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 passed away 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.
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
===Conference standings===
==Schedule and results==
===Preseason===
The pre-season schedule was published on July 21, 2021.
2021 preseason game log: 3–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2021 preseason game log: 3–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2021 preseason game log: 3–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2021 preseason game log: 3–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2021 preseason game log: 3–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2021 preseason game log: 3–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2021 preseason game log: 3–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2021 preseason game log: 3–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2021 preseason game log: 3–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2021 preseason game log: 3–4–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–2–0)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Recap
1 	September 26 	Ottawa 	3–2 	Winnipeg 	OT 	Forsberg 	— 	1–0–0 	
2 	September 29 	Toronto 	4–0 	Ottawa 	 	Gustavsson 	— 	1–1–0 	
3 	October 1 	Montreal 	2–7 	Ottawa 	 	Murray 	— 	2–1–0 	
4 	October 2 	Ottawa 	1–2 	Montreal 	 	Forsberg 	7,500 	2–2–0 	
5 	October 4 	Toronto 	3–1 	Ottawa 	 	Murray 	— 	2–3–0 	
6 	October 7 	Ottawa 	5–4 	Montreal 	SO 	Forsberg 	7,500 	3–3–0 	
7 	October 9 	Ottawa 	1–4 	Toronto 	 	Murray 	— 	3–4–0 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
===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 10 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 	2021–22 game log 	2021–22 game log 	2021–22 game log 	2021–22 game log 	2021–22 game log 	2021–22 game log 	2021–22 game log 	2021–22 game log 	2021–22 game log 	2021–22 game log
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October: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)	October: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)	October: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)	October: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)	October: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)	October: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)	October: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)	October: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)	October: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)	October: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)	October: 3–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Pts 	Recap
1 	October 14 	Toronto 	2–3 	Ottawa 	 	Forsberg 	15,159 	1–0–0 	2 	
2 	October 16 	Ottawa 	1–3 	Toronto 	 	Forsberg 	18,211 	1–1–0 	2 	
3 	October 17 	Dallas 	2–3 	Ottawa 	 	Gustavsson 	8,067 	2–1–0 	4 	
4 	October 21 	San Jose 	2–1 	Ottawa 	 	Murray 	8,994 	2–2–0 	4 	
5 	October 23 	NY Rangers 	3–2 	Ottawa 	 	Forsberg 	11,167 	2–3–0 	4 	
6 	October 25 	Washington 	7–5 	Ottawa 	 	Gustavsson 	11,387 	2–4–0 	4 	
7 	October 29 	Ottawa 	4–1 	Dallas 	 	Gustavsson 	17,346 	3–4–0 	6 	
==Player statistics==
===Skaters===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	79	30	37	67	−7 	117
 	79	22	36	58	−27	37
 	66	35	20	55	−7 	16
 	46	17	27	44	+4 	32
 	64	10	29	39	−15	10
 	59	7 	31	38	−3 	26
 	79	18	14	32	−13	59
 	57	8 	16	24	−6 	16
 	81	6 	16	22	+1 	60
 	76	5 	14	19	0 	12
‡ 	59	11	7 	18	−18	22
 	70	6 	12	18	−12	14
‡ 	62	9 	8 	17	−13	37
 	67	10	6 	16	−3 	91
 	53	0 	14	14	−17	30
 	26	3 	10	13	−4 	4
 	41	7 	5 	12	−4 	60
† 	11	4 	8 	12	+8 	6
† 	50	4 	8 	12	−6 	13
 	62	2 	9 	11	−7 	28
 	24	3 	7 	10	−11	4
 	63	3 	4 	7 	+2 	12
 	37	0 	7 	7 	−19	4
 	46	0 	6 	6 	−9 	32
 	16	0 	5 	5 	−8 	2
 	16	2 	2 	4 	−1 	14
† 	19	1 	2 	3 	+5 	8
 	17	1 	2 	3 	−3 	2
 	7 	0 	2 	2 	−2 	11
 	9 	0 	1 	1 	−3 	6
 	8 	0 	1 	1 	1 	4
 	5 	0 	1 	1 	0 	2
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	9 	0 	0 	0 	–1 	7
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	–1 	2
 	8 	0 	0 	0 	−6 	4
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	2
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
===Goaltenders===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	46	44	2,571:27	22	17	4	121	2.82	1,457	.917	1	0	0	2
 	20	20	1,181:30	5 	12	2	60 	3.05	640 	.906	1	0	0	0
 	18	16	1,047:33	5 	12	1	62 	3.55	574 	.892	0	0	0	0
 	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
==Transactions==
The Senators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2021–22 season.
