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The Senators Didn't Ignore Free Agency, They Rebuilt Their Depth
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- The Senators Didn't Ignore Free Agency, They Rebuilt Their Depth
The Senators have had an extremely quiet start to free agency, at least in terms of adding impactful NHL players to their roster.
But GM Steve Staios was able to address another important area, and that's adding prospects and depth to a farm system that badly needs it.
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Steve Staios says he's in a holding pattern in free agency as he waits on Claude Giroux .
On Wednesday, Staios signed five free agent players who are all expected to begin the year in Belleville. But some of them are also players capable of helping in Ottawa right now when the inevitable injuries strike.
The Sens signed forwards Sammy Blais , Philippe Daoust, Ryan Suzuki and Philip Tomasino , along with defenceman Christian Kyrou , to two-way contracts.
That followed the late June acquisition of winger Kasper Halttunen from the San Jose Sharks and the drafting of Jonas Lagerberg Hoen and Jaxon Cover in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft.
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None of the Canada Day signings generated headlines around the NHL, but collectively, they tidily improved the Sens' organizational depth.
Among the new signees who might play in Ottawa this season, the headliner is undoubtedly Sammy Blais, who helped the St. Louis Blues win the Cup in 2019.
The 30-year-old has appeared in 278 NHL games and has some bite to his game, something the Senators suddenly have a little less of following Brady Tkachuk 's departure.
Blais plays an abrasive style, finishes checks, and makes life uncomfortable around the opponent's crease. In many ways, his style resembles Nick Cousins , a player the Sens valued enough to bring back this summer on a two-year deal.
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Blais gives the Senators another veteran capable of stepping into a fourth-line NHL role if injuries create an opening.
Philip Tomasino has the highest offensive ceiling of the new signings.
The season after Nashville made him a first-round pick in 2019, Tomasino returned to the OHL and had 100 points in 62 games. As an NHL rookie, he then had 32 points in 76 games for the Predators, but it's been a slow fade in productivity ever since.
He's played in 218 NHL games and is still just 24 years old.
Although he spent much of last season in the American Hockey League, he produced 41 points in 52 games while splitting time between the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia organizations. His last meaningful NHL season was two years ago with 23 points in 50 games for Pittsburgh.
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If Tomasino rediscovers some of the offensive game that made him a first-round selection in 2019, he could force his way back into NHL consideration.
As a sidebar, we could have turned this article into a smooth piece of clickbait by announcing that the Sens had acquired Kyrou and Suzuki. They did do that, but the players are, in fact, the younger brothers of Jordan and Nick.
Christian Kyrou brings intriguing upside.
Kyrou is coming off his best pro season in pretty much all categories after recording 34 points in 59 games with Lehigh Valley in the American Hockey League. Ottawa's NHL blue line appears settled, but offensively skilled, right-shot defencemen are always valuable organizational assets.
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Ryan Suzuki arrives after helping lead the Chicago Wolves to the Calder Cup Final, where he led the club in playoff scoring with 18 points in 21 games. Like Tomasino, Suzuki is a former first-round pick who gives Belleville another skilled offensive player.
The signing of Philippe Daoust is a Belleville success story. The Senators' 2020 Draft pick was on an AHL deal last season and went off with a 50-point season. It was his best pro season in all categories by a country mile, more than doubling his previous personal bests in goals, assists, and points.
The question he'll need to answer is how much of his production came from playing on a line with Arthur Kaliyev and Xavier Bourgault. Kaliyev is a UFA and won't be back, while Bourgault is an RFA, waiting on a new deal.
Beyond the signings, there's also Kasper Halttunen, who could be a beast in Belleville this year. He was acquired in the William Eklund trade, a spinoff of the Brady Tkachuk deal.
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Halttunen provides organizational depth, but he's more than that. He's immediately become one of the Senators' best prospects.
In 2024 and 2025, the big Finnish winger (6-foot-3, 205 lbs) helped the London Knights win back-to-back OHL titles with an outrageous 32 goals in 35 playoff games.
His rookie AHL season with the San Jose Barracudas this year was a learning experience, but at age 20, he still managed 35 points in 69 games.
On their own, none of these additions is likely to change the current roster. But combined with Lagerberg-Hoen and Cover, they do provide important new depth and paint a clear picture of a GM keeping a better eye on the future.
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By Steve Warne The Hockey News
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