DLLS Stars Podcast: Have The Ottawa Senators Returned To Relevance In The East?

Today on “The Other 31” summer series we head back to the Eastern Conference and take a closer look at the Ottawa Senators with special guests Julian McKenzie, Senators beat writer for The Athletic, and Gord Wilson, Senators radio color analyst. The Senators snapped a seven-year playoff drought in 2024-25, qualifying for the post season for the first time since they made a charge to the 2017 Eastern Conference Final, losing to defending champion Pittsburgh. After playing in 512 regular season NHL games, it was Sens captain Brady Tkachuk’s first taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, even though Ottawa lost a very entertaining series to the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games. Now the big question; can the Senators take the next step, make the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since the 2011-12 & 2012-13 seasons and then advance past the first round? We’ll ask our guests about the offseason additions of Lars Eller and Jordan Spence, plus their takes on the Dallas Stars, and much more!