2019–20 Ottawa Senators season

The 2019–20 Ottawa Senators season was the 28th season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Senators attempted to return to the playoffs after missing the playoffs in the past two seasons.

2019–20 Ottawa Senators
Division	7th Atlantic
Conference	15th Eastern
2019–20 record	25–34–12
Home record	18–13–6
Road record	7–21–6
Goals for	191
Goals against	243
Team information
General manager	Pierre Dorion
Coach	D. J. Smith
Captain	Vacant
Alternate captains	Mark Borowiecki Thomas Chabot (Feb. 24 – Mar. 11) Ron Hainsey Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Oct. 2 – Feb. 24)
Arena	Canadian Tire Centre
Average attendance	12,618 (67.6%) (30 games)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Belleville Senators (AHL) Brampton Beast (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Jean-Gabriel Pageau (24)
Assists	Thomas Chabot (33)
Points	Brady Tkachuk (44)
Penalty minutes	Brady Tkachuk (106)
Plus/minus	Ron Hainsey Jean-Gabriel Pageau (+10)
Wins	Craig Anderson (11)
Goals against average	Marcus Hogberg (3.12)

The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled and the Senators missed the playoffs for the third straight year.

Team business

On October 5, 2019, the Senators announced that Chris Phillips would have his jersey number (#4) retired by the team on February 18, 2020. He is the third Senators' player to have their jersey retired by the franchise, the others being Daniel Alfredsson's #11, and original Senator Frank Finnigan's #8.

The team named a new CEO in January 2020. The team had operated without a permanent one since 2018. Owner Eugene Melnyk had temporarily filled the post. The team named Jim Little who had served as executive VP and chief marketing and culture officer with Shaw Communications. Little was given the priority to repair community relations and boost ticket attendance among other business issues. Less than two months later, the Senators dismissed Little on March 4, 2020, and promised to announce a new CEO within a few weeks's time.

Off-season

In May 2019, the Ottawa Senators announced that D. J. Smith agreed to a three-year contract to be the team's head coach. The team filled out the coaching staff by hiring associate coach Jack Capuano, assistant coach Davis Payne, assistant coach Bob Jones and video coach Mike King. Capuano and Payne are both former head coaches in the NHL. Goaltending coach Pierre Groulx was retained from the previous staff.

Regular season

The Senators started their season with a 5–3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 2. Scott Sabourin scored a goal in his NHL debut during the season opener.

Veteran player Bobby Ryan missed approximately three months while attending an NHL player assistance program. It was later revealed by Ryan that he had entered the program due to ongoing struggles with alcohol abuse. He would return to NHL action on February 25 in an away game versus the Nashville Predators. In his first post-rehab home game on February 27, Ryan made headlines by scoring his fifth career hat trick.

At the trade deadline in February 2020, the club continued to build for the future, trading away Dylan DeMelo, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Vladislav Namestnikov and Tyler Ennis for draft picks. All were pending unrestricted free agents. After the trades, the Senators hold a total of 13 2020 NHL Entry Draft draft picks, including three in the first round and four in the second round.

The season was suspended by the NHL on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On March 17, it was announced that an unnamed Senators player had tested positive for the virus, the first case identified among NHL players. The team announced on March 21 that a second player has also tested positive.

Standings

Divisional standings

Atlantic Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – Boston Bruins	70	44	14	12	38	227	174	+53	100
2	Tampa Bay Lightning	70	43	21	6	35	245	195	+50	92
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	36	25	9	28	238	227	+11	81
4	Florida Panthers	69	35	26	8	30	231	228	+3	78
5	Montreal Canadiens	71	31	31	9	19	212	221	−9	71
6	Buffalo Sabres	69	30	31	8	22	195	217	−22	68
7	Ottawa Senators	71	25	34	12	18	191	243	−52	62
8	Detroit Red Wings	71	17	49	5	13	145	267	−122	39

