The Senators are believed to be exploring the trade market for winger Fabian Zetterlund, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 26-year-old played his first full campaign in Ottawa this season after being acquired at the 2025 trade deadline and it’s fair to say that the results were mixed.
Zetterlund played in all 82 games and set a new career high in hits with 155. However, his output dipped to 17 goals and 16 assists (from 41 points in 2024-25 and 44 the year before) while more notably, his ice time dropped to less than 13 minutes a night as he spent the majority of the season in a bottom-six role, often on the fourth line. While it’s good to have some depth scoring, the Sens didn’t acquire Zetterlund and hand him a fairly expensive contract to be a near-full-time bottom-sixer.
It’s likely that contract that has Zetterlund in play. He has two seasons left on that agreement, one that pays him $4.275MM per year. In a market that seems likely to yield some expensive deals for role players, there are teams that could find that palatable. With a thinned-out prospect pool, it wouldn’t be surprising if GM Steve Staios was eyeing using Zetterlund as a trade chip in a player-for-player swap more than a contract dump, instead hoping to find someone who might be a better fit for their roster.
Meanwhile, Garrioch adds that there have been some informal discussions between Staios and Artem Zub’s camp about a possible contract extension. The 30-year-old is entering the final season of his contract next season which means he’s eligible to sign a new deal as of July 1st.
Zub has spent his entire six-year NHL career in Ottawa and is coming off a career year, one that saw him collect 30 points in 81 games while averaging nearly 21 minutes per night of playing time. He currently carries a $4.6MM AAV and is likely to get a bump in pay on his next deal; AFP Analytics projects that he could land a little over $5MM per season on a four-year agreement. To get him to put pen to paper, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Senators will have to go at least a little higher than that to get it done.
Lastly, in a separate piece from Garrioch, he reported that the Senators officially relinquished Alex Formenton’s rights last month. The team had been trying to move his rights for a while now but to no avail. The 26-year-old last played in the NHL back in 2022 but since being part of the sexual assault trial involving five Canadian World Junior players, one that he was ultimately acquitted in, he hasn’t seen action at the top level. Formenton has played in Switzerland in three of the last four seasons and had 23 points in 45 games with Ambri-Piotta this season.
