Senators could get No. 1 NHL Draft pick for Gavin McKenna but not keep it due to forfeit

The Ottawa Senators are heading toward an unfortunate NHL Draft reality.

They have forfeited their 2026 first-round pick, and they're also in the running to potentially get the No. 1 overall pick.

In a normal year, with no pick forfeiture, at least Ottawa could view it as a chance to get phenom Gavin McKenna.

But this isn't a normal year. The Sens won't get to pick in the first round.

This is how PuckPedia explains the pick forfeiture:

The Ottawa Senators are forced to forfeit their 2026 first round pick.  This is due to a penalty imposed by the NHL for a "botched deal" involving forward Evgenii Dadonov. The penalty stems from how the Senators handled Dadonov's no-trade clause in his trade to the Golden Knights. The Senators will needed to decide which year to forfeit the pick by 24 hours after the draft lottery for that year. They did not forfeit the 2024 or 2025 pick, therefore the 2026 pick will be forfeited. It is possible that the NHL amends the penalty and returns the pick to Ottawa, but so far no change to the originally announced penalty has been shared publicly.

The Senators have reached their point of reckoning.

So, well, things could look something like this:

Ottawa is in last place in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division as of Tuesday night.

It's not a good time for the Senators to be bad.

MORE: This Gavin McKenna pass proves why he'll be the No. 1 pick