# 2023–24 Ottawa Senators season

The 2023–24 Ottawa Senators season was the 32nd season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Senators failed to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the seventh straight season after losing 4–3 to the New Jersey Devils on April 6, 2024 at the 76th game of the season. This was the Senators' first season under the new ownership of Michael Andlauer.

## Off-season

The biggest change for the Senators was the change in ownership, from the estate of the late Eugene Melnyk to the ownership of a group of investors led by Michael Andlauer. The change became official in September 2023. Andlauer made changes in the executive staff, bringing back founder Cyril Leeder as CEO and club president, and Steve Staios as president of hockey operations.
On the ice, the team traded Alex DeBrincat to the Detroit Red Wings, in return for Dominik Kubalik, prospect Donovan Sebrango and two draft picks. In free agency, the Senators picked up goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, and forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Zack MacEwen.

## Regular season

The Senators started the season with centre Shane Pinto unsigned as a restricted free agent. Speculation in the media was that the Senators did not have salary cap room and would have to trade a player. However, the NHL announced on October 26 a 41-game suspension of Pinto due to gambling activities. The Senators had been advised prior to the start of the season. The suspension was negotiated with the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) and back-dated to the start of the season. The NHL stated that there was no evidence that Pinto had bet on NHL games himself. As a condition of the suspension, Pinto will not require special permission to return to the NHL and can re-sign with the Senators at any time before the 42nd game of the season to be able to play this season.
On November 1, 2023, the NHL announced that the Senators would forfeit a first-round pick in either the 2024, 2025 or 2026 NHL Entry Drafts. This was levied by the NHL as punishment for failing to disclose the no-trade list of Evgeni Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights when he was traded to the Knights. The list came to light when the Knights attempted to trade Dadonov to the Anaheim Ducks, a team on the no-trade list. The trade was nullified by the NHL. Also on November 1, 2023 the team announced the departure of general manager Pierre Dorion, as a 'mutual parting of ways.' Hockey president Steve Staios took over as interim general manager. The Senators played two games in Stockholm at the Avicii Arena on November 16 and 18 as part of the NHL Global Series.
After a four-game losing streak, and the Senators in the Eastern Conference basement, the Senators fired head coach D. J. Smith and assistant coach Davis Payne on December 18, 2023. Coaching advisor Jacques Martin, a former head coach of the Senators, was named interim head coach. Former player Daniel Alfredsson replaced Payne as assistant coach. Changes continued as Staios was named permanent general manager, the team added Dave Poulin as vice-president of hockey operations in late December. In January 2024, Zac Bierk was relieved of his goaltending coach duties and re-assigned as a scout within the organization and was replaced by Justin Peters.
The Senators missed the playoffs again. The team finished 13 points behind the final wild card position, held by the Washington Capitals.
After the season, on May 7, the Senators announced their new head coach Travis Green, a former head coach with the Vancouver Canucks, and former player.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Florida Panthers | 82 | 52 | 24 | 6 | 42 | 268 | 200 | +68 | 110 |
| 2 | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 47 | 20 | 15 | 36 | 267 | 224 | +43 | 109 |
| 3 | x – Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 46 | 26 | 10 | 33 | 303 | 263 | +40 | 102 |
| 4 | x – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 45 | 29 | 8 | 37 | 291 | 268 | +23 | 98 |
| 5 | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 27 | 278 | 274 | +4 | 91 |
| 6 | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 39 | 37 | 6 | 33 | 246 | 244 | +2 | 84 |
| 7 | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 37 | 41 | 4 | 25 | 255 | 281 | −26 | 78 |
| 8 | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 30 | 36 | 16 | 20 | 236 | 289 | −53 | 76 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | AT | x – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 45 | 29 | 8 | 37 | 291 | 268 | +23 | 98 |
| 2 | ME | x – Washington Capitals | 82 | 40 | 31 | 11 | 32 | 220 | 257 | −37 | 91 |
| 3 | AT | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 27 | 278 | 274 | +4 | 91 |
| 4 | ME | e – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 38 | 32 | 12 | 32 | 255 | 251 | +4 | 88 |
| 5 | ME | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 38 | 33 | 11 | 30 | 235 | 261 | −26 | 87 |
| 6 | AT | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 39 | 37 | 6 | 33 | 246 | 244 | +2 | 84 |
| 7 | ME | e – New Jersey Devils | 82 | 38 | 39 | 5 | 33 | 264 | 283 | −19 | 81 |
| 8 | AT | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 37 | 41 | 4 | 25 | 255 | 281 | −26 | 78 |
| 9 | AT | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 30 | 36 | 16 | 20 | 236 | 289 | −53 | 76 |
| 10 | ME | e – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 27 | 43 | 12 | 21 | 237 | 300 | −63 | 66 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The pre-season schedule was published on June 23, 2023.

