{"id":483366,"date":"2026-02-07T08:04:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T13:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=483366"},"modified":"2026-02-07T08:01:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T13:01:31","slug":"top-ottawa-senators-trade-chips-ahead-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/02\/07\/top-ottawa-senators-trade-chips-ahead-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Ottawa Senators Bargaining Chips Ahead of 2026 NHL Trade Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ottawa Senators have played their way back into the 2025-26 Eastern Conference Stanley Cup Playoff race. At this point, it begs the questions, who are their best trade chips if they hope to add an impact player? After a rough first half of the season, the Ottawa Senators have put themselves in a much better spot heading into the Olympic break. Consider this, that the team had just a 29% chance of making the playoffs on January 30th. Now, as we stand today, they have an over 40% chance according to <\/span>MoneyPuck.com<\/span><\/a>. With huge victories over the Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Philadelphia Flyers<\/a> recently, they are looking more like the team most expected to see prior to the season starting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ottawa Senators Bargaining Chips Ahead of 2026 NHL Trade Deadline<\/h2>\n

This hot streak has made the possibility of the Senators being a buyer at the trade deadline a lot more feasible. With $12.3 million available<\/a> at the deadline, they may also have the ability to attract some of the top targets on the market.<\/span><\/p>\n

In order to do that though, you\u2019ll have to give up assets of significance. That is what it will take to get something capable of moving the needle. Unfortunately for the Senators, they don\u2019t possess a ton of picks or prospects that they can move. Let\u2019s take a look at what they do have. Then, we can comment on how those pieces could be attractive to other teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fabian Zetterlund Could Be Attractive<\/h3>\n

The first player that comes to mind is Fabian Zetterlund<\/a>. The 26-year-old\u2019s game is predicated on speed and work ethic. The organization hoped that would translate into a top-line role alongside Tim Stutzle<\/a>. It became clear after some time though, that it would not work well enough to the organization\u2019s satisfaction. After several experiments went wrong, he was pushed further down the lineup, in favour of others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zetterlund has been doing just fine alongside Lars Eller<\/a> and a myriad of rookies and call-ups. Conversely, his $4.275 million contract would leave you wanting more than five points in his last 15 games. If the Senators want to go out and add a top-four defenceman or a better option at forward, he could be a cap casualty. With guys like Stephen Halliday<\/a> returning from injury<\/a> and Arthur Kaliyev<\/a> making a case for a call up from the AHL, it could spell the end for someone like Zetterlund.<\/span><\/p>\n

It might be a little early to move on from Zetterlund. After all, he is just one year into a three-year deal. In contrast, the Senators may not have a choice if they want to become more competitive. He has more to give, but it may be better to sell him off now in case his game takes another step back.<\/span><\/p>\n

High Upside With Logan Hensler<\/h3>\n

If the Senators are going to be viewed as a playoff threat, they probably need another top-four defenceman. They have recently been attached to Mackenzie Weegar<\/a>, who would be a great fit on the right side of the blueline. However, he\u2019s going to cost a lot as well. The Senators are most likely not going to part ways with Carter Yakemchuk.<\/a> On the other hand, they may be open to using their next best defensive prospect, Logan Hensler<\/a>, to acquire such a piece.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Senators\u2019 first-round pick didn\u2019t have the best showing at the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship. He didn\u2019t pick up a point in five games. However, Hensler was used in a shutdown role which is something he\u2019s not very accustomed to. With the University of Wisconsin, he\u2019s been much more productive. He has put up 12 points in 23 games and doubling his goal total from the previous season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hensler has a lot of upside.<\/a>\u00a0He is not someone the Senators should part with for anything less than a significant return. If you can parlay your prospects into someone who can significantly increase the team\u2019s ceiling right now, you have to make that transaction. Hensler most likely won\u2019t be making an impact for the Senators for at least another couple of seasons whereas Weegar will help right now. He\u2019s a fantastic trade chip for a team that needs to replenish their prospect pool and is years away from contending.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mads Sogaard May Be Moving On<\/h3>\n

The Senators have had their fair share of goaltending woes this season so trading a goaltender doesn\u2019t really make sense, but Mads Sogaard<\/a> feels like someone who could be on his way out. He still has potential. Unfortunately, he has dealt with plenty of injuries and inconsistency throughout his career and is now on an expiring deal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He has an .889 save percentage in 18 games in the AHL this season but is coming off of a stellar performance against the Golden Knights and has been much more consistent in the second half of the AHL season posting a .915 save percentage since the Christmas break.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are multiple teams out there that would definitely be interested in a goalie upgrade. As much as the Sens have struggled, eight teams currently have a higher goals allowed per game than the Senators. Sogaard probably won\u2019t garner a high return. However, <\/span>it might be a great time for him to have a change of scenery. This would allow them to get something back for him rather than watch him walk for nothing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where The Senators Currently Sit<\/h3>\n

The Senators\u2019 season looked like it was over for a long time. Luckily, <\/span>they\u2019ve persevered and have gotten themselves back in the thick of the playoff race<\/a>. This is the best they\u2019ve looked all season. If they add another piece or two, it may be enough to help them sneak in in a year, where the Eastern Conference appears to be wide open. It will be interesting to see what approach they take and what pieces they will be willing to part with.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ottawa Senators have played their way back into the 2025-26 Eastern Conference Stanley Cup Playoff race. At this point, it begs the questions, who are their best trade chips if they hope to add an impact player? After a rough first half of the season, the Ottawa Senators have put themselves in a much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5738,"featured_media":465206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,4547,4548],"tags":[1816,8143,4095],"class_list":["post-483366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senators","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-fabian-zetterlund","tag-logan-hensler","tag-mads-sogaard"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5738"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483366"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":483379,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483366\/revisions\/483379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}