Back
Ottawa Senators Top 10 Players Ranking | LeoVegas

Top 10 Current and Former Ottawa Senators Players Ranked

Based in the capital of Canada, the Ottawa Senators have been an attractive landing spot for players since their debut in the 1992/93. While Stanley Cup success continues to elude the club, the Sens have regularly been able to identify top-class talents in the draft and develop them into regular NHLers.

Table of Contents:

Now with very high-ceiling players like Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, Josh Norris, Drake Batherson, Jake Sanderson, and Shane Pinto already battling in the NHL lines and Leevi Meriläinen looking to be a strong goaltending prospect, there’s a quiet optimism about Ottawa’s postseason hopes, which is reflected in their conference futures odds.

With that, here’s a look at the top 10 Ottawa Senators players of the past and present.

1. Daniel Alfredsson (RW)

  • Position: Right Wing
  • Years Active: 18
  • Games Played: 1,246
  • Goals: 444
  • Assists: 713
  • Total Points: 1,157Perhaps unexpectedly, Daniel Alfredsson become the first long-term star of the new Ottawa Senators. The Swede from Gothenburg was taken with the 133rd overall pick (a sixth-rounder) in 1994, but the Sens didn’t have to wait long for that selection to pay up and then some.

In his rookie outing with the Ottawa Senators, the 1995/96 season, Alfredsson scored 26 goals and 61 points in 82 games. From there, the right wing continued to cement himself as an incredibly reliable scorer. He was especially pivotal in the team’s only run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006/07, collecting 87 points in the regular season and another 14 goals and 22 points in the playoffs.

2. Erik Karlsson (D)

  • Position: Defenceman
  • Years Active: 16
  • Games Played: 1,065
  • Goals: 197
  • Assists: 665
  • Total Points: 862

Widely considered to be one of the best offensive defencemen of his generation, Erik Karlsson’s prowess on the puck and mobility have earned him copious awards. Not only has been named an NHL All-Star seven times, but he’s also collected three James Norris Memorial Trophies – although, he’s at long odds to win the trophy this year.

The deft-handed Swede was highly-rated coming into the 2008 draft, and the Senators managed to get him with their 15th overall pick. He enjoyed eight dominant seasons in Ottawa, was out for much of the shortened 2012/13 campaign. In 2018, amidst issues between his partner and Mike Hoffman’s partner, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks and is now on the blue line for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

3. Brady Tkachuk (LW)

  • Position: Left Wing
  • Years Active: 7
  • Games Played: 497
  • Goals: 184
  • Assists: 210
  • Total Points: 394

Son of NHL great Keith Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk carries himself in a very similar way to his father. He’s more than willing to throw his 6’4’’, 225 lbs frame into any skater who glides his way, being incredibly aggressive on the forecheck to grind into those dirty areas. Plus, he has a great knack for setting up and scoring goals.

Still only 25-years-old, the fourth overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft is the current captain of the Ottawa Senators. Few players dig as deep across a full 200-foot game quite like Tkachuk. With 21 goals in 56 games to open the 2024/25 season, the left wing looks poised to beat his career-best 37 goals.

Plus, he’d already made it to 188 hits and 101 penalty minutes, for good measure. The Ottawa Senators being dark horses in the NHL betting this season is greatly down to Tkachuk’s power forward play and how he manages to impact every game he’s in.

4. Jason Spezza (C)

  • Position: Centre
  • Years Active: 19
  • Games Played: 1,248
  • Goals: 363
  • Assists: 632
  • Total Points: 995

Taken with the second overall pick in the 2001 draft, Jason Spezza played ten seasons in Ottawa, with only two of those being shorter than 60 games. The sizeable centre became renowned across the league as a master of the duel, regularly posting season faceoff percentages in the mid-to-high 50s after his sophomore outing.

His offensive output was always reliable while he wore a Senators jersey, averaging close to a point per game after his breakout 90-point campaign in 2005/06. In fact, during Ottawa’s run to the Finals in 2006/07, Spezza matched Alfredsson on 22 points. His career ended on the books of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021/22, and he’s now the assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

5. Alexei Yashin (C)

  • Position: Centre
  • Years Active: 12
  • Games Played: 850
  • Goals: 337
  • Assists: 444
  • Total Points: 781

Alexei Yashin holds a special place in Ottawa Senators history: the forward was the first-ever selection for the franchise. He was taken second overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, given a year to develop back in his homeland, and then burst onto the scene in the 1993/94 season.

