Five years ago, the Ottawa Senators stepped to the draft floor with a franchise squarely in rebuild mode and plenty of eyes on their picks. The 2021 NHL Draft class represented another building block in a years-long project to restore the Senators to contention — and half a decade later, Yahoo Sports Canada has taken a detailed look at how those selections have panned out.
For Senators fans in Ottawa, it's a retrospective worth sitting with.
A Draft Class Born from Rebuild
The 2021 draft arrived during a complicated period for the Ottawa franchise. Fresh off several turbulent seasons that included high-profile trades, a stream of departing veterans, and the kind of lottery-ball fortune that only comes with bottoming out, the Senators were leaning heavily on their prospect pipeline as the path back to relevance.
Their most notable first-round selection that year was Ridly Greig, a 28th-overall pick out of the Brandon Wheat Kings. Greig — a feisty, high-motor forward — quickly became a fan favourite for his work ethic and compete level. Watching him climb through the system has been one of the more rewarding storylines for anyone who followed the rebuild from its earliest days in Ottawa.
The Reality of Prospect Development
Of course, no draft class unfolds the way teams hope. For every first-rounder who cracks the lineup and sticks, there are mid-round picks who spend years grinding in the AHL, bounce to Europe, or quietly fade from the picture altogether. The 2021 class was no different — a mix of high-ceiling bets and depth gambles, some of which have delivered and others that haven't.
That's not a criticism of the Senators' front office. It's simply the nature of drafting in a league where the margins between a future NHLer and a career minor leaguer are impossibly thin. What matters is whether Ottawa's scouting staff consistently identified players with both the tools and the character to compete at the professional level.
Why This Class Matters in 2026
With the Senators now five years removed from those picks, the stakes are very real. Players selected in 2021 are no longer teenagers finding their footing — they're fully grown professionals, many of them in the prime development years that determine whether they become genuine NHL contributors or career depth guys.
For a team still chasing its first meaningful playoff run of the rebuild era, every player from that class who can contribute to the lineup matters. The window isn't just approaching — for some of these players, it's already open.
Ottawa's Patience Is Being Tested — and Rewarded
There's something genuinely exciting about watching a rebuild class come of age. Ottawa fans who sat through some lean years now get to see what that patience produced. Whether the 2021 class ultimately becomes a foundation piece or a footnote in Senators history remains to be seen, but it's shaping up to be one of the more fascinating storylines to track as the 2026 season unfolds.
Source: Yahoo Sports Canada
