | 44 | −13 | 29 |
| Bobby Ryan | 78 | 15 | 27 | 42 | −29 | 35 |
| Colin White | 71 | 14 | 27 | 41 | −24 | 24 |
| Mikkel Boedker | 71 | 7 | 28 | 35 | −23 | 6 |
| Zack Smith | 70 | 9 | 19 | 28 | −6 | 81 |
| Cody Ceci | 74 | 7 | 19 | 26 | −22 | 18 |
| Dylan DeMelo | 77 | 4 | 18 | 22 | −1 | 32 |
| Magnus Paajarvi | 80 | 11 | 8 | 19 | −14 | 6 |
| Maxime Lajoie | 56 | 7 | 8 | 15 | −25 | 20 |
| Anthony Duclair† | 21 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 2 |
| Brian Gibbons† | 20 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 3 | 4 |
| Rudolfs Balcers | 36 | 5 | 9 | 14 | −7 | 10 |
| Christian Wolanin | 30 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 3 | 6 |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau | 39 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −12 | 14 |
| Christian Jaros | 61 | 1 | 9 | 10 | −14 | 27 |
| Drake Batherson | 20 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −2 | 6 |
| Oscar Lindberg† | 20 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4 |
| Chris Wideman‡ | 19 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −9 | 12 |
| Mark Borowiecki | 53 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −12 | 89 |
| Ben Harpur | 51 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −13 | 56 |
| Max Veronneau | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −5 | 0 |
| Nick Paul | 20 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −10 | 4 |
| Tom Pyatt‡ | 37 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −16 | 2 |
| Alex Formenton | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 6 |
| Max McCormick‡ | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −6 | 4 |
| Filip Chlapik | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 4 |
| Stefan Elliott | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Justin Falk | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 11 |
| Jack Rodewald | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Carey‡ | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cody Goloubef | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Erik Burgdoerfer | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Darren Archibald† | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| Andreas Englund | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 10 |
| Logan Brown | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| Erik Brannstrom | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vitalii Abramov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 0 |

#### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Craig Anderson | 50 | 47 | 2785:11 | 17 | 27 | 4 | 163 | 3.51 | 1676 | .903 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Anders Nilsson$^†$ | 24 | 22 | 1321:52 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 64 | 2.90 | 745 | .914 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike McKenna‡ | 10 | 6 | 454:23 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 30 | 3.96 | 292 | .897 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcus Hogberg | 4 | 4 | 205:30 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 4.09 | 121 | .884 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Condon | 2 | 2 | 75:15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 6.38 | 40 | .800 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joey Daccord | 1 | 1 | 60:00 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5.00 | 40 | .875 | 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 team. Bold denotes team leader in that category.

### Awards and honours
#### Awards

* Thomas Chabot - selected to 2019 National Hockey League All-Star Game roster

#### Milestones

| Player | Milestone | Date |
| Maxime Lajoie | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | October 4, 2018 |
| Brady Tkachuk | 1st career NHL game | October 8, 2018 |
| Brady Tkachuk | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | October 10, 2018 |
| Christian Jaros | 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | October 13, 2018 |
| Alex Formenton | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | October 30, 2018 |
| Ryan Dzingel | 200th career NHL game | November 1, 2018 |
| Magnus Paajarvi | 400th career NHL game | November 3, 2018 |
| Mark Stone | 100th career NHL goal | November 6, 2018 |
| Chris Tierney | 300th career NHL game | November 8, 2018 |
| Drake Batherson | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | November 15, 2018 |
| Matt Duchene | 500th career NHL point | November 17, 2018 |
| Drake Batherson | 1st career NHL assist | November 17, 2018 |
| Mikkel Boedker | 300th career NHL point | November 21, 2018 |
| Christian Jaros | 1st career NHL goal | November 21, 2018 |
| Tom Pyatt | 100th career NHL point | November 21, 2018 |
| Ryan Dzingel | 100th career NHL point | November 29, 2018 |
| Ben Harpur | 1st career NHL goal | December 1, 2018 |
| Cody Ceci | 100th career NHL point | December 1, 2018 |
| Thomas Chabot | 100th career NHL game | December 21, 2018 |
| Cody Ceci | 400th career NHL game | December 28, 2018 |
| Marcus Hogberg | 1st career NHL game | December 29, 2018 |
| Matt Duchene | 300th career NHL assist | January 2, 2019 |
| Rudolfs Balcers | 1st career NHL game | January 5, 2019 |
| Rudolfs Balcers | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | January 6, 2019 |
| Rudolfs Balcers | 1st career NHL assist | January 10, 2019 |
| Mikkel Boedker | 200th career NHL assist | January 10, 2019 |
| Mark Borowiecki | 300th career NHL game | January 18, 2019 |
| Mark Stone | 300th career NHL point | February 1, 2019 |
| Matt Duchene | 700th career NHL game | February 9, 2019 |
| Craig Anderson | 600th career NHL game | February 18, 2019 |
| Zack Smith | 600th career NHL game | March 5, 2019 |
| Erik Brannstrom | 1st career NHL game | March 14, 2019 |
| Max Veronneau | 1st career NHL game | March 14, 2019 |
| Bobby Ryan | 800th NHL game | March 16, 2019 |
| Dylan DeMelo | 200th NHL game | March 16, 2019 |
| Max Veronneau | 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | March 16, 2019 |
| Max Veronneau | 1st career NHL goal | March 20, 2019 |
| Chris Tierney | 100th career NHL assist | March 20, 2019 |
| Vitalii Abramov | 1st career NHL game | March 21, 2019 |
| Joel Daccord | 1st career NHL game | April 4, 2019 |

