OTTAWA — When the Ottawa Senators moved on from Brady Tkachuk, general manager Steve Staios said he had no intention of taking a step back. The expectation was that, with the Tkachuk trade capital, they’d get busy turning those assets into players who could help their team in the near future. Even if, as Staios openly admitted on Saturday, they couldn’t “replace” him.But after this weekend’s NHL Draft, there’s every reason to feel left wanting more.The hope was that the Senators would take big swings to improve their roster in the immediate future, using their draft capital from the Tkachuk trade. It hasn’t happened yet. Ottawa only moved the No. 9 pick to acquire William Eklund earlier this week. But they kept their two other first-round picks (No 25 and 32, the latter of which they couldn’t trade), using them both on players with high upside and offensive potential in Jonas Lagerberg Hoen and Jaxon Cover. Two big swings after years of picking safe, responsible, and low-ceiling draft picks.But those players aren’t likely to help out in the immediate future. Meanwhile, a litany of top-line wingers have changed addresses in recent days. Mason McTavish, Pavel Dorofeyev, Jordan Kyrou and JJ Peterka could have all been suitable players for the Senators. But they’re all off the board.Why the Senators traded Brady Tkachuk to the Panthers in an NHL blockbusterJulian McKenzie“We looked at all those players, we looked at every player that would have been available. To make a deal happen, a lot of things have to be there, and a lot of things have to be in place,” Staios said on Saturday afternoon, following the conclusion of the draft.The Sens are likely moving in silence, as has been Staios’ calling card throughout his managerial tenure in Ottawa. But while his previous moves, including Eklund, took onlookers by surprise in a positive way, Staios’ most recent trades are headscratchers at best.Ottawa willingly traded a future fifth-round pick to Toronto for goaltender Samuel Ersson, a goaltender with the fifth-worst goals-saved above expected rate (-16.5) in the regular season. The Leafs, who acquired Ersson from Philadelphia in an earlier trade, reportedly weren’t planning on tendering him a $1.6 million qualifying offer. If the Senators were that hellbent on adding him, they could’ve easily waited until he became a free agent and signed him for goaltending depth to push Leevi Meriläinen.But Staios said his goaltending experts, Justin Peters and Maciej Szwoch, identified Ersson as a “very good goaltender” for his group. And that prompted Staios to acquire him from the Maple Leafs, with the intention of signing him to a new contract.“They like the upside on the goalie,” Staios said.And then there’s the André Burakovsky trade.The 31-year-old Stanley Cup champion has size and has contributed on winning teams in a secondary scoring role. But his $5.5 million cap hit is rather bloated for a player who probably best fits on a team’s bottom six, and the Sens only have slightly over $9 million in cap space as a result.At the very least, he’ll have to erase any memory of the back half of this past year with Chicago, where he scored four points in his final 37 games. Though Staios is clearly hoping for the version of Burakovsky who had 29 points in his first 38 games.“He’s a puck transporter,” Staios said. “He’s got good playmaking ability. Played with the right players at the beginning of the season, things were going pretty good for him.“It was a great value to be able to bring in a player of his calibre and his experience, and (he) obviously knows what it takes to win.”Speaking of their bottom six, adding a player such as Burakovsky invites questions on what that group will look like with both Nick Cousins and Claude Giroux being pending unrestricted free agents in a matter of days.“(We’re) interested in both to be quite honest,” Staios said. “I won’t talk about negotiations, but certainly eagerly awaiting dialogue. We appreciate both players.”Nothing is stopping Burakovsky or Ersson from playing above expectations and proving people wrong. Staios even said he’s identified players in the past who weren’t good fits in their previous cities before successfully adding them to his team. It is welcomed on a team that’s trying to emulate the Carolina Hurricanes, a group that just won the Stanley Cup with a collection of great players and no superstar. Even by adding certain players who weren’t always seen as slam dunks but ended up being perfect for Carolina’s identity as a swarming, defensive, yet talented team.“I see some similarities,” Staios said. “And they’ve done a phenomenal job there, right through on their identity and how they play. And the way they’ve built that. So, certainly there’s a very good team to look at.”But on paper, the Senators don’t seem as formidable as they were last year. Particularly in a division where teams such as the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins took steps to improve, as well as the Maple Leafs, who drafted Gavin McKenna. And then there are playoff teams such as Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Montreal who will pose a challenge regardless. The urgency is there for Ottawa to add more pieces, particularly at forward, to keep up.So, where can you turn to obtain that piece?If they’re still considering a trade, Vancouver’s Jake DeBrusk remains an option, but it’s not clear if he’ll waive his no-move clause to move across the country. Kirill Marchenko’s future in Columbus is up in the air. Rickard Rakell, Pavel Zacha and Owen Tippett have been listed on Chris Johnston’s previous trade boards. Jason Robertson, reportedly, isn’t interested in signing long-term here. And even if the Senators wanted to accommodate him for a year, they currently cannot afford his $9.3 million qualifying offer. And, again, there’s a chance the Senators are shaking the trees on someone no one’s thought of.And as trade options thin out for the Sens, it means having to look at a near-bare-bones free agent class for options starting this week. Anthony Mantha, Anders Lee, Michael Bunting and Mason Marchment are among the headlining forwards possibly available on July 1. They could be solid additions at best, but questionable as needle-movers as their division rivals improve.But the Senators say they’re not done adding to their group, while also hoping the players currently on their roster can provide more production. Though Staios warned that he won’t seek the “shiny toy” just to do it.“We’re going to continue to add to the depth of the roster,” Staios said. “And we like the fact that we can have a four-line team that can play. It proves to be effective in our league to be able to have four lines that can play. Our coach wants to have that depth and ability to be able to match up and feel comfortable with any line on the ice in most situations,“We’re not perfect. But certainly, I think, if you’ve followed us from Day 1 to where we are now. And how we continue to work and bring in (players), a lot of times it’s not the biggest name. But we feel it’s the most effective fit for our group to make us better.”There is time left in the offseason for the Ottawa Senators to be creative and add to their group. But they are running out of potential solutions.