Caps fans, can you be honest with your perspective on why Jensen had an off year last season compared to his previous 2 seasons before that?

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Sens fan here. I don't think anyone needs a magical ball to see that the Caps easily won the trade. However, I also think the doom and gloom of Ottawa losing it horribly (Heck even losing it at all) is premature. This trade could very well turn out to be a win-win if Jensen gets back to 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 form.

So can y'all give me insight on what lead to Jensen's decline last season and what type of partners and system he needs to be with for his strengths to flourish and weaknesses to be less exposed?

Click to read more...

 

[Hivemind]

That's one hell of a thread title


He had more hesitation in his game in 2024. And that hesitation led to guys getting a step on him that they wouldn't have in the past. That hesitation led to zone entries that he would have denied previously. And while he's an effective in-zone defender, it's a much better scenario when he simply never lets the opponent gain the zone in the first place. Denying zone entries was how he made himself into a shutdown D against top players in the past.

I think (hope?) that hesitation is reversible. Washington had a new coach and a new defensive system in 2023-24. Given more time to adjust, he may have been able to turn things around.

 

[HTFN]

The short real answer is we don't know, he could have been battling something or just losing a step, so on the physical decline side you could either be getting a healthy version again or else this is just the new him. He's not dead on his feet or anything but he wasn't as smooth and capable this year and it made him slightly frustrating at times, if he has to dial back his range to stay effective you're losing some of his best attributes.

The other thing we keyed in on is that Jensen has been slow to come online virtually every time he's had to adjust to new coaching. It seems to take him a lot of games to be comfortable enough in his role and system to turn his brain off and skate, which makes him less dependable for a while and prone to weird hiccups

 

[Holtbyisms]

Sens fan here. I don't think anyone needs a magical ball to see that the Caps easily won the trade. However, I also think the doom and gloom of Ottawa losing it horribly (Heck even losing it at all) is premature. This trade could very well turn out to be a win-win if Jensen gets back to 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 form.

So can y'all give me insight on what lead to Jensen's decline last season and what type of partners and system he needs to be with for his strengths to flourish and weaknesses to be less exposed?

He's starting to show his age, injuries are getting to him and he was playing on a bad team. I'm blown away this trade went down as bad as he was last year.

 

[Chokingdogs]

Sorry, I cannot be honest. Been a character flaw of mine for many, many years.

 

[kicksavedave]

I think (hope?) that hesitation is reversible. Washington had a new coach and a new defensive system in 2023-24. Given more time to adjust, he may have been able to turn things around.

One more thing I noticed was, Jensen always struggled early on whenever he got a new coach/system/trade. He was slow out of the gates here when we acquired him, slow when each new coach came in (2 new coaches since we got him). But after a while he got comfortable and really showed his skating and positioning, and comfort with the defense.

So, to @Bjornar Moxnes be patient with him. Don't grade him on his first month. Give him half the season then see how he's doing.

I'd also bet my lunch money he was slightly hurt last year.

 

[Ridley Simon]

He’s a non scoring mobile defenseman w a decent outlet pass.

If he’s lost his mobility at all, he’s in trouble.

I honestly think he was injured. I still do. However he’s 34 too, so……

 

[Brian23]

I think the other thing not brought up is something happened with Jensen prior to the start of the year, some sort of personal issue that kept him away from the team for a few weeks. It may have affected his play as well.

Personally, I think he's just getting old. He's gonna be 34 to start this year and his biggest strengths were his first pass and his mobility. If the mobility stats to wane, he's not got many other tools to really make up the difference.

 

[qc14]

In addition to other responses I think there are three big things from last year as well:

1) He no longer was playing with Orlov as his primary partner. They were absolutely great fits together, but it's no secret or controversy that Orlov was the driver of that pair and the better player. Sandin (and Alexeyev and Fehervary) were not close to being the level of player Orlov was.

2) Carbery switched from a zone defensive scheme to a strict man-on-man one. A lot of the team struggled with it, especially early, but Jensen seemed like he was having the most problems. I think some Caps fans forget how awkward he looked when he first arrived in DC from DET -- it took a year or so and Lavi coming in for him to find his stride. He may just be a player who fits Laviolette's system really really well.

3) He's just plain old. People often talk about the aging 'curve' and in aggregate that's true but for individual players it's usually just an aging 'cliff.' He's lost some footspeed and agility and his passing wasn't as crisp as it once was.

I think reasons 1 and 2 can (but aren't guaranteed) to be remedied in OTT ... much more skeptical on #3

 

[zappa4ever]

I think the 2023-24 downturn was 80% he was banged up for a lot of the year, 20% he's getting old

If he's in good physical shape come October I think he'll have a strong season

Love his play and tenacity the last few years, really tough to play against, guess we'll see if he bounces back; I'd have preferred to keep him over TVR

 

[trick9]

Jensen is slow to adapt to new systems and always struggles when there is a coaching change or system change. That paired with injuries and tough role was propably the biggest reason.

 

[PlushMinus]

1) He no longer was playing with Orlov as his primary partner. They were absolutely great fits together, but it's no secret or controversy that Orlov was the driver of that pair and the better player. Sandin (and Alexeyev and Fehervary) were not close to being the level of player Orlov was.

Definitely agree with this. Losing Orlov played a big role, and Sandin was underwhelming.

I'm still not sure what Sandin's ceiling is - hopefully he hasn't reached it.

 

[Lou Sassole]

In addition to other responses I think there are three big things from last year as well:

1) He no longer was playing with Orlov as his primary partner. They were absolutely great fits together, but it's no secret or controversy that Orlov was the driver of that pair and the better player. Sandin (and Alexeyev and Fehervary) were not close to being the level of player Orlov was.

2) Carbery switched from a zone defensive scheme to a strict man-on-man one. A lot of the team struggled with it, especially early, but Jensen seemed like he was having the most problems. I think some Caps fans forget how awkward he looked when he first arrived in DC from DET -- it took a year or so and Lavi coming in for him to find his stride. He may just be a player who fits Laviolette's system really really well.

3) He's just plain old. People often talk about the aging 'curve' and in aggregate that's true but for individual players it's usually just an aging 'cliff.' He's lost some footspeed and agility and his passing wasn't as crisp as it once was.

I think reasons 1 and 2 can (but aren't guaranteed) to be remedied in OTT ... much more skeptical on #3

Yup, and he's a smaller guy, so if he's lost half a step, he starts taking hits he would normally avoid. Like when he got destroyed against Tampa at the end of last year and I actually thought for a second that he was dead.