Clock ticking on Ottawa Senators’ playoff hopes as NHL midseason nears

Time is of the essence for the Ottawa Senators.

A look at the National Hockey League standings heading into Friday’s action had the Senators ranked No. 14 in the East, only three points behind the Buffalo Sabres for the final wild-card spot, with five teams ahead of them to move into a playoff spot.

If the Senators want to make the playoffs for a second straight spring, then the time is now to get their game together and start winning with the kind of consistency that is necessary to be considered a contender, especially with the club hitting the midpoint of the season on Monday.

Coming off a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on New Year’s Day at the Canadian Tire Centre, the Senators will continue this home four-game homestand against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday and then close it out against the Detroit Red Wings — an Atlantic Division rival — on Monday.

The time for consistency is now.

“That was a big win for our team last night. I think, you know, Washington came out really hot and heavy in the first, and we weathered the storm,” defenceman Jake Sanderson said on Friday. “We’ve got to follow it up again.”

As we’ve stated in the past, Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, has been aggressive working the phones to try to deal for a right-shot defenceman who can play in the club’s top four and also some depth at forward.

With goaltender Linus Ullmark away from the club for personal reasons for an indefinite period, it may be premature to add a goaltender to Staios’ list, but you have to think that possibility exists if the leave of absence stretches into next week, with 16 games in January.

It’s only 35 days until the NHL’s roster freeze goes into effect with the break for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina, Italy, so the clock is ticking to make changes. The trade deadline is set for March 7 at 3 p.m.

The chatter in league circles is that Staios has held talks with the likes of the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins to see if the club can upgrade its roster.

We’re told the Blues and Rangers are the two clubs that are trying to be the most active.

Defence is the priority for the Senators.

“Those are hard to find. If you have extra defencemen, you usually want to keep them,” a league executive said last week.

League executives say the Senators may have circled back to the Flames about defenceman Rasmus Andersson. An unrestricted free agent on July 1,  he has posted eight goals and added 18 assists in 40 games with Calgary.

But the Senators hardly are alone on that front.

The Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings have all been linked to Andersson, who was named to the Swedish Olympic Team on Friday.

A league executive told the Ottawa Citizen that, given the high asking price for Andersson the Flames are seeking, it would make sense for any team that acquires him to get permission to sign him to an extension in advance.

The belief is that the Flames likely want a first-round pick and a high-end prospect in return. The Senators have to forfeit their top selection in the spring as part of the punishment for a botched trade with the Vegas Golden Knights involving winger Evgenii Dadonov in 2022.

We’re told that teams likely will ask the Senators 2024 first-round pick, Carter Yakemchuk — who is with the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville — and 2025 top selection Logan Hensler, who is in his second season at the University of Wisconsin.

The Senators have zero interest in moving either player. They don’t have a lot to trade.

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The goalie market is also thin if the Senators decide they have to go that route, if Leevi Merilainen can’t carry the load. The expectation is that Mads Sogaard will be brought up at some point because the club has back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday on the road.

The Chicago Blackhawks have given goaltender Laurent Broissoit permission to speak with other teams. He’s with the club’s AHL affiliate in Rockford and carries a $3.2 million U.S. cap hit, which is tough for several teams to carry.

“They may be better to stick with what they’ve got in net,” the executive said.

What will be interesting to watch in the second half of the season is should the struggles continue, then it’s more likely that Staios might be willing to move on from some of the players on the current roster.

As it stands, the answers have to come from within.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com