Source: National Hockey League
p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	PCT	Qualification
1	Boston Bruins	70	44	14	12	38	227	174	+53	.714	Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament
2	Tampa Bay Lightning	70	43	21	6	35	245	195	+50	.657
3	Washington Capitals	69	41	20	8	31	240	215	+25	.652
4	Philadelphia Flyers	69	41	21	7	31	232	196	+36	.645
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	69	40	23	6	29	224	196	+28	.623	Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round
6	Carolina Hurricanes	68	38	25	5	27	222	193	+29	.596
7	New York Islanders	68	35	23	10	24	192	193	−1	.588
8	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	36	25	9	28	238	227	+11	.579
9	Columbus Blue Jackets	70	33	22	15	25	180	187	−7	.579
10	Florida Panthers	69	35	26	8	30	231	228	+3	.565
11	New York Rangers	70	37	28	5	31	234	222	+12	.564
12	Montreal Canadiens	71	31	31	9	19	212	221	−9	.500
13	Buffalo Sabres	69	30	31	8	22	195	217	−22	.493
14	New Jersey Devils	69	28	29	12	22	189	230	−41	.493
15	Ottawa Senators	71	25	34	12	18	191	243	−52	.437
16	Detroit Red Wings	71	17	49	5	13	145	267	−122	.275

Source: National Hockey League

Schedule and results

Pre-season

The pre-season schedule was published on June 18, 2019.

2019 pre-season game log: 3–2–1 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 2–1–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 17	Ottawa	3–1	Toronto		Hogberg	–	1–0–0
2	September 18	Toronto	3–4	Ottawa		Gustavsson	11,531	2–0–0
3	September 21	Montreal	4–0	Ottawa		Anderson	11,185	2–1–0
4	September 23	Ottawa	4–6	Vancouver		Nilsson	7,046	2–2–0
5	September 25	Ottawa	6–2	Vancouver		Anderson	18,781	3–2–0
6	September 28	Ottawa	3–4	Montreal	OT	Nilsson	20,746	3–2–1
Notes: a Game was played at Mile One Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. b Game was played at Abbotsford Centre in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019.

