2022–23 Ottawa Senators season

The 2022–23 Ottawa Senators season was the 31st season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Senators improved on their record compared to the previous season, but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. The Senators were officially eliminated from the playoffs on April 6, 2023, in the 79th game of the season.
==Team business==
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. In related business, the outstanding lawsuits around the previous LeBreton bid were settled out of court in December 2022.
The team parted ways with their ECHL affiliate Atlanta Gladiators and signed an affiliation agreement with the Allen Americans.
In November 2022, it was reported that Eugene Melnyk's daughters, and heirs to his estate, had engaged Galatioto Sports Partners, a New York City investment banker, to facilitate a sale of the team. The Senators confirmed the planned sale on November 5, with a condition of sale being that the team remain in Ottawa. On November 7, Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds disclosed publicly that he was interested in being part of the consortium to purchase the team.
On February 17, 2023, the Senators retired Chris Neil's no. 25 jersey.
==Off-season==
The Senators began the off-season being very active in trades and personnel changes. On the first day of the entry draft, the team acquired scoring forward Alex DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks, giving up their first-round and second-round picks in 2022 and a third-round pick in 2024. On July 11, 2022, the team traded away goaltender Matt Murray to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The following day, the Senators acquired goaltender Cam Talbot from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Filip Gustavsson.
The team also bought out forward Colin White and defenceman Michael Del Zotto. The team previously told forwards Chris Tierney, Adam Gaudette, and Tyler Ennis as well as defenceman Victor Mete that they would not be re-signed. Connor Brown was traded to the Washington Capitals for a second-round pick in the 2024 draft.
On the first day of free agency, the team signed free agent forward Claude Giroux. The next day, the team re-signed centre Josh Norris to an eight-year contract extension. The team added veterans Tyler Motte and Derick Brassard to complement the roster.
Former Senators defenceman Wade Redden was hired as a development coach, joining former Senators players Shean Donovan and Jesse Winchester as development coaches.
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
===Conference standings===
==Schedule and results==
===Preseason===
The pre-season schedule was published on July 1, 2022.
2022 preseason game log: 5–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–2–0)	2022 preseason game log: 5–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–2–0)	2022 preseason game log: 5–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–2–0)	2022 preseason game log: 5–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–2–0)	2022 preseason game log: 5–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–2–0)	2022 preseason game log: 5–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–2–0)	2022 preseason game log: 5–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–2–0)	2022 preseason game log: 5–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–2–0)	2022 preseason game log: 5–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–2–0)	2022 preseason game log: 5–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–2–0)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Recap
1 	September 24 	Ottawa 	1–4 	Toronto 	 	Talbot 	14,532 	0–1–0 	
2 	September 24 	Ottawa 	4–2 	Toronto 	 	Forsberg 	14,241 	1–1–0 	
3 	September 27 	Ottawa 	3–5 	Winnipeg 	 	Mandolese 	13,191 	1–2–0 	
4 	September 30 	Toronto 	6–3 	Ottawa 	 	Forsberg 	4,307 	1–3–0 	
5 	October 1 	Montreal 	4–5 	Ottawa 	OT 	Sogaard 	15,878 	2–3–0 	
6 	October 4 	Ottawa 	5–4 	Montreal 	 	Forsberg 	19,550 	3–3–0 	
7 	October 6 	Montreal 	3–4 	Ottawa 	 	Forsberg 	1,100 	4–3–0 	
8 	October 8 	Montreal 	2–3 	Ottawa 	OT 	Hellberg 	3,524 	5–3–0 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
===Regular season===
The regular season schedule was published on July 6, 2022. 
