Drafted 133rd overall in the sixth round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, Daniel Alfredsson was a serendipitous pick by the Ottawa Senators. Though largely unheralded entering his first NHL training camp, he would go on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie of the Year in 1995-96 and was the Senators' sole representative at the 1996 NHL All-Star Game.

On March 11, 2000, in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Marian Hossa attempted to one-time a loose puck but missed. The blade of his stick struck Bryan Berard in the right eye. Berard missed the 2000-01 season and underwent seven eye operations, improving his vision in the eye to 20/600. He started working out again in April 2001 and started skating again months later. Berard would eventually be fitted with a contact lens that allowed him to meet the league's minimum vision requirement of 20/400.

During his only season in Ottawa (1992-93), Mike Peluso set the club record for penalty minutes (318), but also proved valuable offensively, scoring 15 goals along with 10 assists.

Erik Karlsson dominated the NHL for nearly a decade, winning two Norris Trophies, and placing second two more times while in Ottawa. His 82 points in the 2015-16 season is still a record for a Senators defenseman.

Spezza was assigned jersey #44, which he wore during camps and preseason, then wore #39 in his regular season debut, before finally switching to #19.

Under Jacques Martin, the Senators had the best record in the Northeast Division in 1998-99, going 44-23-15. Martin was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the best head coach in the NHL.