2019–20 game log
October: 3–7–1 (Home: 3–4–0 ; Road: 0–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 2 Ottawa 3–5 Toronto Anderson 19,612 0–1–0 0 2 October 5 NY Rangers 4–1 Ottawa Anderson 15,135 0–2–0 0 3 October 10 St. Louis 6–4 Ottawa Nilsson 9,204 0–3–0 0 4 October 12 Tampa Bay 2–4 Ottawa Anderson 11,023 1–3–0 2 5 October 14 Minnesota 2–0 Ottawa Anderson 11,500 1–4–0 2 6 October 17 Ottawa 2–3 Vegas SO Nilsson 18,171 1–4–1 3 7 October 19 Ottawa 2–5 Arizona Anderson 17,125 1–5–1 3 8 October 21 Ottawa 1–2 Dallas Nilsson 17,896 1–6–1 3 9 October 23 Detroit 2–5 Ottawa Nilsson 11,026 2–6–1 5 10 October 25 NY Islanders 4–2 Ottawa Nilsson 11,189 2–7–1 5 11 October 27 San Jose 2–5 Ottawa Anderson 9,740 3–7–1 7
November: 8–8–0 (Home: 4–1–0 ; Road: 4–7–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 12 November 2 Ottawa 2–5 Boston Anderson 17,193 3–8–1 7 13 November 4 Ottawa 6–2 NY Rangers Nilsson 16,302 4–8–1 9 14 November 5 Ottawa 1–4 NY Islanders Anderson 11,212 4–9–1 9 15 November 7 Los Angeles 2–3 Ottawa OT Nilsson 9,929 5–9–1 11 16 November 9 Carolina 1–4 Ottawa Nilsson 12,276 6–9–1 13 17 November 11 Ottawa 2–8 Carolina Nilsson 12,356 6–10–1 13 18 November 13 Ottawa 4–2 New Jersey Anderson 13,438 7–10–1 15 19 November 15 Philadelphia 1–2 Ottawa Nilsson 10,664 8–10–1 17 20 November 16 Ottawa 2–4 Buffalo Anderson 18,555 8–11–1 17 21 November 19 Ottawa 4–3 Detroit Nilsson 19,156 9–11–1 19 22 November 20 Ottawa 2–1 Montreal OT Anderson 20,862 10–11–1 21 23 November 22 NY Rangers 1–4 Ottawa Nilsson 12,349 11–11–1 23 24 November 25 Ottawa 0–1 Columbus Anderson 14,730 11–12–1 23 25 November 27 Boston 2–1 Ottawa Nilsson 13,336 11–13–1 23 26 November 29 Ottawa 2–7 Minnesota Nilsson 17,112 11–14–1 23 27 November 30 Ottawa 1–3 Calgary Hogberg 18,919 11–15–1 23
December: 5–4–4 (Home: 4–0–2 ; Road: 1–4–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 28 December 3 Ottawa 2–5 Vancouver Nilsson 18,559 11–16–1 23 29 December 4 Ottawa 5–2 Edmonton Anderson 17,162 12–16–1 25 30 December 7 Ottawa 3–4 Philadelphia Nilsson 18,031 12–17–1 25 31 December 9 Boston 2–5 Ottawa Nilsson 13,894 13–17–1 27 32 December 11 Ottawa 2–3 Montreal OT Nilsson 21,055 13–17–2 28 33 December 14 Columbus 3–4 Ottawa OT Nilsson 11,020 14–17–2 30 34 December 16 Ottawa 1–6 Florida Nilsson 10,448 14–18–2 30 35 December 17 Ottawa 3–4 Tampa Bay OT Hogberg 19,092 14–18–3 31 36 December 19 Nashville 4–5 Ottawa OT Hogberg 10,407 15–18–3 33 37 December 21 Philadelphia 5–4 Ottawa SO Hogberg 11,203 15–18–4 34 38 December 23 Buffalo 1–3 Ottawa Anderson 11,838 16–18–4 36 39 December 29 New Jersey 4–3 Ottawa OT Anderson 14,005 16–18–5 37 40 December 30 Ottawa 2–5 Pittsburgh Hogberg 18,653 16–19–5 37
January: 2–5–4 (Home: 1–4–3 ; Road: 1–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 41 January 2 Florida 6–3 Ottawa Anderson 10,991 16–20–5 37 42 January 4 Tampa Bay 5–3 Ottawa Anderson 13,914 16–21–5 37 43 January 7 Ottawa 1–6 Washington Anderson 18,573 16–22–5 37 44 January 10 Ottawa 2–3 Detroit SO Hogberg 18,724 16–22–6 38 45 January 11 Montreal 2–1 Ottawa OT Hogberg 18,088 16–22–7 39 46 January 14 Chicago 3–2 Ottawa OT Hogberg 12,238 16–22–8 40 47 January 16 Vegas 4–2 Ottawa Anderson 12,412 16–23–8 40 48 January 18 Calgary 2–5 Ottawa Hogberg 17,671 17–23–8 42 49 January 27 New Jersey 4–3 Ottawa SO Hogberg 9,673 17–23–9 43 50 January 28 Ottawa 5–2 Buffalo Anderson 16,651 18–23–9 45 51 January 31 Washington 5–3 Ottawa Hogberg 14,279 18–24–9 45
February: 5–7–3 (Home: 5–4–1 ; Road: 0–3–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 52 February 1 Ottawa 1–2 Toronto OT Anderson 19,406 18–24–10 46 53 February 4 Anaheim 3–2 Ottawa SO Hogberg 9,238 18–24–11 47 54 February 6 Colorado 4–1 Ottawa Hogberg 11,465 18–25–11 47 55 February 8 Ottawa 2–5 Winnipeg Anderson 15,325 18–26–11 47 56 February 11 Ottawa 0–3 Colorado Hogberg 18,015 18–27–11 47 57 February 13 Arizona 2–3 Ottawa Hogberg 9,762 19–27–11 49 58 February 15 Toronto 4–2 Ottawa Hogberg 18,544 19–28–11 49 59 February 16 Dallas 3–4 Ottawa OT Anderson 13,150 20–28–11 51 60 February 18 Buffalo 4–7 Ottawa Anderson 15,040 21–28–11 53 61 February 20 Winnipeg 5–1 Ottawa Hogberg 11,183 21–29–11 53 62 February 22 Montreal 3–0 Ottawa Anderson 18,374 21–30–11 53 63 February 24 Ottawa 3–4 Columbus OT Hogberg 17,518 21–30–12 54 64 February 25 Ottawa 2–3 Nashville Anderson 17,205 21–31–12 54 65 February 27 Vancouver 2–5 Ottawa Hogberg 12,166 22–31–12 56 66 February 29 Detroit 3–4 Ottawa SO Hogberg 15,505 23–31–12 58
March: 2–3–0 (Home: 1–0–0 ; Road: 1–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 67 March 3 Ottawa 3–7 Pittsburgh Anderson 18,455 23–32–12 58 68 March 5 NY Islanders 3–4 Ottawa Anderson 13,445 24–32–12 60 69 March 7 Ottawa 2–1 San Jose OT Anderson 16,018 25–32–12 62 70 March 10 Ottawa 2–5 Anaheim Hogberg 15,044 25–33–12 62 71 March 11 Ottawa 2–3 Los Angeles Anderson 12,030 25–34–12 62
Cancelled games # Date Visitor Home 72 March 13 Ottawa Chicago 73 March 15 Ottawa St. Louis 74 March 18 Edmonton Ottawa 75 March 20 Ottawa Washington 76 March 21 Ottawa Carolina 77 March 24 Florida Ottawa 78 March 26 Ottawa Boston 79 March 28 Toronto Ottawa 80 March 31 Ottawa Tampa Bay 81 April 2 Ottawa Florida 82 April 4 Pittsburgh Ottawa
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Players

