(Ottawa) Senators captain Brady Tkachuk did not mince his words when talking about the fact that the Ottawa team did not qualify for the NHL playoffs for a seventh straight season.
“I’m tired of losing,” Tkachuk said Thursday during the team’s review. I don’t want to go home in April. I am frustrated, disappointed. It’s really disappointing. »
The Senators (37-41-4) finished the season ranked 14e rank of the Eastern Association, 13 points from a participation in the playoffs.
Tkachuk recalled that he had high expectations this fall, especially with the arrival of new owner Michael Andlauer.
Things quickly went off the rails and long-time general manager Pierre Dorion was fired in November, then head coach DJ Smith suffered the same fate six weeks later.
Tkachuk said the season was mentally difficult.
There were days when we didn’t have fun. In the past, it was always fun to come to work, but there were times this season where it was difficult to come to the rink because things weren’t going well.
Brady Tkachuk
The Senators have a good young core of players. Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot have now played over 400 games in the NHL. Drake Batherson played 309, Tim Stützle, 285, and Jake Sanderson, 156.
On the other hand, none of them experienced the craze of the series. Besides Claude Giroux, the team has few veterans and interim head coach Jacques Martin has sometimes spoken of the group’s lack of maturity.
It’s important to count on players who have won, who have playoff experience. However, I think the answers are in the locker room. There are excellent players and it’s up to them to fight night after night.
Jacques Martin, interim head coach of the Senators
Martin won’t be back behind the bench next season, but he hopes to keep an advisory role.
Chabot said the Senators need to take inspiration from teams like the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes, who find a way to be in the game every game.
“We have to improve our collective game,” Giroux said. We need to help each other better on the ice. »
General manager Steve Staios will meet with the media on Friday. He’ll have a lot of work to do this offseason, starting with hiring a new head coach.
He will also have to decide if defender Jakob Chychrun is part of the team’s long-term plans. His contract is still valid for one season, then he could then benefit from complete autonomy in the summer of 2025.
“Honestly, I haven’t started thinking about that yet,” Chychrun said. There have been no discussions regarding a contract extension, so I don’t have that in mind. I’ll take it one day at a time and we’ll see where things go when the discussions begin. »