Ottawa Senators draft night raises questions after No. 25 pick and trades leave forward group in flux
The Senators kept the No. 25 pick in the 2026 Ottawa Senators draft and selected Jonas Lagerberg Hoen, a move that, along with a second first-round choice and several trades, leaves questions about roster direction and cap flexibility.
Senators keep No. 25, select Jonas Lagerberg Hoen
The Ottawa Senators draft night began with an unexpected decision to retain the 25th-overall selection and use it on Jonas Lagerberg Hoen, a Swedish winger coming off a torn ACL. The pick came after Ottawa had already dealt for William Eklund earlier this week with the ninth overall selection, signaling a split strategy between immediate help and long-term upside. General manager Steve Staios and head scout Don Boyd framed the selections as efforts to inject skill into the lineup, but the choices drew scrutiny because they traded away more proven targets and left the top-six forward gap largely unfilled.
Jaxon Cover represents second swing for upside
With the 32nd overall pick the Senators grabbed Jaxon Cover, a London Knights forward whose rapid ascent has intrigued evaluators. Cover produced 20 goals and 52 points in 67 games last season and brings a non-traditional developmental path, including roller-hockey roots in the Cayman Islands and just six years of organized ice experience. Ottawa’s scouting staff emphasized Cover’s untapped potential and ceiling, but the pick is widely viewed as a longer-term project rather than an immediate top-six solution. Taken together, Lagerberg Hoen and Cover signal Ottawa prioritized upside despite durability concerns and a need for established scoring.
Trades and acquisitions reshape the forward puzzle
The draft moves were only part of a busy 24-hour stretch that left the Senators’ forward group feeling unsettled. Ottawa’s pursuit of elite wingers appeared to fall short when several trade targets, including Mason McTavish, Pavel Dorofeyev and JJ Peterka, moved elsewhere, and the organization instead added André Burakovsky for a late-round pick. Burakovsky, coming off a difficult season that saw him score only once in his last 37 games, arrived as a veteran option but not the high-end scorer many expected after the departure of Brady Tkachuk. The cumulative effect of those transactions has prompted questions about whether management matched its stated intent — to remain competitive — with moves that address immediate offensive needs.
Goaltending addition and concerns over short-term reliability
Ottawa also acquired goaltender Samuel Ersson from Toronto, a player who must be re-signed as a restricted free agent and who has struggled with save percentage in recent seasons. The organization described the addition as bolstering depth, but Ersson’s recent numbers prompted debate among analysts about his NHL readiness and long-term upside. If Ersson is retained on a short-term deal, the Senators will need internal or further external solutions to stabilize the crease. Those goaltending questions add to the sense that some of the club’s Night 1 moves are speculative rather than corrective.
Cap implications and limited roster flexibility
Friday’s transactions tightened Ottawa’s payroll picture, reducing the team’s short-term cap flexibility as it balances extensions, incoming veterans and rookie development. The club also committed to a four-year, $20-million extension with defenseman Jordan Spence the same day, a deal that secures a young, analytics-favored blue-liner who handled top-four minutes last season. While Spence’s contract was broadly described as fair by those inside the organization, the combination of extensions and new additions leaves less room to pursue a proven top-six forward in free agency without additional moves. That financial constraint frames the draft choices as part of a broader, riskier roster construction approach.
Longer-term core vs. present-day needs
Ottawa’s front office can point to the strength of its long-term core — notably Tim Stützle and Jake Sanderson, both signed through 2031 — as reason for taking high-upside prospects rather than trading down for immediate talent. Yet the trade of Brady Tkachuk a week earlier created a vacuum that many expected would be filled with more established scoring on draft night. The selection of prospects recovering from injury or still on developmental arcs underscores a preference for potential over immediate impact, a strategy that will only be vindicated if at least one of these picks becomes a top-line contributor.
A busy offseason remains ahead and judgment should be reserved until the roster freezes, but for now the Ottawa Senators draft and accompanying moves have produced more uncertainty than clarity.
The organization will likely be active on Day 2 of the draft and in July’s free-agent window as it tries to balance future upside with the pressing demand for a top-six forward and stable goaltending.