A Calder Trophy nominee, Yashin would eventually cement himself as one of Ottawa’s top players, putting up 75, 72, 94, and 88 points in each of his final four seasons in a Senators jersey. The team captain’s performances masked the off-ice disputes he had with the club over his low-paying contract, but in 2001, he’d finally get traded to the New York Islanders to net one of the most absurd deals the NHL had ever seen.

6. Dany Heatley (LW)

  • Position: Left Wing
  • Years Active: 13
  • Games Played: 869
  • Goals: 372
  • Assists: 419
  • Total Points: 791

Dany Heatley’s NHL career started on a high, converting his second overall selection in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft into 26 goals and 67 points for the Atlanta Thrashers as well as the Calder Memorial Trophy. His ascendancy was quickly derailed before the 2003/04 season, when he caused a car crash that would end the life of his teammate, Dan Snyder, and leave him seriously injured.

Seeking a new start, Heatley requested a trade, for which, the Thrashers found the Sens to be the best choice. The Thrashers got Marián Hossa and Greg de Vries, but Heatley repaid the high cost paid. In both of his first two seasons with the Sens, he scored 50 goals in 82 games, finishing his four-season run in Ottawa with 190 goals in the regular and postseason combined.

7. Marián Hossa (RW)

  • Position: Right Wing
  • Years Active: 19
  • Games Played: 1,309
  • Goals: 525
  • Assists: 609
  • Total Points: 1,134

As is the case with many top European talents, coming into the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Marián Hossa was already showcasing his talent for a professional men’s team in his native Slovakia. Hossa came over as soon as he was picked 12th overall, but a seven-game cameo showing in the NHL showed he needed some time in the major juniors. He won it all in the WHL and CHL with the Portland Winterhawks that season.

Injury delayed his arrival in the 1998/99 NHL season for Ottawa. Once the Slovakian winger arrived, he swiftly became a fan-favourite and a regular scorer. By the end of his run with the Senators, he’d collected 390 points in just 467 games – 188 of which were goals. He’d end up with the Chicago Blackhawks and win the Stanley Cup three times.

8. Ron Tugnutt (G)

  • Position: Goaltender
  • Years Active: 16
  • Games Played: 537
  • Wins: 186
  • Shutouts: 26
  • Goals Against Average: 3.05
  • Save Percentage: .895

Ron Tugnutt established himself long before coming to the Ottawa Senators. In fact, his breakthrough season with the Québec Nordiques came before the Senators even existed. In the 1990/91 season, he set the record for the most saves made in an NHL game with 70 from 73 in a 3-3 tie with the Boston Bruins.

By 1995, Tugnutt’s career had taken a nosedive, with him featuring prominently for the Portland Pirates in the NHL. The Senators saw a way to bring him back into the NHL fold, signing him in 1996 and building up his confidence to regain his form. In 1998/99, his penultimate season with the Sense, Tugnutt posted a 1.79 GAA and .925 SV% through 43 games. Later, he’d post another 70-save performance, this time for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

9. Radek Bonk (C)

  • Position: Centre
  • Years Active: 14
  • Games Played: 969
  • Goals: 194
  • Assists: 303
  • Total Points: 497

Taking a more unconventional route to the NHL, Radek Bonk came to North America from former Czechoslovakia with an eye on the NHL, but refused to play in the OHL. Instead, he dominated in the IHL for the Las Vegas Thunder, positing 87 points in 76 games to earn a third overall pick by the Ottawa Senators in 1994.

Despite never being short on confidence, it took several seasons for Bonk to establish himself as an NHL skater worthy of such a lofty pick, being set back by inconsistent runs and injuries. His sixth campaign in the NHL, 1999/00 was his true breakout, scoring 23 goals and 60 points in 80 games before a career-best 25 goals and 70 points in 2001/02.

10. Mike Hoffman (LW, RW)

  • Position: Left Wing, Right Wing
  • Years Active: 13
  • Games Played: 745
  • Goals: 228
  • Assists: 259
  • Total Points: 487

Taken in the fifth round with the 150th overall pick in the 2009 draft, Mike Hoffman didn’t start his career as a blue-chip prospect, but with time, he’d become a trusty scorer for the Senators. In 2014/15, he enjoyed his first full NHL season, leading the team with 27 goals and collecting an additional 21 assists. The Ontario-born wing would continue to consistently score at least 22 goals and 56 points over his next few seasons in Ottawa.

Despite various setbacks over the years, the Ottawa senators have relatively quickly turned through a new rebuild to now be back as a serious consideration in the betting lines.