# 2021–22 Ottawa Senators season

The 2021–22 Ottawa Senators season was the 30th season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Senators attempted to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs after failing to qualify for the past four seasons. The Senators returned to the Atlantic Division after playing in the North Division in 2020–21.
On April 6, 2022, the Senators were eliminated from playoff contention when the Washington Capitals defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning.

## Team business

In July 2021, the team hired Pierre McGuire as senior vice president of player development. McGuire, who had most recently been a broadcaster with the NHL on NBC, had previously been an assistant coach with the Senators. In August 2021, the Senators announced their new ECHL affiliation with the Atlanta Gladiators.
Owner Eugene Melnyk died on March 28, 2022, due to an unspecified illness. In statements in recent years, Melnyk had said that he planned to leave the team to his two daughters Olivia and Anna, when he had been asked if he intended to sell the team, although there has been speculation about ownership changes. The team added an 'EM' patch on the jersey for the rest of the season.
In April 2022, the club announced a joint proposal with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group to host the 2023 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.
The National Capital Commission (NCC) resumed the process to redevelop the LeBreton Flats overall site, reserving the site of an arena and asking for preliminary bids on the arena site separately. After a February 2022 deadline to submit bids, the NCC announced that it had received several bids for the site. Local media speculated that the Senators were actively pursuing a bid, authorized by Melnyk shortly before his death. In June 2022, the NCC accepted the Senators' proposal for a new downtown arena and mixed-use development as part of the Lebreton Flats redevelopment. The team will lease the land for their development. Construction is not expected before 2024 after a leasing agreement is finalized and municipal review of the project is completed. The lease agreement is expected to be put in place by autumn of 2023.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | p – Florida Panthers | 82 | 58 | 18 | 6 | 42 | 340 | 246 | +94 | 122 |
| 2 | x – Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 54 | 21 | 7 | 45 | 315 | 253 | +62 | 115 |
| 3 | x – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 51 | 23 | 8 | 39 | 287 | 233 | +54 | 110 |
| 4 | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 51 | 26 | 5 | 40 | 255 | 220 | +35 | 107 |
| 5 | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 25 | 232 | 290 | −58 | 75 |
| 6 | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 21 | 230 | 312 | −82 | 74 |
| 7 | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 26 | 227 | 266 | −39 | 73 |
| 8 | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 22 | 49 | 11 | 16 | 221 | 319 | −98 | 55 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | AT | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 51 | 26 | 5 | 40 | 255 | 220 | +35 | 107 |
| 2 | ME | x – Washington Capitals | 82 | 44 | 26 | 12 | 35 | 275 | 245 | +30 | 100 |
| 3 | ME | e – New York Islanders | 82 | 37 | 35 | 10 | 34 | 231 | 237 | −6 | 84 |
| 4 | ME | e – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 37 | 38 | 7 | 26 | 262 | 300 | −38 | 81 |
| 5 | AT | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 25 | 232 | 290 | −58 | 75 |
| 6 | AT | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 21 | 230 | 312 | −82 | 74 |
| 7 | AT | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 26 | 227 | 266 | −39 | 73 |
| 8 | ME | e – New Jersey Devils | 82 | 27 | 46 | 9 | 19 | 248 | 307 | −59 | 63 |
| 9 | ME | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 25 | 46 | 11 | 20 | 211 | 298 | −87 | 61 |
| 10 | AT | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 22 | 49 | 11 | 16 | 221 | 319 | −98 | 55 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The pre-season schedule was published on July 21, 2021.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on July 22, 2021. On November 15, the NHL announced the postponement of three Senators games due to there being ten Senators players in the League's COVID-19 protocol with "evidence of continued spread in recent days", rendering the team inactive until they were cleared to return to practice on November 20, in time to play their November 22 game hosted by the Colorado Avalanche. In the meantime, three games were postponed: at the New Jersey Devils on the 16th, against the Nashville Predators on the 18th, and against the New York Rangers on the 20th.
2021–22 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Brady Tkachuk | 79 | 30 | 37 | 67 | −7 | 117 |
| Tim Stuetzle | 79 | 22 | 36 | 58 | −27 | 37 |
| Josh Norris | 66 | 35 | 20 | 55 | −7 | 16 |
| Drake Batherson | 46 | 17 | 27 | 44 | +4 | 32 |
| Connor Brown | 64 | 10 | 29 | 39 | −15 | 10 |
| Thomas Chabot | 59 | 7 | 31 | 38 | −3 | 26 |
| Alex Formenton | 79 | 18 | 14 | 32 | −13 | 59 |
| Tyler Ennis | 57 | 8 | 16 | 24 | −6 | 16 |
| Artyom Zub | 81 | 6 | 16 | 22 | +1 | 60 |
| Nick Holden | 76 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 0 | 12 |
| Nick Paul$^‡$ | 59 | 11 | 7 | 18 | −18 | 22 |
| Chris Tierney | 70 | 6 | 12 | 18 | −12 | 14 |
| Zach Sanford$^‡$ | 62 | 9 | 8 | 17 | −13 | 37 |
| Austin Watson | 67 | 10 | 6 | 16 | −3 | 91 |
| Erik Brannstrom | 53 | 0 | 14 | 14 | −17 | 30 |
| Michael Del Zotto | 26 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −4 | 4 |
| Parker Kelly | 41 | 7 | 5 | 12 | −4 | 60 |
| Mathieu Joseph$^†$ | 11 | 4 | 8 | 12 | +8 | 6 |
| Adam Gaudette$^†$ | 50 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −6 | 13 |
| Nikita Zaitsev | 62 | 2 | 9 | 11 | −7 | 28 |
| Colin White | 24 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −11 | 4 |
| Dylan Gambrell | 63 | 3 | 4 | 7 | +2 | 12 |
| Victor Mete | 37 | 0 | 7 | 7 | −19 | 4 |
| Josh Brown$^‡$ | 46 | 0 | 6 | 6 | −9 | 32 |
| Lassi Thomson | 16 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −8 | 2 |
| Mark Kastelic | 16 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −1 | 14 |
| Travis Hamonic$^†$ | 19 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +5 | 8 |
| Logan Shaw | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −3 | 2 |
| Scott Sabourin | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 11 |
| Clark Bishop | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 6 |
| Jacob Bernard-Docker | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Shane Pinto | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Andrew Agozzino | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dillon Heatherington | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 7 |
| Zachary Senyshyn | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 2 |
| Egor Sokolov | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −6 | 4 |
| Cole Reinhardt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Viktor Lodin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Anton Forsberg | 46 | 44 | 2,571:27 | 22 | 17 | 4 | 121 | 2.82 | 1,457 | .917 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Matt Murray | 20 | 20 | 1,181:30 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 60 | 3.05 | 640 | .906 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Filip Gustavsson | 18 | 16 | 1,047:33 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 62 | 3.55 | 574 | .892 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mads Sogaard | 2 | 2 | 117:18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3.07 | 54 | .889 | 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 |
| Drake Batherson | 100th career NHL game | October 14, 2021 |
| Connor Brown | 100th career NHL assist | October 17, 2021 |
| Brady Tkachuk | 200th career NHL game | October 23, 2021 |
| Egor Sokolov | 1st career NHL game | November 9, 2021 |
| Lassi Thomson | 1st career NHL game | November 12, 2021 |
| Mark Kastelic | 1st career NHL game | January 29, 2022 |
| Mads Sogaard | 1st career NHL game | April 1, 2022 |
| Cole Reinhardt | 1st career NHL game | April 7, 2022 |
| Viktor Lodin | 1st career NHL game | April 29, 2022 |

