As a player, Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios wasn’t known for his fancy moves, but he managed to pull off a few beauties this weekend. By Sunday afternoon, when all the smoke had cleared, Staios and his staff had pulled off three trades, brought seven new players into the organization, and re-signed a fan favourite.
Here's your full summary of an impressive Sens weekend.
Claude Giroux Returns
After three years with his hometown NHL club, veteran forward Claude Giroux was less than two days away from unrestricted free agency before agreeing on Sunday to a one-year, bonus-laden deal.
According to Puckpedia.com, the deal includes a base salary of $2 million, with performance bonuses that could push the total value to $4.75 million.
- Base salary of $2 million
- Performance Bonuses – possible $2.75 million total:
- $250,000 each for 20/30/60 Games
- $250,000 to make playoffs & 50 GP
- $500,000 to win Round 1, $250,000 to win Round 2, $500,000 to win Round 3, and $500,000 to win the Cup (minimum 50% GP)
- No movement clause
While we’re still curious why a Round Two victory is only worth half what all the other rounds are worth (maybe a typo), that’s an outstanding deal for the Senators. If they had to go to market searching for a suitable replacement, they’re not finding one who’d be willing to come to Ottawa for the deal that Giroux signed today.
The Trades (All picks were 2025 selections unless otherwise indicated)
- Trading the 21st pick to Nashville for the 23rd pick and the 67th pick
- Trading the 96th pick and a seventh-rounder (2027) for the 93rd pick
- Trading the 67th pick and a sixth-rounder (2026) for Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jordan Spence
Jordan Spence, Right Defenseman, Acquired from Los Angeles
Spence appeared in 79 regular season games with Los Angeles in 2024–25, putting up four goals and 28 points, along with a plus-23 rating. In 180 career NHL games, Spence has collected eight goals and 61 points. He is signed for the 2025–26 NHL season with a contract that carries an AAV of $1.5 million.
“We're excited about the player,” Staios said. “Twenty-four years old, mobile, smart, competitive. And any time you get a chance to acquire a player like that, you know, you really start to look at it a little bit harder.
“Depth on defense is important to teams, especially on the right side—it's always harder to find right-shot defense, it seems like. So this was something where we can continue to add to the depth throughout the organization.”
Giving up only a third-rounder that the Sens basically got for free, along with a 2026 sixth-rounder, for an NHL player that makes your team better is fantastic value.
Why Senator Newcomer Jordan Spence Makes A Fine Insurance Policy On Ottawa's Blue LineIn the early portion of the second round of the 2025 NHL Draft, Sportnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that the Ottawa Senators had reached a trade agreement with the Los Angeles Kings, sending the 67th overall pick in this year's draft and a sixth-round selection, previously acquired from Colorado, in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Now onto the actual draft picks…
Logan Hensler, Right Defenseman, University of Wisconsin – 23rd Overall
On the heels of the 2024 selection of Carter Yakemchuk, the Sens took a right-shot defenseman for the second straight year, opting for Logan Hensler from the University of Wisconsin. Hensler is six-foot-two, 196 pounds and a member of the U.S. World Juniors squad that won gold.
Staios said he didn’t go into the draft necessarily targeting another right-shot defenseman.
“Yeah, not really,” Staios said. “You watch your draft list sort of unfold; this was a really good player that was sitting there with Hensler at our pick. I guess if it's a toss-up between maybe a winger and a right-shot defenseman, you'd probably lean towards (the right-shot D), just because of the value and how hard it is to find. So it's part of the consideration.”
The Hockey News’ Tony Ferrari describes Hensler as a player with excellent mobility and enough size to make it as a middle-of-the-lineup, two-way NHL defenseman.
Ottawa Senators 2025 First-Round Selection Says He Models His Game After Jake SandersonFor the second time in its franchise history, the Senators were involved in a draft day deal that involved a swap of first-round picks with the Nashville Predators.
Hensler enters his second year at Wisconsin this fall, where he'll welcome London Knights forward Blake Montgomery, Ottawa's 4th-round pick from last season. 2022 Sens pick Tyson Dyck, a forward, also plays at Wisconsin.
The Sens would wait 70 picks before making another selection.
Blake Vanek, Forward, Chicago Steel (USHL) – 93rd Overall
As they’ve frequently done in the past, the Sens went with a player who has excellent NHL bloodlines. They chose Blake Vanek, the son of former NHL player Thomas Vanek.
Like fellow Sens prospect Javon Moore (4th round, 2024), Blake spent most of his draft year ripping up high school hockey in Minnesota, where he put up 53 points in 29 games. Blake fits Ottawa’s trend of drafting bigger players. He’s already almost 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, and he doesn’t turn 18 until August.
“There’s a lot of hockey runway ahead with him,” Sens amateur scout Dan Boeser said. “He obviously comes from a hockey family with his dad, so there’s that piece we like. He knows the game well.”
Blake also saw limited action with the Chicago Steel in the USHL, posting 5 points in 9 games. Next season, he’s committed to a scholarship and development agreement with the Wenatchee Wild of the WHL.
“He's a powerful kid,” Boeser said. “He's going to be a big man when he's all done. He competes, can shoot the puck, he scores in the dirty areas. So there's a lot to like about him. Like the path that he's going to take next year going to Wenatchee. So yeah, we're excited.”
Lucas Beckman, Goalie, Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL) – 97th Overall
Like Vanek, Beckman won’t be 18 until August, so he’s another player with lots of runway.
At six-foot-two, 182 pounds, Beckman posted a .914 save percentage and a 2.65 goals-against average this year. It also says a lot when you’re only 17 and your major junior team makes you their undisputed number one goalie. Beckman started 52 games, posting a record of 31-18-2. He also started all 11 playoff games for Baie-Comeau, putting up even better individual stats than in the regular season.
Dmitri Isayev, Forward, Avto Yekaterinburg (Russian Junior Hockey) – 149th Overall
If anyone accuses the Senators of only being interested in bigger players at the draft, they can immediately call people’s attention to their 2025 fifth-round selection of Isayev. He is 5-foot-8, 148 pounds, but he is highly skilled, fast, and has a non-stop engine. Last season with Avto Yekaterinburg in the MHL, Isayev recorded 22 goals and 23 assists for 45 points in 44 games—over a point per game.
Bruno Idzan, LW, Lincoln Stars (USHL) – 181st Overall
The 19-year-old Idzan (EE’-junn) scored a highly impressive 22 goals and 44 points in 36 games with the Lincoln Stars, the USHL team that Blake Montgomery (4th round, 2024) began the season with. Those two will be reunited at the University of Wisconsin this fall, along with fellow Sens picks Logan Hensler and Tyson Dyck.
Idzan’s path to getting drafted is as unique as it gets. He’s the first Croatian to be drafted in the NHL and started the year back home in the Alps Hockey League, a pro league with teams from Austria, Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia.
Andrei Trofimov, G, Magnitogorsk Magnitka (MHL) – 213th Overall
The 18-year-old Russian is six-foot-two, 187 pounds and had outstanding numbers in the MHL, Russia’s top junior league. Trofimov had a 2.10 GAA and a .929 save percentage in 26 games. It’s hard to figure out which is more surprising for the Senators: taking two Russians (which previous management seemed to steer clear of), or taking a second goalie in a draft where you only have six picks. Staios said that even though it was a later pick, his scouts still took it very seriously, and after much discussion the pick was decided on.
“The goalie guys won,” Staios said.
That was a great weekend for the Ottawa Senators. Let’s see what they do for an encore when free agency begins on Tuesday.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News/Ottawa
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