===Trades===
Date 	Details 	Details 	Ref
July 24, 2021	To Los Angeles Kings2nd-round pick in 2021 (Francesco Pinelli) 	To Ottawa SenatorsSTL 2nd-round pick in 2021 (Benjamin Roger)5th-round pick in 2021 (Robert Orr)	
 	To Vegas Golden KnightsEvgenii Dadonov 	To Ottawa SenatorsNick Holden3rd-round pick in 2022 	
 	To St. Louis BluesLogan BrownConditional 4th-round pick in 2022	To Ottawa Senators Zach Sanford 	
 	To San Jose Sharks7th-round pick in 2022 	To Ottawa SenatorsDylan Gambrell 	
 	To Vancouver CanucksVAN 3rd-round pick in 2022 	To Ottawa SenatorsTravis Hamonic 	
 	To Tampa Bay LightningNick Paul 	To Ottawa SenatorsMathieu Joseph4th-round pick in 2024 	
 	To Boston BruinsJosh BrownConditional 7th-round pick in 2022 	To Ottawa SenatorsZach Senyshyn5th-round pick in 2022 	
 	To Winnipeg JetsZach Sanford 	To Ottawa Senators5th-round pick in 2022 	
 	To Calgary FlamesFuture considerations 	To Ottawa SenatorsMichael McNiven 	
Notes:
: 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.
: Ottawa will receive a 7th-round pick in 2022 if Senyshyn plays at least 5 games with Ottawa during the 2021-22 season; otherwise Ottawa will receive a 6th-round pick in 2022.
===Players acquired===
Date	Player 	Former team 	Term 	Via 	Ref
 	Andrew Agozzino 	Anaheim Ducks 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Michael Del Zotto 	Columbus Blue Jackets 	2-year	Free agency	
 	Pontus Aberg 	Traktor Chelyabinsk (KHL)	1-year	Free agency	
 	Kole Sherwood 	Columbus Blue Jackets 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Dillon Heatherington	Barys Nur-Sultan (KHL) 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Scott Sabourin 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Tyler Ennis 	Edmonton Oilers 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Zac Leslie 	Belleville Senators (AHL)	1-year	Free agency	
 	Adam Gaudette 	Chicago Blackhawks 	 	Waivers 	
===Players lost===
Date	Player 	New team 	Term 	Via 	Ref
 	Joey Daccord 	Seattle Kraken 	 	Expansion draft 	
 	Ryan Dzingel 	Arizona Coyotes 	1-year 	Free agency 	
 	Michael Amadio 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	1-year 	Free agency 	
 	J. C. Beaudin 	Laval Rocket (AHL) 	1-year 	Free agency 	
 	Matthew Peca 	St. Louis Blues 	1-year 	Free agency 	
 	Jack Kopacka 	Toronto Marlies (AHL) 	1-year 	Free agency 	
 	Derek Stepan 	Carolina Hurricanes 	1-year 	Free agency 	
 	Zach Magwood 	HC TWK Innsbruck (ICEHL) 	1-year 	Free agency 	
 	Brandon Fortunato	Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL)	Unknown	Free agency 	
 	Artem Anisimov 	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL) 	1-year 	Free agency 	
 	Pontus Aberg 	 	 	Contract termination	
 	Pontus Aberg 	Timra IK (SHL) 	1-year 	Free agency 	
===Signings===
Date	Player 	Term 	Contract type	Ref
 	Victor Mete 	1-year	Re-signing 	
 	Filip Gustavsson	2-year	Re-signing 	
 	Drake Batherson 	6-year	Re-signing 	
 	Logan Brown 	1-year	Re-signing 	
 	Zach Ostapchuk 	3-year	Entry-level 	
 	Parker Kelly 	2-year	Extension 	
 	Brady Tkachuk 	7-year	Re-signing 	
 	Tyler Boucher 	3-year	Entry-level 	
 	Nick Holden 	1-year	Extension 	
 	Philippe Daoust 	3-year	Entry-level 	
 	Anton Forsberg 	3-year	Extension 	
 	Jake Sanderson 	3-year	Entry-level 	
==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 	 	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
2 	39 	Zach Ostapchuk 	C 	 	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
2 	49 	Benjamin Roger 	D 	 	London Knights (OHL)
3 	74 	Oliver Johansson	LW 	 	Timra (HockeyAllsvenskan)
4 	123 	Carson Latimer 	RW 	 	Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
7 	202 	Chandler Romeo 	D 	 	Brantford Bandits (GOJHL)
==References==
Category:Ottawa Senators seasons
Category:2021–22 NHL season by team
Senators