#### Records
## Transactions

The Senators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 22, 2018 (2018-06-22) | To New York RangersPIT's 1st-round pick in 2018 | To Ottawa SenatorsBOS's 1st-round pick in 2018 NJD's 2nd-round pick in 2018 |
| September 13, 2018 (2018-09-13) | To San Jose SharksErik Karlsson Francis Perron | To Ottawa SenatorsRudolfs Balcers Dylan DeMelo Josh Norris Chris Tierney SJS's 1st-round pick in 2019 or 2020 SJS's 2nd-round pick 2019 SJS' 2020 conditional pick SJS's conditional pick |
| November 22, 2018 (2018-11-22) | To Edmonton OilersChris Wideman | To Ottawa SenatorsSTL's conditional 6th-round pick in 2020 |
| December 5, 2018 (2018-12-05) | To Pittsburgh PenguinsMacoy Erkamps Ben Sexton | To Ottawa SenatorsStefan Elliott Tobias Lindberg |
| January 2, 2019 (2019-01-02) | To Vancouver CanucksMike McKenna Tom Pyatt 6th-round pick in 2019 | To Ottawa SenatorsDarren Archibald Anders Nilsson |
| January 11, 2019 (2019-01-11) | To Boston BruinsPaul Carey | To Ottawa SenatorsCody Goloubef |
| January 11, 2019 (2019-01-11) | To Toronto Maple LeafsGabriel Gagne | To Ottawa SenatorsMorgan Klimchuk |
| February 6, 2019 (2019-02-06) | To Colorado AvalancheMax McCormick | To Ottawa SenatorsJ. C. Beaudin |
| February 22, 2019 (2019-02-22) | To Columbus Blue JacketsJulius Bergman Matt Duchene | To Ottawa SenatorsVitalii Abramov Jonathan Davidsson Conditional 1st-round pick in 2019 Conditional 1st-round pick in 2020 |
| February 23, 2019 (2019-02-23) | To Columbus Blue JacketsRyan Dzingel CGY's 7th-round pick in 2019 | To Ottawa SenatorsAnthony Duclair 2nd-round pick in 2020 2nd-round pick in 2021 |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Anaheim DucksPatrick Sieloff | To Ottawa SenatorsBrian Gibbons |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Vegas Golden KnightsTobias Lindberg Mark Stone | To Ottawa SenatorsErik Brannstrom Oscar Lindberg DAL's 2nd-round pick in 2020 |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Fredrik Claesson | to New York Rangers | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Paul Carey | from New York Rangers | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Mike McKenna | from Dallas Stars | 1-year |
| July 3, 2018 (2018-07-03) | Chris Driedger | to Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) | 1-year |
| July 18, 2018 (2018-07-18) | Mike Blunden | to Bozen–Bolzano Foxes (EBEL) | 1-year |
| July 18, 2018 (2018-07-18) | Tyler Randell | to Rochester Americans (AHL) | 1-year |
| July 25, 2018 (2018-07-25) | Adam Tambellini | from New York Rangers | 1-year |
| August 10, 2018 (2018-08-10) | Chase Balisy | from Florida Panthers | 1-year |
| November 30, 2018 (2018-11-30) | Justin Falk | from Colorado Eagles (AHL) | 1-year |
| March 12, 2019 (2019-03-12) | Max Veronneau | from Princeton Tigers (ECAC Hockey) | 2-year |
| May 10, 2019 (2019-05-10) | Olle Alsing | from Djurgårdens IF (SHL) | 2-year |
| June 10, 2019 (2019-06-10) | Nick Ebert | from Örebro (SHL) | 1-year |

