2020–21 Ottawa Senators season

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===
===Schedule and results===
The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.
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January: 1–7–1 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0)	January: 1–7–1 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0)	January: 1–7–1 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0)	January: 1–7–1 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0)	January: 1–7–1 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0)	January: 1–7–1 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0)	January: 1–7–1 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0)	January: 1–7–1 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0)	January: 1–7–1 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0)	January: 1–7–1 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0)	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 	
==Player statistics==
===Skaters===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	56	17	19	36	−17	69
 	56	21	14	35	+1 	12
 	56	17	18	35	−12	13
 	56	17	17	34	−17	8
 	49	6 	25	31	−15	36
 	53	12	17	29	−18	14
 	55	13	7 	20	−9 	4
 	56	5 	15	20	+5 	19
 	55	6 	13	19	−12	8
‡ 	40	0 	19	19	−2 	18
 	45	10	8 	18	−6 	16
 	55	4 	13	17	−13	26
 	47	3 	11	14	+4 	26
 	30	2 	11	13	+3 	25
 	34	3 	7 	10	−7 	40
† 	29	6 	3 	9 	−3 	19
 	19	2 	7 	9 	+1 	2
 	12	1 	6 	7 	+6 	10
 	20	4 	2 	6 	+6 	6
 	20	1 	5 	6 	−6 	8
‡ 	36	1 	2 	3 	−13	47
‡ 	15	0 	3 	3 	−7 	6
 	13	0 	3 	3 	+2 	4
† 	14	1 	1 	2 	+5 	2
‡ 	16	0 	2 	2 	−3 	10
‡ 	8 	1 	0 	1 	−6 	6
‡ 	9 	1 	0 	1 	−8 	4
 	1 	1 	0 	1 	+1 	0
† 	5 	0 	1 	1 	+2 	2
 	5 	0 	1 	1 	+1 	0
 	26	0 	1 	1 	−1 	30
 	4 	0 	0 	0 	−1 	5
 	5 	0 	0 	0 	+2 	0
‡ 	1 	0 	0 	0 	+1 	0
 	4 	0 	0 	0 	−1 	0
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	2
===Goaltenders===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	27	25	1,404:11	10	13	1	79	3.38	738	.893	2	0	1	2
 	9 	7 	471:34 	5 	1 	2	17	2.16	254	.933	0	0	0	0
 	14	10	641:51 	4 	7 	0	40	3.74	322	.876	0	0	0	0
† 	8 	8 	448:33 	3 	4 	1	24	3.21	264	.909	0	0	0	0
 	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 assist1st career NHL point 	January 15, 2021
Tim Stuetzle 	1st career NHL goal1st 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 game1st career NHL assist1st 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 assist1st 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 	Details 	Ref
 	To Pittsburgh Penguins Jonathan GrudenCBJ's 2nd-round pick (52nd) in 2020 	To Ottawa SenatorsMatt Murray 	
 	To Toronto Maple Leafs NYI's 2nd-round pick (59th) in 20203rd-round pick (64th) in 2020	To Ottawa Senators 2nd-round pick (44th) in 2020 	
 	To Anaheim Ducks EDM's 5th-round pick in 2021 	To Ottawa SenatorsErik Gudbranson 	
 	To Nashville Predators COL's 4th-round pick in 2021 	To Ottawa Senators Austin Watson 	
 	To Nashville Predators Michael Carcone 	To Ottawa Senators Zach Magwood 	
 	To Arizona Coyotes CBJ's 2nd-round pick in 2021 	To Ottawa Senators Derek Stepan 	
 	To Tampa Bay Lightning Marian GaborikAnders Nilsson 	To Ottawa Senators Braydon CoburnCedric Paquette 2nd round pick in 2022	
 	To Carolina Hurricanes Maxime Lajoie 	To Ottawa Senators Clark Bishop 	
 	To San Jose Sharks Christian Jaros 	To Ottawa Senators Jack Kopacka 7th round pick in 2022 	
 	To Carolina Hurricanes Alex GalchenyukCedric Paquette 	To Ottawa Senators Ryan Dzingel 	
 	To Los Angeles Kings Christian Wolanin 	To Ottawa Senators Michael Amadio 	
April 11, 2021	To Boston BruinsMike Reilly 	To Ottawa Senators3rd-round pick in 2022 	
April 11, 2021	To New York IslandersBraydon Coburn 	To Ottawa Senators7th-round pick in 2022 	
April 12, 2021	To Nashville PredatorsErik Gudbranson 	To Ottawa SenatorsBrandon Fortunato7th-round pick in 2023 	
===Free agents===
Date	Player 	Team 	Contract term 	Source
 	Mikkel Boedker 	to HC Lugano (Swiss NL) 	1-year 	
 	Jordan Szwarz 	to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)	1-year 	
 	Andreas Englund	to Vasterviks IK (Allsv) 	1-year 	
 	Mark Borowiecki	to Nashville Predators 	2-year 	
 	Logan Shaw 	from Winnipeg Jets 	2-year, two-way	
 	Bobby Ryan 	to Detroit Red Wings 	1-year 	
 	Evgenii Dadonov	from Florida Panthers 	3-year 	
 	Scott Sabourin 	to Toronto Marlies (AHL) 	1-year 	
 	Jayce Hawryluk 	to Vancouver Canucks 	1-year, two-way	
 	Alex Galchenyuk	from Minnesota Wild 	1-year 	
 	Micheal Haley 	from New York Rangers 	1-year, two-way	
 	Anthony Duclair	to Florida Panthers 	1-year 	
 	Craig Anderson 	to Washington Capitals 	1-year 	
 	Filip Chlapik 	to Lahti Pelicans 	1-year 	
===Waivers===
Date	Player 	Team 	Ref
 	Rudolfs Balcers	to San Jose Sharks	
 	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==
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 	 	Adler Mannheim (DEL)
1 	5 	Jake Sanderson 	D 	 	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 	 	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)
==References==
Category:Ottawa Senators seasons
Category:2020–21 NHL season by team
Senators