Sens Fan Poll Results 2025-2026

Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS

It wasn’t as short an off-season as Sens fans had hoped for, but it WAS a shorter one thanks to Brady Tkachuk and the boys finally exorcising their playoff demons and earning a spot at the dance. Even though it ended in a first-round exit, the vibes are higher than they’ve been for years in the nation’s capital, and they should only get higher now that a new season is about to begin.

Training camp is underway for your 2025-2026 Ottawa Senators, and that means it's time to touch base with the league’s best fanbase and get their thoughts on the upcoming season. That’s right: it’s poll season, folks. We asked you the burning questions on every Sens fan’s mind, from standings predictions, to backup goaltending, to your thoughts on the upcoming November. So without further ado, here are the results of our annual pre-season poll.

There wasn’t a whole lot of disagreement here. Even the one “no” was definitely from a non-Sens fan that decided to select the worst possible answer for each question throughout the poll.

In any case, I find myself agreeing with the majority on this one, even though it's probably not a massive difference from last season. It wasn’t the busiest off-season for Steve Staios and Co., but they did make some savvy moves around the edges of the roster and that could go a long way. WITHOUT BEING TOO HARD ON ANYONE IN PARTICULAR, there was also some addition by subtraction to the roster, and having fewer liabilities around is always a good thing. The organization didn’t make any huge splashes this summer and the main pieces of the roster are all coming back, so the “about the same” crowd are justified in their answer as well, and given how fans answered the next question, perhaps more people were thinking along those lines than they let on.

Sens fans think the team will earn around the same number of points as they did last season, somewhere in the 91-100 range. 

I think it’s possible for this team to clear the 100 point mark. They weren't far off last season, earning 97 points, and the kinds of moves Staios made are exactly the kind that contribute to a few extra points here and there throughout the season, and a full season of Dylan Cozens and Fabian Zetterlund couldn't hurt either.

It’s amazing what a playoff appearance can do for a fanbase’s confidence. Last year, responses to this question were more varied. This year, no one thinks they're any worse than a fourth-place team in the Atlantic (poll-crasher notwithstanding).

While the confidence is great, it's important to remember that nothing is guaranteed, and the Atlantic Division is still an absolute monster. Still, the Sens have shown they’re headed in the right direction while other teams in the division look shakier than they have in years past, so I think this is a fine result.

I know I shouldn't let that poll-crasher ruin the fun here but come on, man. Anyway, yes. This should turn out to be correct. However, the real question is:

You love to see that nearly as many people think they’ll go all the way than think they’ll get dumped in the first round again. How many of those answers were serious and not just pumping our favourite team’s tires? I don’t care.

For me, this year is about finding out whether this team is a true contender or not. We know this is a playoff team, but how seriously does the league need to take them? Another first-round exit would show clearly that there’s still lots of work to do, while an appearance in the second round would go a long way toward getting them in the contender conversation. Anything beyond round 2 and they simply ARE contenders. What a day that would be.

I didn't want to provide the cop-out option, but the reality is it does matter. If the Sens were to get swept or blow a big series lead, that would be a failure, while a seven-game battle or a hard-fought defeat would be disappointing but easier to swallow and something they could still build from. If it happens a third year in a row, then there will be some serious soul-searching to do, but that’s getting way ahead of ourselves.

GM Steve Staios has built up an insane amount of goodwill with the fanbase in only a short amount of time, but hey, making the right moves will do that for a manager. It wasn’t the flashiest off-season of all time, but the universally-liked acquisition of Jordan Spence for the backend, along with the addition of veteran presence Lars Eller and a bit of a swing on the talented Arthur Kaliyev gave fans a nice variety of moves to chew on, and boy do we love how they taste.

That was such a good trade deadline, right? We may have lost our sweet prince Josh Norris, but bringing in Cozens and Zetterlund softened the blow, and they’ll both be around for a while. If Cozens can keep up his pace from last season after joining the Sens and Zetterlund can adjust ahead of a full season with his new team, they will both have a positive impact on the ice. Not to be overlooked, Jordan Spence should be a great addition to the roster, and was my pick for this question. He’s young, talented, steady, capable of putting up some points, and an analytics darling to boot. That kind of presence in the Sens bottom-4 can only be helpful. A Kleven/Spence pair could turn out to be an extremely valuable bottom pair that’s a threat at both ends of the ice. Sign me up for some of that, please.

The vast majority of Sens fans are in agreement that the team could use some improvement at the forward position, likely stemming from the lack of 5on5 production from last season. While that’s not necessarily wrong, I think goaltending could become a concern if Ullmark finds himself on the shelf for an extended period. We all marvelled at Leevi Merilainen’s performance last season when Ullmark went down, but the fact of the matter is that he’s still young and relatively unproven at the NHL level, and without a veteran like Forsberg to back things up, things could start looking dicey pretty fast if injuries start to pile up. Mads Sogaard hasn't exactly inspired confidence in his stints with the big club, so if he’s forced to cover starting duties for any stretch of time it could be a problem. Hopefully everyone stays healthy and Merilainen proves me a fool for ever doubting him. Speaking of which:

It looks like Merilainen nearly has the full confidence of the fanbase. If he plays just like what we saw from him last season, the Sens are set in goal. If he struggles, Steve Staios may need to look for outside help at the position. I'm trying to keep my expectations for him in check, but I am cautiously optimistic that he’ll slide into the backup position without too much trouble.

This is the second year in a row Tim Stützle has found himself as the most popular answer to this question. While he didn't have a bad season in 24-25, I think we can all agree that he has the potential to be quite a bit more productive. A common (and in my opinion, earned) criticism of his game is that he doesn't use his shot as much as he should. He’ll need to shoot more if he wants to reach the next level of production. I thought we were going to see it more last season when he ripped a wrist shot from distance to score the team’s first goal of the 24-25 season, but as time rolled on we saw him pass up more and more shooting opportunities to look for teammates which was frustrating at times. You’re a generous guy and a good teammate Timmy, but we won't think less of you if you call your own number a little more often.

Also clocking in with a healthy number of responses was deadline acquisitions Fabian Zetterlund, and it's hard not to agree with this assessment. He has the skill to be a difference-maker but looked utterly snakebitten after coming over to Ottawa, despite being all over the ice and very noticeable. On the bright side, he had similar struggles when he first arrived in San Jose but became an important piece of their offence once he settled in. Hopefully he gets back to his normal, productive self with a full Sens training camp and the shock of being traded a distant memory.

For this question, I only had Yakemchuk and Halliday as specific answers, but left a fillable “other” category for fans to fill in their responses. This one is hard to quantify. Yakemchuk is absolutely determined to make the big club out of camp, and Belleville’s leading scorer from last season, Halliday, seems like he’s on the path to graduate out of the AHL sooner rather than later. With the way injuries seem to be affecting the Sens any training camp, both of these players may get an opportunity to show what they can do in the NHL.

This one was more of a joke than any of the other questions but at this point I have a visceral reaction to November approaching on the calendar. Even though they made the playoffs last year, the Sens did themselves no favours at all last November, causing me to melt down and basically theorize supernatural reasons why November is an utterly cursed month for this team. Until they prove otherwise, it is cursed.

That will wrap the latest edition of the Sens fan pre-season poll. Thanks to everyone who took time to respond (yes, even you, hater). I’m looking forward to checking back in at the end of the season to review the results. As always, go Sens go.