We return to NHL Saturday to examine the best players in the history of the latest Ottawa Senators franchise; the first one existed from 1917-1934 before becoming the St. Louis Eagles for one season and then folding. The original Senators won three league titles (1921, 1923, 1927), but the current incarnation has not won much of anything since its birth in 1992—although it has made 16 postseasons in 32 years’ existence.

No. 10: Patrick Lalime, G—43 PS (1999-2004)

Impressive stint with the team, considering he was only in Ottawa for five seasons: a sixth-round pick in 1993 by Pittsburgh, the Senators acquired him at age 25. He posted two Top-10 Vezina vote finishes in 2001 and 2003, and overall with Ottawa, he put up a 146-100-30 record with 30 shutouts. He also managed a 21-20 postseason mark as a Senators starter, getting the team to the conference finals for the first time (2003).

No. 9: Dany Heatley, LW—47 PS (2005-2009)

The No. 2 overall pick by Atlanta in 2000, he joined the Senators in 2005 for his fourth NHL season: he was a two-time All Star while with Ottawa (2006-2007). In both those seasons, he finished in the Top 12 voting for the Hart, and he topped the NHL with 10 game-winning goals in the 2006-2007 season. With 362 points in 317 games, he delivered the offense. However, he was healthy for just one postseason with the team (2008).

No. 8: Marián Hossa, RW—50 PS (1998-2004)

He was picked twelfth overall by the Senators, and he finished second in the 1999 Calder vote. He was never an All Star, but he did manage two Top 20 Hart vote finishes (2003-2004). His final four seasons with Ottawa produced a total of 39.5 Point Shares, as he started to thrive leading up to the 2004-2005 lockout. The team made the postseason all six years he was with the team, peaking with the ECF appearance in 2003.

No. 7: Alexei Yashin, C—54 PS (1993-2001)

As the No. 2 overall pick for an expansion franchise, the pressure was always on him—and he eventually delivered with an All-Star season in 1999, along with a second-place finish in the Hart voting. The Senators made the postseason four times with him on the roster, although they only made it past the first round once in those four playoffs (1998). His best season (1999) produced 12.0 PS, which was also a career-best effort.

No. 6: Chris Phillips, D—65 PS (1997-2015)

A longtime grinder on the blue line, he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 Draft, strangely—but he never made an All-Star team and only put up 20:32 ATOI for his career in the regular season. In 114 postseason games, he upped that to 21:18 ATOI, but he was rarely an elite defenseman. As far as we can tell, he never earned a single vote for the Norris, although to his credit, he was on the 2007 team that reached the Finals.

No. 5: Jason Spezza, C—80 PS (2002-2014)

The No. 2 overall pick in 2001, he never made an All-Star team, although he did finish sixth in the Hart vote once (2012). He posted 687 points in 686 regular-season games for the Senators, and in the postseason, he almost as good (52 points in 56 playoff games). In the 2007 playoff run to the Cup Finals, he led all skaters with 15 assists and 22 points, overall. He posted just three seasons of double-digit PS (2008-2008, 2012).

No. 4: Erik Karlsson, D—82 PS (2009-2018)

He was the No. 15 draft pick, and he delivered a lot on that promise: four All-Star seasons (2012, 2015-2017) and two Norris vote wins (2012, 2015). He also topped the league in assists once (2016), which is impressive for a defenseman. He put up 25:58 ATOI in his years with the Senators, which is incredible. However, the team reached the ECFs just once with him on the team (2018), and he left after that for a Best Coast team.

No. 3: Craig Anderson, G—82 PS (2011-2020)

Arguably the best goaltender in team history, he joined the Senators during his age-29 season after bouncing through three others organizations first. He was just a third-round pick for Chicago, but with Ottawa, he played a lot bigger: 202 wins and 48 shutouts in the regular season, bolstered by 21 postseason victories and 3 more white washings. In the 2015 playoffs, he put up a 0.97 goals-against average. Wow!

No. 2: Wayne Redden, D—84 PS (1996-2008)

The No. 2 overall pick by the New York Islanders in 1995, he was traded to Ottawa before ever playing in an NHL game. He proceeded to play 838 regular-season games for the Senators without much distinction—although we did choose him for our Calder hardware in 1997. But he never earned a Norris vote during his long career, and his 23:38 ATOI mark in the regular season for Ottawa was merely solid, really. Oh well.

No. 1: Daniel Alfredsson, RW—128 PS (1995-2013)

A lowly sixth-round pick, he spent almost his entire career with the Senators, taking the Calder vote in 1996 and making the All-Star team in 2006. Late in his career with Ottawa, he also won the Clancy (2012) and Messier (2013) awards, too, demonstrating his overall league-wide level of respect. He was the offensive star for the team in its 2007 playoff run, leading all players in goals, points, EVGs, PPGs, and GWGs. Nice.