Statistics

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Brady Tkachuk	71	21	23	44	−14	106
Connor Brown	71	16	27	43	−6	24
Jean-Gabriel Pageau‡	60	24	16	40	10	32
Anthony Duclair	66	23	17	40	−5	18
Thomas Chabot	71	6	33	39	−18	42
Chris Tierney	71	11	26	37	−6	20
Tyler Ennis‡	61	14	19	33	−5	16
Vladislav Namestnikov†‡	54	13	12	25	−5	35
Colin White	61	7	16	23	−12	39
Artem Anisimov	49	15	5	20	−15	8
Nick Paul	56	9	11	20	0	24
Mark Borowiecki	53	7	11	18	1	58
Nikita Zaitsev	58	1	11	12	−8	22
Mike Reilly†	30	1	11	12	−8	18
Ron Hainsey	64	1	11	12	10	12
Drake Batherson	23	3	7	10	−12	13
Dylan DeMelo‡	49	0	10	10	3	31
Bobby Ryan	24	5	3	8	3	22
Logan Brown	23	1	7	8	0	4
Jayce Hawryluk†	11	2	5	7	2	8
Filip Chlapik	31	3	3	6	−7	10
Scott Sabourin	35	2	4	6	−6	33
Mikkel Boedker	20	2	2	4	−1	0
Erik Brannstrom	31	0	4	4	−9	16
Rudolfs Balcers	15	1	2	3	−2	0
Andreas Englund	24	0	3	3	−8	12
Christian Jaros	13	0	3	3	−2	6
Cody Goloubef‡	24	1	1	2	−2	8
Matthew Peca†	9	0	2	2	−2	0
Vitalii Abramov	2	1	0	1	0	2
Jonathan Davidsson	6	0	1	1	0	0
Jean-Christophe Beaudin	22	0	1	1	−4	7
Jordan Szwarz	3	0	0	0	0	2
Maxime Lajoie	6	0	0	0	0	0
Josh Norris	3	0	0	0	2	0
Max Veronneau‡	4	0	0	0	−2	0
Christian Wolanin	3	0	0	0	1	0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Craig Anderson	34	31	1,845:11	11	17	2	100	3.25	1,018	.902	0	0	1	0
Anders Nilsson	20	19	1,093:16	9	9	2	58	3.18	628	.908	0	0	0	0
Marcus Hogberg	24	21	1,344:33	5	8	8	70	3.12	728	.904	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 team.
Bold denotes team leader in that category.

Awards and honours

Player	Award	Date
Anders Nilsson	NHL 1st Star of Week	November 11, 2019

Milestones

Player	Milestone	Date
Scott Sabourin	1st career NHL game 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point	October 2, 2019
Connor Brown	100th career NHL point	October 2, 2019
Vitalii Abramov	1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point	October 10, 2019
Scott Sabourin	1st career NHL assist	October 10, 2019
Ron Hainsey	300th career NHL point	October 12, 2019
Bobby Ryan	300th career NHL assist	October 12, 2019
J. C. Beaudin	1st career NHL game	October 23, 2019
Jonathan Davidsson	1st career NHL game	November 7, 2019
J. C. Beaudin	1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point	November 9, 2019
Jonathan Davidsson	1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point	November 9, 2019
Brady Tkachuk	100th career NHL game	December 5, 2019
Craig Anderson	200th win as Ottawa Senator	February 18, 2020