### Regular season

The Ottawa Senators regular season schedule was released on June 27, 2023.
2023–24 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)
Notes:
$^a$ Game was played at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. :

## Players statistics

Final statistics

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Brady Tkachuk | 81 | 37 | 37 | 74 | +1 | 134 |
| Tim Stuetzle | 75 | 18 | 52 | 70 | −17 | 28 |
| Drake Batherson | 82 | 28 | 38 | 66 | −9 | 42 |
| Claude Giroux | 82 | 21 | 43 | 64 | −14 | 26 |
| Vladimir Tarasenko$^‡$ | 57 | 17 | 24 | 41 | +13 | 12 |
| Jakob Chychrun | 82 | 14 | 27 | 41 | −30 | 60 |
| Jake Sanderson | 79 | 10 | 28 | 38 | +8 | 23 |
| Mathieu Joseph | 72 | 11 | 24 | 35 | −4 | 51 |
| Josh Norris | 50 | 16 | 14 | 30 | −6 | 22 |
| Thomas Chabot | 51 | 9 | 21 | 30 | −3 | 22 |
| Shane Pinto | 41 | 9 | 18 | 27 | +9 | 14 |
| Ridly Greig | 72 | 13 | 13 | 26 | +11 | 66 |
| Artyom Zub | 69 | 5 | 20 | 25 | +5 | 32 |
| Erik Brannstrom | 76 | 3 | 17 | 20 | +5 | 36 |
| Parker Kelly | 80 | 8 | 10 | 18 | −8 | 30 |
| Dominik Kubalik | 74 | 11 | 4 | 15 | −30 | 19 |
| Jacob Bernard-Docker | 72 | 4 | 10 | 14 | −7 | 25 |
| Mark Kastelic | 63 | 5 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 63 |
| Travis Hamonic | 48 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −10 | 40 |
| Boris Katchouk$^†$ | 21 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −4 | 0 |
| Rourke Chartier | 37 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −4 | 14 |
| Zack MacEwen | 30 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −4 | 57 |
| Angus Crookshank | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −3 | 4 |
| Jiri Smejkal | 20 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −6 | 4 |
| Matthew Highmore | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Roby Jarventie | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −5 | 4 |
| Tyler Kleven | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| Maxence Guenette | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Zack Ostapchuk | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Bokondji Imama | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 7 |
| Nikolas Matinpalo | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Joonas Korpisalo | 55 | 49 | 3080:28 | 21 | 26 | 4 | 168 | 3.27 | 1522 | .890 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Anton Forsberg | 30 | 28 | 1569:09 | 15 | 12 | 0 | 84 | 3.21 | 766 | .890 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mads Sogaard | 6 | 5 | 281:34 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 4.05 | 135 | .859 | 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 milestones
### Milestones