## Transactions

The Senators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2021–22 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| July 24, 2021 | To Los Angeles Kings2nd-round pick in 2021 | To Ottawa SenatorsSTL 2nd-round pick in 2021 5th-round pick in 2021 |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | To Vegas Golden KnightsEvgenii Dadonov | To Ottawa SenatorsNick Holden 3rd-round pick in 2022 |
| September 25, 2021 (2021-09-25) | To St. Louis BluesLogan Brown Conditional 4th-round pick in 2022 | To Ottawa SenatorsZach Sanford |
| October 24, 2021 (2021-10-24) | To San Jose Sharks7th-round pick in 2022 | To Ottawa SenatorsDylan Gambrell |
| March 20, 2022 (2022-03-20) | To Vancouver CanucksVAN 3rd-round pick in 2022 | To Ottawa SenatorsTravis Hamonic |
| March 20, 2022 (2022-03-20) | To Tampa Bay LightningNick Paul | To Ottawa SenatorsMathieu Joseph 4th-round pick in 2024 |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To Boston BruinsJosh Brown Conditional 7th-round pick in 2022 | To Ottawa SenatorsZachary Senyshyn 5th-round pick in 2022 |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To Winnipeg JetsZach Sanford | To Ottawa Senators5th-round pick in 2022 |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To Calgary FlamesFuture considerations | To Ottawa SenatorsMichael McNiven |