Transactions

The Senators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2019–20 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Cody Ceci Ben Harpur Aaron Luchuk CBJ's 3rd-round pick in 2020	To Ottawa Senators Connor Brown Michael Carcone Nikita Zaitsev
July 16, 2019 (2019-07-16)	To Chicago Blackhawks Zack Smith	To Ottawa Senators Artem Anisimov
July 30, 2019 (2019-07-30)	To Tampa Bay Lightning Mike Condon 6th-round pick in 2020	To Ottawa Senators Ryan Callahan 5th-round pick in 2020
October 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)	To New York Rangers Nick Ebert 4th-round pick in 2021	To Ottawa Senators Vladislav Namestnikov
October 26, 2019 (2019-10-26)	To Florida Panthers Jack Rodewald	To Ottawa Senators Chris Wilkie
January 2, 2020 (2020-01-02)	To Montreal Canadiens Andrew Sturtz 5th-round pick in 2021	To Ottawa Senators Mike Reilly
February 18, 2020 (2020-02-18)	To Winnipeg Jets Dylan DeMelo	To Ottawa Senators 3rd-round pick in 2020
February 19, 2020 (2020-02-19)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Max Veronneau	To Ottawa Senators Aaron Luchuk conditional 6th-round pick in 2021
February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)	To New York Islanders Jean-Gabriel Pageau	To Ottawa Senators 1st-round pick in 2020 or 2021 2nd-round pick in 2020 conditional 3rd-round pick in 2021
February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)	To Colorado Avalanche Vladislav Namestnikov	To Ottawa Senators 4th-round pick in 2021
February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)	To Montreal Canadiens Aaron Luchuk 7th-round pick in 2020	To Ottawa Senators Matthew Peca
February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)	To Edmonton Oilers Tyler Ennis	To Ottawa Senators 5th-round pick in 2021
October 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)	To Florida Panthers 4th-round pick (95th) in 2020	To Ottawa Senators Josh Brown

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Source
June 25, 2019 (2019-06-25)	Stefan Elliott	to Dinamo Minsk (KHL)	1-year
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Ron Hainsey	from Toronto Maple Leafs	1-year
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Tyler Ennis	from Toronto Maple Leafs	1-year
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Jordan Szwarz	from Boston Bruins	1-year
July 4, 2019 (2019-07-04)	Brian Gibbons	to Carolina Hurricanes	1-year
July 8, 2019 (2019-07-08)	Darren Archibald	to Toronto Marlies (AHL)	1-year
July 11, 2019 (2019-07-11)	Erik Burgdoerfer	to Hershey Bears (AHL)	1-year
September 27, 2019 (2019-09-27)	Scott Sabourin	from Stockton Heat (AHL)	1-year
April 11, 2020 (2020-04-11)	Jonathan Aspirot	from Belleville Senators (AHL)	3-year
May 1, 2020 (2020-05-01)	Artyom Zub	from SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL)	1-year

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref
February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17)	Jayce Hawryluk	from Florida Panthers
February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)	Cody Goloubef	to Detroit Red Wings

Contract terminations

Date	Player	Via	Source

Retirement

Date	Player	Source

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Source
June 25, 2019 (2019-06-25)	Cody Goloubef	1-year
June 27, 2019 (2019-06-27)	Jack Rodewald	1-year
July 2, 2019 (2019-07-02)	Nick Paul	1-year
July 4, 2019 (2019-07-04)	Christian Wolanin	2-year
July 15, 2019 (2019-07-15)	Michael Carcone	2-year
July 15, 2019 (2019-07-15)	Lassi Thomson	3-year
August 21, 2019 (2019-08-21)	Colin White	6-year
September 19, 2019 (2019-09-19)	Thomas Chabot	8-year
April 9, 2020 (2020-04-09)	Mark Kastelic	3-year
April 13, 2020 (2020-04-13)	Kevin Mandolese	3-year

Draft picks

See also: List of Ottawa Senators draft picks

Below are the Ottawa Senators' selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	Nationality	Club team
1	191	Lassi Thomson	D	Finland	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
2	32	Shane Pinto	C	United States	Tri-City Storm (USHL)
2	372	Mads Sogaard	G	Denmark	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
4	94	Viktor Lodin	C	Sweden	Örebro (SHL)
5	125	Mark Kastelic	C	United States	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
7	187	Maxence Guenette	D	Canada	Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)

Notes

1. The Columbus Blue Jackets' first-round pick went to the Ottawa Senators as the result of a trade on February 22, 2019, that sent Matt Duchene and Julius Bergman to Columbus in exchange for Vitalii Abramov, Jonathan Davidsson, a conditional first-round pick in 2020 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).
2. The New York Rangers' second-round pick went to the Ottawa Senators as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent Florida's second-round pick and Pittsburgh's third-round pick both in 2019 (44th and 83rd overall) to Carolina in exchange for this pick.