Less than 48 hours after their playoff run came to an end, the Ottawa Senators reflected on their surprising, fun season on Saturday.

The team returned to Scotiabank Place to clean out their lockers and talk about many subjects, including their season that surpassed the vast majority of outside predictions.

"We're really proud of the season we had, we have something we're going to build on," said forward Nick Foligno. "(There's) a lot of optimism in that room right now of how hard we worked and built our identity."

"(The fans) learned to stay to the last minute of the game, they also helped us," said captain Daniel Alfredsson. "They gave us a lot of energy . . . so I'd say thank you."

A big focus of the off-season is the Alfredsson's future, who has talked about retirement in the past.

"I don't know, but I know I need to have that desire to get ready for another year," he said.

"I just might force him to come back for one more year," said forward Chris Neil. "Alfie was awesome all year."

Alfredsson said his kids had something to say about his hockey career back in January.

"My son once told me when I did an interview for the All Star Game . . . I said I don't know, we'll see what happens," he said.

"He kind of started crying, I didn't he was that emotional about it so I said what's wrong, and he said 'I won't be able to go in the pool in the locker room' so he's worried he can't come down if I retire."

Senators general manager Bryan Murray said he didn't ask Alfedsson about a timeline for his decision, but would "discourage him like heck" not to retire.

Head coach Paul MacLean said he told Alfredsson he can play for as long as he wants.

Another one of the Senators' stars said he has a different focus in the off-season.

"We have a new baby, I'm excited to get to know her a bit better," said Jason Spezza. "It will just be nice to be a dad for a little bit, I'm looking forward to spending time with my family and just relaxing and taking a couple of deep breaths."

Players can now spread out to their various off-season homes and training locales, not needing to return to Scotiabank Place until September.

There are currently no Senators players headed to the IIHF World Hockey Championships next week in Sweden and Finland.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Vanessa Lee