| Player | Milestone | Date |
| Parker Kelly | 100th NHL game | October 15, 2023 |
| Drake Batherson | 100th NHL assist | October 24, 2023 |
| Travis Hamonic | 800th NHL game | October 26, 2023 |
| Rourke Chartier | 1st NHL assist | October 26, 2023 |
| Nikolas Matinpalo | 1st NHL game | October 28, 2023 |
| Roby Jarventie | 1st NHL game | November 4, 2023 |
| Josh Norris | 100th NHL point | November 4, 2023 |
| Roby Jarventie | 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point | November 8, 2023 |
| Mathieu Joseph | 300th NHL game | November 9, 2023 |
| Jakob Chychrun | 400th NHL game | November 18, 2023 |
| Erik Brannstrom | 200th NHL game | November 18, 2023 |
| Dominik Kubalik | 300th NHL game | November 27, 2023 |
| Tim Stuetzle | 200th NHL point | December 2, 2023 |
| Jacob Bernard-Docker | 1st NHL goal | December 7, 2023 |
| Jiri Smejkal | 1st NHL game | December 9, 2023 |
| Joonas Korpisalo | 100th NHL win | December 9, 2023 |
| Jake Sanderson | 100th NHL game | December 12, 2023 |
| Artem Zub | 200th NHL game | December 17, 2023 |
| Angus Crookshank | 1st NHL game | December 17, 2023 |
| Vladimir Tarasenko | 700th NHL game | December 19, 2023 |
| Angus Crookshank | 1st NHL goal 1st NHL point | December 19, 2023 |
| Jiri Smejkal | 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point | December 21, 2023 |
| Brady Tkachuk | 300th NHL point | December 27, 2023 |
| Angus Crookshank | 1st NHL assist | December 29, 2023 |
| Jakob Chychrun | 200th NHL point | December 31, 2023 |
| Mark Kastelic | 100th NHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Zack MacEwen | 200th NHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Vladimir Tarasenko | 600th NHL point | January 11, 2024 |
| Thomas Chabot | 400th NHL game | January 20, 2024 |
| Brady Tkachuk | 400th NHL game | January 20, 2024 |
| Shane Pinto | 100th NHL game | January 21, 2024 |
| Claude Giroux | 700th NHL assist | January 27, 2024 |
| Drake Batherson | 200th NHL point | February 22, 2024 |
| Zack Ostapchuk | 1st NHL game | March 12, 2024 |
| Drake Batherson | 300th NHL game | March 30, 2024 |
| Jacob Bernard-Docker | 100th NHL game | April 9, 2024 |
| Jiri Smejkal | 1st NHL goal | April 16, 2024 |

## Transactions

The Senators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2023–24 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| July 9, 2023 (2023-07-09) | To Detroit Red WingsAlex DeBrincat | To Ottawa SenatorsDominik Kubalik Donovan Sebrango Conditional 1st-round pick in 2024$^1$ 4th-round pick in 2024 |
| March 6, 2024 (2024-03-06) | To Florida PanthersVladimir Tarasenko | To Ottawa SenatorsConditional 4th-round pick in 2024$^2$ 3rd-round pick in 2025 |
| March 15, 2024 (2024-03-15) | To Winnipeg JetsFuture considerations | To Ottawa SenatorsWyatt Bongiovanni |
| March 15, 2024 (2024-03-15) | To Carolina Hurricanes6th-round pick in 2024 | To Ottawa SenatorsJamieson Rees |
| June 24, 2024 (2024-06-24) | To Boston BruinsMark Kastelic Joonas Korpisalo 1st-round pick in 2024$^3$ | To Ottawa SenatorsLinus Ullmark |

#### Notes

* The Ottawa Senators will receive either the 2024 first-round pick of the Boston Bruins or the Detroit Red Wings. However, if the Bruins' pick is in the top ten, the Bruins will send their 2025 first-round draft pick. The Red Wings will then have the choice of sending Detroit's 2024 1st-round pick or the Bruins' 2025 1st-round pick.
* The fourth-round pick in 2024 became a 2026 third-round pick after the Florida Panthers won the 2024 Stanley Cup.
* The first-round pick the Ottawa Senators traded to the Boston Bruins was Boston's pick from the Alex DeBrincat trade.

