OTTAWA — The first round of the 2026 draft for the Ottawa Senators will be remembered for risky picks, questionable trades and moves they didn’t make.

It was expected that the Senators would trade the 25th-overall pick, but instead they used it as trade targets Mason McTavish, Pavel Dorofeyev and JJ Peterka flew to other destinations.

It felt inevitable that the Senators would have added one of those players or another elite winger after grabbing William Eklund for the ninth-overall pick from San Jose earlier this week. Instead, their forward group is still incomplete with the massive hole left by the trade of Brady Tkachuk.

Earlier this week, Senators GM Steve Staios said the team wasn’t trying to rebuild or retool. However, Friday’s moves seemed to paint a foggy picture.

Their two picks, at Nos. 25 and 32, had a clear type: find the next star to replace the one that walked away. The selections of Jonas Lagerberg Hoen at No. 25 and Jaxon Cover at No. 32 were off-the-board choices with higher upside but more risk.

“Plan was to get some skill in our lineup,” said head scout Don Boyd.

Most mock drafts didn’t project Lagerberg Hoen as a first-round pick, with Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala having him outside his top-100 prospects rankings. Lagerberg Hoen is a six-foot-two, natural goal-scorer, but played only nine games last year with his Swedish junior team due to a torn ACL.

He had 27 goals in 38 games the previous year. Senators scout Anders Ostberg felt the injury hurt his stock, but it’s still a surprising pick.

There’s a real argument, however, that the largest wager the Senators placed was keeping the 25^th pick but trading away the ninth selection. If the Senators were chasing stars, their best bet was at ninth overall, not at 25. The Eklund trade simply needs to hit.

Meanwhile, their second selection was another swing for the fences. Cover, a London Knights forward, was ranked 63 on Bukala’s list. Cover grew up as a roller-hockey player in the Cayman Islands, and started ice hockey just six years ago. Don’t quit on your dreams, kids.

Cover had a strong season with London, recording 20 goals and 52 points in 67 games.

The Senators hope his rapid rise continues. They are betting on his “untapped potential” to be greater than most in the draft class.

But the Senators haven’t hit on any picks significantly since they aced the 2020 draft with Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson.

Those two players are signed through 2031. It’s likely that neither of the players selected Friday will make a major impact until then, so why keep the picks?

The Senators’ forward group is not deep enough, with the team needing another top-six forward.

Maybe Staios will make a move on Day 2 of the draft or in free agency, but his work on Night 1 didn’t do much for the immediate future. In the end, Staios used his best asset to add one elite winger when he needed two and then didn’t use the 25th-overall pick to add another. Meanwhile, the Senators now have little cap space to play with because of other moves Staios made on Friday. 

The Senators acquired goaltender Samuel Ersson from Toronto for a 2027 fifth-round pick. Ersson needs a contract as he is a restricted free agent on July 1. He struggled mightily the last two seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers with an .878 save percentage. He was the worst goaltender in terms of goals saved above expected in 2024-25, and fifth worst last season.

Ersson doesn’t appear to be a reliable backup. If we are brutally honest, those numbers typically mean you’re not good enough to be in the NHL anymore.

It’s the same head-scratching feeling for André Burakovsky after the Senators acquired the forward for a sixth-round pick in 2027. Some believed would be bought out in Chicago after a dismal season despite playing a large swath of games with Connor Bedard.

Burakovsky scored just one goal in his last 37 games.

Why trade for Burakovsky when you’re now $9 million away from the cap and still need another true top-six forward?

It’s especially bewildering because Staios had built a really good roster prior to the Tkachuk trade.

Look no further than Jordan Spence, who signed a four-year, $20-million extension Friday.

It’s a fair deal for both parties. The defenceman proved himself to be capable of handling top-four minutes last season, playing the best hockey of his career in an elevated role due to the many injuries Ottawa faced.

Spence is an analytics darling who has been overlooked time and again due to his five-foot-11 frame — small for a defenceman in today’s NHL.

So why add two players like Ersson and Burakovsky?

The Senators could add valuable players in free agency or in a trade without eating up valuable cap space on marginal players. Meanwhile, keeping your 25^th pick seems to indicate you are looking to the future rather than trying to win now.

Ultimately, we refrain our judgment until the off-season ends

Nevertheless, the Senators’ direction feels muddied, and maybe it should feel that way a week after your captain asks out. 

But currently, there are more questions than answers.