2022–22 game log 	2022–22 game log 	2022–22 game log 	2022–22 game log 	2022–22 game log 	2022–22 game log 	2022–22 game log 	2022–22 game log 	2022–22 game log 	2022–22 game log 	2022–22 game log
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October: 4–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–3–0)	October: 4–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–3–0)	October: 4–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–3–0)	October: 4–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–3–0)	October: 4–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–3–0)	October: 4–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–3–0)	October: 4–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–3–0)	October: 4–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–3–0)	October: 4–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–3–0)	October: 4–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–3–0)	October: 4–4–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 0–3–0)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Pts 	Recap
1 	October 13 	Ottawa 	1–4 	Buffalo 	 	Forsberg 	15,364 	0–1–0 	0 	
2 	October 15 	Ottawa 	2–3 	Toronto 	 	Forsberg 	18,709 	0–2–0 	0 	
3 	October 18 	Boston 	5–7 	Ottawa 	 	Forsberg 	19,811 	1–2–0 	2 	
4 	October 20 	Washington 	2–5 	Ottawa 	 	Forsberg 	14,210 	2–2–0 	4 	
5 	October 22 	Arizona 	2–6 	Ottawa 	 	Forsberg 	15,107 	3–2–0 	6 	
6 	October 24 	Dallas 	2–4 	Ottawa 	 	Hellberg 	12,088 	4–2–0 	8 	
7 	October 27 	Minnesota 	4–2 	Ottawa 	 	Forsberg 	13,870 	4–3–0 	8 	
8 	October 29 	Ottawa 	5–3 	Florida 	 	Forsberg 	15,577 	4–4–0 	8 	
==Players statistics==
Final Statistics
===Skaters===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	78	39	51	90	−3 	54
 	82	35	48	83	−10	126
 	82	35	44	79	+4 	34
 	82	27	39	66	−31	45
 	82	22	40	62	−35	33
 	68	11	30	41	−11	52
 	82	20	15	35	−21	18
 	77	4 	28	32	−6 	12
 	62	13	10	23	+3 	30
 	75	6 	15	21	−5 	71
 	56	3 	15	18	+5 	36
 	74	2 	16	18	+5 	38
 	65	2 	14	16	0 	10
 	75	9 	2 	11	−7 	123
 	65	7 	4 	11	−6 	102
 	60	4 	6 	10	−4 	35
 	53	3 	7 	10	+2 	39
‡ 	38	3 	6 	9 	+1 	4
 	20	2 	7 	9 	+1 	12
† 	17	3 	2 	5 	−1 	2
† 	12	2 	3 	5 	−1 	8
† 	18	2 	3 	5 	+4 	27
‡ 	28	0 	5 	5 	−5 	8
 	55	1 	3 	4 	−9 	37
 	8 	2 	1 	3 	−1 	6
 	5 	1 	1 	2 	+2 	0
 	8 	0 	2 	2 	−1 	2
 	11	1 	0 	1 	−2 	0
 	19	0 	1 	1 	−2 	11
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	−2 	4
 	7 	0 	0 	0 	0 	6
 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	3 	0 	0 	0 	−3 	0
===Goaltenders===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	36	32	1,947:00	17	14	2	95	2.93	935	.898	1	0	0	0
 	28	25	1,471:43	11	11	2	80	3.26	817	.902	2	0	0	2
 	19	17	1047:30 	8 	6 	3	58	3.32	524	.889	0	0	1	0
 	2 	2 	118:52 	1 	1 	0	5 	2.52	83 	.940	0	0	0	0
‡ 	1 	1 	60:00 	1 	0 	0	2 	2.00	31 	.935	0	0	0	0
 	3 	3 	182:12 	1 	2 	0	10	3.29	119	.916	0	0	0	0
 	2 	2 	85:05 	0 	1 	1	6 	4.23	49 	.878	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.
==Player roster==
==Awards and milestones==
Player 	Award 	Ref.
Shane Pinto 	October NHL Rookie of the Month	
Claude Giroux	NHL Stars of The Week (1st) 	
Player 	Milestone 	Date 	Ref.
Jake Lucchini	1st NHL game	December 14, 2022	
Ridly Greig 	1st NHL game	January 25, 2023 	
==Transactions==
The Senators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2022–23 season.
