Opinions wanted: Am I the problem?

> Steve Staois joins Alex Adams to discuss Brady Tkachuk leaving, who will be the next captain, Drake Batherson's next contract, Daniel Alfredsson leaving, Claude Giroux returning, when the Senators want to compete for a Cup, why the Sens got William Eklund and more.

Before the 2025 NHL draft, I was on the side of ‘give up the pick this year when you know it’s not a lottery pick, and select in the first round in 2026. As it turned out, the ‘kick it down the road and see if they reduce the punishment’ side was probably the correct call.

However, I was thinking recently about what could have happened at this years draft if they had forfeited last years 1st. After the moves that led up to the draft Ottawa would have been left with the 22 and 25 picks in the first round. And both could be traded instead of being forced to keep one.

Assuming that Ottawa made an offer on the guys that moved around the draft (I think it was at least reported that we made an offer for McTavish, so maybe on the other guys as well). And looking at what the players cost. Would you be willing to trade the two firsts for any of these guys?

Essentially, would you give up Hensler, Lagerberg-Hoen, and Cover for:

Mason Mctavish - Anaheim got the 15 and 29 for him, would they rather have 22 and 25? Probably not, but maybe you add one more piece.

JJ Peterka - Utah got 23 and a 2028 1st. I think they’d have definitely taken 2 this year instead.

Pavel Dorofeyev - Vegas got 26, 92 and a 2028 1st. Ottawa’s package could have been at least that good.

Jordan Kyrou - McMichael, Gastrin and 16. I‘m not sure that Greig, 22 and 26 is better but maybe they’d take it.

Any of these moves would leave Ottawa with zero prospect pool, but the current team would look better. Would have been a better outcome in hindsight?

How big of an impact does the coach make on the PP/PK?

Mine would be

1- yak

2- Kasper Halttunen

3- leevi

4- hensler

5- Jackson cover

6- Lucas Beckman

7-Jonas Lagerberg Hoen

8- Adam Nemec

9- Blake Montgomery

10- Xavier bourgalt

When do tickets for the rest of the regular season games go on sale?

https://xcancel.com/i/status/2079199029305520533

Sens tied for 2nd most back-to-back games this year

Usually I'm decent at identifying autographs, but struggles start to show once we're in early 2000s or earlier.

I think I've identified most of them, but pretty uncertain on the ones with a "?". If anyone here has more knowledge than I do and can help/confirm!

We know this already, but it's fun to read about it.

Comments on the post seem to think so

I cannot be alone in thinking we’ve got one of the worst in-arena experiences in the NHL, and our DJ has to take most of the blame for that.

Powerplay? Cue up Tsunami. Every. Single. Time.

Starting the 2nd or third periods? Same song every time.

It feels like we have AI controlling the music throughout the game, and it never deviated once last season

Schedule release showing all the things different teams "left behind" grabs a microphone from Ottawa and sends it to Florida instead

The article explains every reality television reference they made.

I see Ingram is still unsigned, and i just find it hard to believe considering much worse goaltenders have managed to sign with other teams. A perfect example is Pickard with Minnesota. Ingram outplayed both Pickard and Jarry. I guess I'm just trying to figure out the reasoning behind getting Ersson, when they probably could have signed Ingram for a similar price.

Hello! Sharks fan here, I come in peace. I'm a big Eklund fan and happen to already have an east coast trip planned around the time Sharks are coming to Ottawa in October so might as well do a little detour.

Any recommendations for where to stay, things to do, or where to eat before/after the game?

Where do you recommend to sit in the arena? Don't need to be super close but obviously want to avoid obstructed seats. Rules for warm-ups?

Also does anyone know if there's a certain area players stop to sign for autographs after games? I heard Sens practices are typically not open to public? I have an Eky jersey that I never had the chance to ask him to sign and kind of want to bring it (sorry).

On Ottawa:

The bigger issue might be the other two guys coming in. I don’t see much in Andre Burakovsky at this stage of his career and he feels like a particularly poor fit for a pure possession team such as the Senators. And for a team whose backup goalie severely undermined them last year, there may not be a worse option than Samuel Ersson in that spot. Maybe he finally lives up to his potential, but he’s currently the biggest drag in Ottawa’s lineup.