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Josh Currie | Metallurg Magnitogorsk (KHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Matthew Highmore | St. Louis Blues | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Bokondji Imama | Arizona Coyotes | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Joonas Korpisalo | Los Angeles Kings | 5-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Garrett Pilon | Washington Capitals | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 6, 2023 (2023-07-06) | Zack MacEwen | Los Angeles Kings | 3-year | Free agency |
| July 27, 2023 (2023-07-27) | Vladimir Tarasenko | New York Rangers | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 9, 2023 (2023-10-09) | Lassi Thomson | Anaheim Ducks | | Waivers |
| March 8, 2024 (2024-03-08) | Boris Katchouk | Chicago Blackhawks | | Waivers |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Term | Via |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Patrick Brown | Boston Bruins | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Jake Lucchini | Minnesota Wild | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Cam Talbot | Los Angeles Kings | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 2, 2023 (2023-07-02) | Scott Sabourin | San Jose Sharks | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 3, 2023 (2023-07-03) | Dylan Gambrell | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 5, 2023 (2023-07-05) | Julien Gauthier | New York Islanders | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 23, 2023 (2023-07-23) | Antoine Bibeau | AIK IF (HA) | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2023 (2023-07-28) | Dylan Ferguson | Dinamo Minsk (KHL) | N/A | Free agency |
| September 12, 2023 (2023-09-12) | Nick Holden | | | Retirement |
| October 1, 2023 (2023-10-01) | Lassi Thomson | Anaheim Ducks | | Waivers |
| October 9, 2023 (2023-10-09) | Austin Watson | Tampa Bay Lightning | 1-year | Free agency |
| May 13, 2024 (2024-05-13) | Lassi Thomson | Malmö Redhawks (SHL) | 2-year‡ | Free agency |
| May 31, 2024 (2024-05-31) | Jacob Larsson | SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (NL) | 2-year‡ | Free agency |
| June 13, 2024 (2024-06-13) | Jiri Smejkal | HC Dynamo Pardubice (ELH) | 5-year‡ | Free agency |

### Player signings

| Date | Player | Term |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Jacob Bernard-Docker | 2-year |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Erik Brannstrom | 1-year |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) | Rourke Chartier | 1-year |
| July 4, 2023 (2023-07-04) | Travis Hamonic | 2-year |
| July 11, 2023 (2023-07-11) | Kevin Mandolese | 1-year |
| September 6, 2023 (2023-09-06) | Jake Sanderson | 8-year‡ |
| September 19, 2023 (2023-09-19) | Egor Sokolov | 1-year |
| September 21, 2023 (2023-09-21) | Djibril Toure | 3-year† |
| January 19, 2024 (2024-01-19) | Shane Pinto | 1-year |
| March 22, 2024 (2024-03-22) | Stephen Halliday | 2-year†‡ |
| June 12, 2024 (2024-06-12) | Angus Crookshank | 1-year‡ |
| June 14, 2024 (2024-06-14) | Cole Reinhardt | 1-year‡ |
| June 18, 2024 (2024-06-18) | Maxence Guenette | 1-year‡ |
| June 20, 2024 (2024-06-20) | Nikolas Matinpalo | 1-year‡ |
| June 21, 2024 (2024-06-21) | Jamieson Rees | 1-year‡ |
| June 25, 2024 (2024-06-25) | Wyatt Bongiovanni | 1-year‡ |
| June 27, 2024 (2024-06-27) | Matthew Highmore | 1-year‡ |

#### Key

† Contract is entry-level.  ‡ Contract takes effect in the 2024–25 season.

## Draft picks

The 2023 NHL Entry Draft was held June 28–29, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The Senators had previously traded their first-round, second-round, third-round and sixth-round picks. The Senators' first pick was made in the fourth round - defenceman Hoyt Stanley with the 108th overall pick.
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | Nationality | Club team |
| 4 | 108 | Hoyt Stanley | D | Canada | Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL) |
| 5 | 140 | Matthew Andonovski | D | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHL) |
| 7 | 204 | Owen Beckner | C | Canada | Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL) |
| 7 | 207 | Vladimir Nikitin | G | Kazakhstan | Snezhnye Barsy (PHL) |
| 7 | 215 | Nicholas Vantassell | C | United States | Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) |