Ottawa Senators Cap Space: Examining the Sens salary heading into the off-season

The Ottawa Senators missed the playoffs once again last year and head into the off-season looking to continue to build.

The Senators have most of its core players signed - except for Alex DeBrincat - which is good news for the organization. Ottawa also has plenty of cap space to work with as according to CapFriendly, they have just over $17 million in cap space.

Yet, the biggest question is the future of DeBrincat who struggled in his lone season with the Senators. He is a pending RFA and has told Ottawa he won't re-sign so a trade seems likely, but GM Pierre Dorion is fine letting him start the season with him.

"We talked a lot about it (Tuesday). He indicated he didn’t want to sign long-term, he never requested a trade, but (he told the Senators) free agency only comes once for him,” Pierre Dorion told reporters in Nashville. "I’m talking to multiple teams. It’s not a big secret, he’s aware of it, and I think we should be up front with it. But at the same time we’re not going to trade him for pennies on the dollar. We feel he’s a really good asset.”

Although DeBrincat will be heading to free agency next year, Dorion believes if he stays with Ottawa this year he will play a big role for the club.

“If he comes back to us, we know he had 27 goals, but whether he plays for us or plays for another team, we know he’s going to get 40 to 45 goals again,” said Dorion, who added he wasn’t under any pressure to make a deal for DeBrincat before the draft got started. There’s not really a crunch time. We have to be ready for every eventuality and we are ready for that.”

Outside of DeBrincat, the Senators don't have a ton of big free agents, but will likely be active this summer.

Ottawa Senator's pending free agents

For forwards, the Senators have DeBrincat and Shane Pinto as pending RFAs, while Derrick Brassard, Patrick Brown, Dylan Gambrell, Julien Gauthier, and Austin Watson are all UFAs, and whether or not any of them will be back is uncertain.

On defense, the Sens have Erik Brannstrom as an RFA while Travis Hamonic and Nick Holden are UFAs and Ottawa has expressed interest in re-signing Hamonic. Finally, in the net, Cam Talbot is a free agent and Pierre Dorion has already announced he won't be brought back.

Ultimately, this summer for the Senators will be about finding a number-one goaltender and adding bottom six forwards.