Ottawa Needs A New Captain, And Three Names Fit
With Brady Tkachuk gone, the Senators' C is open again, and Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot all have a case.
The Senators have a captaincy to fill again, and history says they should take their time with it.
Brady Tkachuk forced his way out of Ottawa, adding his name to a list of departed Senators captains that includes Daniel Alfredsson leaving in free agency and Erik Karlsson being traded. Outside of those two, none of the recent choices worked out long term.
Three candidates stand out to replace him: Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot.
Stutzle, 24, is the emotional one, for better and worse. His commitment is not in question, and he has never hidden how he feels about Ottawa's rivals. Recalling Alfredsson weighing a coaching job elsewhere, Stutzle said he "told him any team but Toronto and Montreal, I would accept it way more." He added: "I'm also happy that we have a lot of guys who want to be in Ottawa." The flip side showed up against Carolina in the playoffs last spring, when his frustration with a suffocating defence bled into his game.
Sanderson is the opposite temperament, a quiet, relentless worker whom Tkachuk once called "boring." The hesitation around him has nothing to do with his play and everything to do with nerves about American stars leaving Canadian teams. That is a poor reason to pass on a captain.
Chabot is the longest-tenured Senator and bilingual, an asset with francophone fans. He is also two seasons from needing a new deal at age 31, and his game still has lapses.
Ottawa has time. The NHL's 2026-27 regular season, expanded to 84 games per team, opens Sept. 29.
