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鈥淥ttawa will have a much better team than Toronto in two to three years,鈥澛� former Senators defenceman Marc Methot tweeted in March 2021. 鈥淲on鈥檛 even be close.鈥�

By that point, Ottawa had drafted some good young players 鈥� Brady Tkachuk, Tim St眉tzle, Jake Sanderson, Shane Pinto and Thomas Chabot 鈥斅爁uelling Methot鈥檚 enthusiasm. He didn鈥檛 quite anticipate the growing pains that lay ahead, or the ownership change to Michael Andlauer, or the departures of general manager Pierre Dorion Jr. and coach D.J. Smith, or that prospects Logan Brown, Colin White and Alex Formenton wouldn鈥檛 work out as well as others.

So, Methot was wrong. No big deal. If you鈥檙e going to swim in the pond of sports prognostication, you鈥檙e going to swallow some water from time to time.

That said, here we are in March 2025, four years after his infamous tweet, and the distance between the Senators and their provincial cousins has narrowed significantly. These days, the Senators are hot and the Maple Leafs are puttering along. There鈥檚 even a possibility, as the teams prepare to collide Saturday night in Toronto, that Ottawa could catch the Leafs in the Eastern Conference standings by season鈥檚 end.

Even more delicious is the possibility that the teams could meet in the post-season for the first time since 2004.

Earlier this season, that would have looked like a mismatch. But with Ottawa having won five in a row聽鈥� including over the Boston Bruins on Thursday, at the same time the Leafs were losing at home to the Florida Panthers 鈥斅爐his would be a very competitive series if it started tomorrow.

That changes Toronto鈥檚 point of view, doesn鈥檛 it? A team built to deal with the Bruins, Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning didn鈥檛 have the Senators on its radar. It wasn鈥檛 so long ago that even Montreal and Detroit looked to be more likely challengers than Ottawa in the Atlantic Division.聽聽

But a lot has changed. Coach Travis Green has turned the Senators into a top-10 defensive club. Tkachuk came back from the 4 Nations Face-Off seemingly transformed as a player and leader, the way Leafs fans might have been hoping Mitch Marner would be.

Ottawa hockey boss Steve Staios added centre Dylan Cozens at the trade deadline to fill a specific need up front, and he has had an immediate impact. By comparison, the Leafs added defenceman Brandon Carlo and centre Scott Laughton, but neither filled a yawning need. Toronto鈥檚 no longer the offensive powerhouse it once was, and GM Brad Treliving has done absolutely nothing to address that problem since the team went down to the Bruins in seven games last spring largely because of a lack of offence.

With 17 games left for both teams, there鈥檚 still time for a great deal to change. Right now, the Senators are surging while the Leafs, coming off a long road trip, seem to be where they鈥檝e been all season: middle of the road in most statistical categories and hoping superstar centre Auston Matthews finds his game.

Even goaltending, a Leafs strength this season, has been a tad wobbly of late. In Ottawa, meanwhile, Linus Ullmark has been getting healthy and may have made the save of the year Thursday night on Boston鈥檚 Mason Lohrei. The Ottawa offence exploded for four goals in the first period and drove Jeremy Swayman from the Boston net, moving the Senators five points up on the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first wild-card spot and just six points behind 海角社区官网for second in the Atlantic.

Ottawa hasn鈥檛 made the post-season dance since 2017, but is looking both talented and hungry enough to make it. The Leafs, meanwhile, spent time complimenting themselves on how hard they played Thursday in the loss to Florida, but it鈥檚 not something they have done consistently. One of the four best defensive teams earlier this season has plummeted to No. 16. After 65 games, Craig Berube鈥檚 club is still searching for an identity.

For the Senators, Tkachuk has been on fire with seven goals in eight games, while Matthews, his 4 Nations teammate, has continued to struggle with three goals in his past 15. Tkachuk gives the Senators a physical, 鈥渄o whatever it takes鈥� edge that the Leafs simply don鈥檛 have. Florida鈥檚 Sam Bennett, a pending unrestricted free agent, delivered that element on Thursday with two goals, making it easy to wonder if the Leafs would be better off spending on Bennett or a player of his ilk this summer, rather than the unsigned Marner.

But it鈥檚 not about one player. It鈥檚 about a teamwide commitment. Right now, Ottawa has it and the Leafs don鈥檛, at least not consistently.

Saturday’s Battle of Ontario should tell us even more.