Video: Ottawa Senators Rejected Multiple Draft-Day Trade Offers
The Ottawa Senators have been a team to watch this offseason, as they've flipped their team on it's head, trading captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers. Tkachuk reportedly wasn't the same in the dressing room once he returned from winning a gold medal with Team USA, and many Senators felt this was coming at some point this summer. General manager Steve Staios had to move on, and the Tkachuk deal wasn't the only trade discussed by Ottawa this offseason.
At the NHL Draft in June, Staios was hammered with trade offers from other teams, trying to move up in the later stages of the first round. Staios listened to multiple offers, and while there were a few that were interesting, most of the offers included just draft pick shuffles, which wasn't something Staios was interesting in. Take a look:
Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios says the Penguins made an offer for what appears to have been the 25th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft:
— Pens System (@PensSystem) August 12, 2026
“No pick offers are good enough just yet, but Pittsburgh's interesting with the roster player.” pic.twitter.com/nITr1CryDp
Moving forward to next season, the Senators have $4.1 million in cap space to work with, and an aggressive GM who wants to get this team over the hump, and prove to the rest of the league they can make the Stanley Cup Playoffs without Tkachuk. It's a new era in Ottawa, and the Sens have a ton to prove.
If Staios decides to use his cap space, expect to see either Vladimir Tarasenko or Michael Bunting signing on as late-stage free-agents. And if the Senators are in the midst of trade conversations early on this season, don't be surprised to see them either test the market to see what they can get in return for defenceman Thomas Chabot, or look for Staios to deal from his surplus of second-round picks, and a prospect to try and add NHL-ready talent to their forward group.