#### Notes

    ^1 St. Louis will receive a 4th-round pick in 2022 if Brown plays fewer than 30 games for St. Louis in 2021–22; otherwise no pick will be exchanged.
    ^2 Boston will receive a 6th-round pick in 2022 if Senyshyn plays at least 5 games with Ottawa during the 2021-22 season; otherwise Boston will receive a 7th-round pick in 2022.

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Andrew Agozzino | Anaheim Ducks | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Michael Del Zotto | Columbus Blue Jackets | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Pontus Aberg | Traktor Chelyabinsk (KHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Kole Sherwood | Columbus Blue Jackets | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Dillon Heatherington | Barys Nur-Sultan (KHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 17, 2021 (2021-08-17) | Scott Sabourin | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 7, 2021 (2021-10-07) | Tyler Ennis | Edmonton Oilers | 1-year | Free agency |
| November 14, 2021 (2021-11-14) | Zac Leslie | Belleville Senators (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| November 27, 2021 (2021-11-27) | Adam Gaudette | Chicago Blackhawks | | Waivers |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Term | Via |
| July 21, 2021 (2021-07-21) | Joey Daccord | Seattle Kraken | | Expansion draft |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Ryan Dzingel | Arizona Coyotes | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Michael Amadio | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | J. C. Beaudin | Laval Rocket (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Matthew Peca | St. Louis Blues | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Jack Kopacka | Toronto Marlies (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 31, 2021 (2021-07-31) | Derek Stepan | Carolina Hurricanes | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 31, 2021 (2021-07-31) | Zach Magwood | HC TWK Innsbruck (ICEHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| September 23, 2021 (2021-09-23) | Brandon Fortunato | Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL) | Unknown | Free agency |
| October 20, 2021 (2021-10-20) | Artem Anisimov | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| December 6, 2021 (2021-12-06) | Pontus Aberg | | | Contract termination |
| December 7, 2021 (2021-12-07) | Pontus Aberg | Timra IK (SHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 5, 2022 (2022-07-05) | Colin White | | | Buy-out |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| August 4, 2021 (2021-08-04) | Victor Mete | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 29, 2021 (2021-08-29) | Filip Gustavsson | 2-year | Re-signing |
| September 3, 2021 (2021-09-03) | Drake Batherson | 6-year | Re-signing |
| September 18, 2021 (2021-09-18) | Logan Brown | 1-year | Re-signing |
| September 29, 2021 (2021-09-29) | Zach Ostapchuk | 3-year | Entry-level |
| October 12, 2021 (2021-10-12) | Parker Kelly | 2-year | Extension |
| October 14, 2021 (2021-10-14) | Brady Tkachuk | 7-year | Re-signing |
| December 28, 2021 (2021-12-28) | Tyler Boucher | 3-year | Entry-level |
| January 27, 2022 (2022-01-27) | Nick Holden | 1-year | Extension |
| March 17, 2022 (2022-03-17) | Philippe Daoust | 3-year | Entry-level |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | Anton Forsberg | 3-year | Extension |
| March 27, 2022 (2022-03-27) | Jake Sanderson | 3-year | Entry-level |
| June 15, 2022 (2022-06-15) | Dylan Gambrell | 1-year | Extension |

## Draft picks

The Senators' top pick was the tenth-overall draft pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Tyler Boucher. The Senators made two trades on day two of the draft, moving up in the selections and ending up with six selections overall. The draft was held July 23–24, 2024 virtually via video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | Nationality | Club team |
| 1 | 10 | Tyler Boucher | RW | United States | U.S. NTDP (USHL) |
| 2 | 39 | Zach Ostapchuk | C | Canada | Vancouver Giants (WHL) |
| 2 | 49 | Benjamin Roger | D | Canada | London Knights (OHL) |
| 3 | 74 | Oliver Johansson | LW | Sweden | Timra (HockeyAllsvenskan) |
| 4 | 123 | Carson Latimer | RW | Canada | Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) |
| 7 | 202 | Chandler Romeo | D | Canada | Brantford Bandits (GOJHL) |