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team | Ref |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| June 24, 2018 (2018-06-24) | Chris Wideman | 1-year |
| July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) | Nick Paul | 1-year |
| August 3, 2018 (2018-08-03) | Cody Ceci | 1-year |
| August 3, 2018 (2018-08-03) | Mark Stone | 1-year |
| August 13, 2018 (2018-08-13) | Brady Tkachuk | 3-year |
| April 1, 2019 (2019-04-01) | Joel Daccord | 2-year |
| April 3, 2019 (2019-04-03) | Jonathan Gruden | 3-year |
| May 27, 2019 (2019-05-27) | Josh Norris | 3-year |
| May 29, 2019 (2019-05-29) | Anders Nilsson | 2-year |
| June 13, 2019 (2019-06-13) | Morgan Klimchuk | 1-year |
| June 17, 2019 (2019-06-17) | Anthony Duclair | 1-year |
| June 18, 2019 (2019-06-18) | Andreas Englund | 1-year |
| June 19, 2019 (2019-06-19) | Marcus Hogberg | 2-year |

### Suspensions/fines

Suspensions/fines :
| Player | Reason | Length | Salary | Date issued |
| Mark Borowiecki | Elbowing Boston Bruins defenceman Urho Vaakanainen during NHL game no. 125 in Ottawa on October 23 | 1 game | $6,451.61 | October 24, 2018 |
| Mark Borowiecki | Illegal check to the head of Vegas Golden Knights forward Cody Eakin during NHL game no. 163 in Las Vegas on October 28 | 3 games | $43,902.45 | October 29, 2018 |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau | Illegal boarding of Vancouver Canucks defenceman Ashton Sautner during NHL game no. 1134 in Vancouver on March 20 | 1 game | $16,666.67 | March 21, 2019 |

## Draft picks

Below are the Ottawa Senators' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | Nationality | Club team |
| 1 | 4 | Brady Tkachuk | LW | United States | Boston University (Hockey East) |
| 1 | 26$^1$ | Jacob Bernard-Docker | D | Canada | Okotoks Oilers (AJHL) |
| 2 | 48$^2$ | Jonny Tychonick | D | Canada | Penticton Vees (BCHL) |
| 4 | 95 | Jonathan Gruden | LW | United States | U.S. NTDP (USHL) |
| 5 | 126 | Angus Crookshank | LW | Canada | Langley Rivermen (BCHL) |
| 6 | 157 | Kevin Mandolese | G | Canada | Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 188 | Jakov Novak | LW | Canada | Janesville Jets (NAHL) |
| 7 | 194$^3$ | Luke Loheit | RW | United States | Minnetonka High School (USHS) |
Notes:
* The Senators acquired the 26th-overall pick from the New York Rangers in exchange for the 22nd-overall pick (the Pittsburgh Penguins' first-round pick) and the 48th overall pick. The 22nd-overall pick was previously acquired by the Senators as the result of a trade on February 23, 2018, that sent Vincent Dunn and a third-round pick in 2018 to Pittsburgh in exchange for Ian Cole, Filip Gustavsson and this pick.
* The New Jersey Devils' second-round pick went to the Senators as the result of a trade on June 22, 2018, that sent Pittsburgh's first-round pick in 2018 (22nd overall) to the New York Rangers in exchange for Boston's first-round pick in 2018 (26th overall) and this pick.
* The New York Rangers' seventh-round pick went to the Senators as the result of a trade July 18, 2016, that sent Mika Zibanejad and a second-round pick in 2018 to New York in exchange for Derick Brassard and this pick.