 Trades
Date	Details 	Details 	Ref
 	To Chicago Blackhawks1st-round pick in 20222nd-round pick in 20223rd-round pick in 2024 	To Ottawa SenatorsAlex DeBrincat 	
 	To Toronto Maple LeafsMatt Murray3rd-round pick in 20237th-round pick in 2024 	To Ottawa SenatorsFuture considerations 	
 	To Minnesota WildFilip Gustavsson 	To Ottawa SenatorsCam Talbot 	
 	To Washington CapitalsConnor Brown 	To Ottawa Senators2nd-round pick in 2024 	
 	To New York RangersTyler Motte 	To Ottawa SenatorsJulien Gauthier7th-round pick in 2023	
 	To Chicago BlackhawksNikita Zaitsev2nd-round pick in 20234th-round pick in 2026 	To Ottawa SenatorsFuture considerations 	
 	To Arizona CoyotesConditional 1st-round pick in 2023Conditional 2nd-round pick in 20242nd-round pick in 2025	To Ottawa SenatorsJakob Chychrun 	
 	To Philadelphia Flyers6th-round pick in 2023 	To Ottawa SenatorsPatrick Brown 	
 	To Calgary FlamesKristians Rubins 	To Ottawa SenatorsFuture considerations 	
 	To New Jersey DevilsJayce Hawryluk 	To Ottawa SenatorsFuture considerations 	
 Players acquired
Date	Player 	Former team 	Term 	Via 	Ref
 	Claude Giroux 	Florida Panthers 	3-year	Free agency	
 	Jake Lucchini 	Belleville Senators (AHL)	1-year	Free agency	
 	Kristians Rubins	Toronto Maple Leafs 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Antoine Bibeau 	Seattle Kraken 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Jacob Larsson 	Anaheim Ducks 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Rourke Chartier 	Belleville Senators (AHL)	1-year	Free agency	
 	Jayce Hawryluk 	Skellefteå AIK (SHL) 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Tyler Motte 	New York Rangers 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Magnus Hellberg 	Seattle Kraken 	 	Waivers 	
 	Derick Brassard 	Edmonton Oilers 	1-year	Free agency	
 Players lost
Date	Player 	New team 	Term 	Via 	Ref
 	Michael Del Zotto	 	 	Buy-out 	
 	Andrew Agozzino 	San Jose Sharks 	2-year	Free agency	
 	Clark Bishop 	Calgary Flames 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Adam Gaudette 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Logan Shaw 	Toronto Marlies (AHL) 	3 year	Free agency	
 	Colin White 	Florida Panthers 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Victor Mete 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Michael Del Zotto	Florida Panthers 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Chris Tierney 	Florida Panthers 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Zachary Senyshyn 	Utica Comets (AHL) 	1-year	Free agency	
 	Michael McNiven 	Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL)	1-year	Free agency	
 	Magnus Hellberg 	Seattle Kraken 	 	Waivers 	
 Player signings
Date	Player 	Term 	Ref
 	Dillon Heatherington	2-year	
 	Scott Sabourin 	1-year	
 	Josh Norris 	8-year	
 	Tomas Hamara 	3-year	
 	Mathieu Joseph 	4-year	
 	Erik Brannstrom 	1-year	
 	Tim Stuetzle 	8-year	
 	Jorian Donovan 	3-year	
 	Derick Brassard 	1-year	
 	Mark Kastelic 	2-year	
 	Artyom Zub 	4-year	
 	Tyler Kleven 	3-year	
Key:
 Contract is entry-level.
 Contract initially takes effect in the 2023–24 season.
==Entry Draft picks==
The 2022 NHL Entry Draft was held July 7–8, 2022 at the Bell Centre arena in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Senators traded their first-round pick and second-round pick to acquire Alex DeBrincat. The Senators' first pick was made in the second round - defenceman Filip Nordberg with the 64th-overall pick. The team had nine selections overall. 
Round	Overall	Player 	Position	Nationality	Club team
2 	64 	Filip Nordberg 	D 	 	Sodertalje SK (HockeyAllsvenskan)
3 	72 	Oskar Pettersson	RW 	 	Rogle J20 (J20 Nationell)
3 	87 	Tomas Hamara 	D 	 	Tappara U20 (U20 SM-sarja)
4 	107 	Stephen Halliday	C 	 	Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)
5 	136 	Jorian Donovan 	D 	 	Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)
5 	143 	Cameron O'Neill 	RW 	 	Mount St. Charles Academy (NEPACK 18U)
5 	151 	Kevin Reidler 	G 	 	AIK J18 (J20 Nationell)
6 	168 	Theo Wallberg 	D 	 	Skelleftea AIK J20 (J20 Nationell)
7 	206 	Tyson Dyck 	C 	 	Cranbrook Bucks (BCHL)
==References==
Category:Ottawa Senators seasons
Category:2022–23 NHL season by team
Senators
Category:2022 in Ontario
Category:2023 in Ontario