Current state of Sens roster formation

[PlayOn]

Looking at individual players is wrong, this is a team game & how they play as a team is what will be important. IMO the team overall should be much better defensively & if they can cut down on the goals against especially allowing the first goal so damn often that the team won't need to chase the game as often is going to be very important to team success. Not having to chase the game means less opportunites against & that in itself makes the team better if it plays out that way.

We have decent goal scorers & I have no doubt we will put up pts especially on the PP, but improving the PK & defensive play will be key to keeping us in games longer & give this team more opportunities to win close games. While I think we got better I imagine so did most other teams at this time of yr, so it will be what we see when the season starts to determine where we are relative to the league, conference & division.

Agreed.

I think an example is Tarasenko vs Perron. Tarasenko might be the better player at this stage, but he’s the type of player you acquire if you’re looking for a shooter. We don’t have that issue, we’ve got plenty of good shooters on our roster. Perron on the other hand is hard to play against, good down low and along the boards, which we could use a lot more of. In theory Perron should compliment our top 9 where we lack this element a lot better than Tarasenko did. Maybe he helps make some of our skilled players more effective.

Who knows how it actually works out but that’s why it’s kind of pointless to look at individual players.

 

[LiseL]

If the Sens do make the playoffs, you'd assume they automatically forfeit their first rounder not wanting to risk anything in 2026 (And best case scenario they can use 2026 1st rounder for trade bait if it comes down to it).

I think it depends on how deep the draft is. I thought I heard that next year's draft will be deeper than this year's.

 

[Micklebot]

If the Sens do make the playoffs, you'd assume they automatically forfeit their first rounder not wanting to risk anything in 2026 (And best case scenario they can use 2026 1st rounder for trade bait if it comes down to it).

If we hold off as long as possible there's the chance we could get the NHL to reconsider like they did for NJD.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

 

[Cosmix]

We should be where Calgary and Montreal are: Lottery Pick Team.

 

[Micklebot]

We should be where Calgary and Montreal are: Lottery Pick Team.

Second half of last year we played at a 90 pts pace despite losing Norris to injury and trading off Tarasenko, oh and the Korpisalo/Forsberg tandem continuing to suck.

Last year's team underperformed. With the addition of Ullmark, and the roster playing to it's capabilities, there really isn't any reason we shouldn't be a bubble team.

 

[The Waffler]

Second half of last year we played at a 90 pts pace despite losing Norris to injury and trading off Tarasenko, oh and the Korpisalo/Forsberg tandem continuing to suck.

Last year's team underperformed. With the addition of Ullmark, and the roster playing to it's capabilities, there really isn't any reason we shouldn't be a bubble team.

Imagine they underperform, again.

 

[BoardsofCanada]

My opinion: we had the team to make the playoffs this season. For me, the miss was all on Korpisalo/Forsberg. Don't get me wrong, we were FAR from perfect; too easy to play against, tons of defensive mistakes, injuries, suspensions, questionable coaching etc.

But with a big time goalie like Ullmark in net to bail them out, I think we would've snuck in ahead of the Caps. Probably would've got blown out in the first round but never the less.

Next season, you could argue we'll be better in terms of character and maturity. A new coach who will hopefully get every last bit out of the players. But most importantly, a reliable goalie.

 

[Micklebot]

Imagine they underperform, again.

They certainly could.

I don't think DJ had them playing a style that worked when things don't go your way. Martin played a big role in cleaning things up

I think poor goaltending undermines a teams confidence, I think Ullmark cleans that up

I think Heath (and suspensions) played a big role in our performance, hopefully Pinto can stay off bet365 and Stü's wrist is better

There are lots of areas were we can reasonably expect to see improvement over last year. We'll have to wait to see how it goes, but I don't think assuming things will go as poorly as last year is any better than assuming things will exceed reasonable expectations. Imo, is being a bubble team is setting expectations in the middle of plausible outcomes.

 

[Tuna99]

They certainly could.

I don't think DJ had them playing a style that worked when things don't go your way. Martin played a big role in cleaning things up

I think poor goaltending undermines a teams confidence, I think Ullmark cleans that up

I think Heath (and suspensions) played a big role in our performance, hopefully Pinto can stay off bet365 and Stü's wrist is better

There are lots of areas were we can reasonably expect to see improvement over last year. We'll have to wait to see how it goes, but I don't think assuming things will go as poorly as last year is any better than assuming things will exceed reasonable expectations. Imo, is being a bubble team is setting expectations in the middle of plausible outcomes.

The teams attitude I think is the biggest indicator they will be a playoff team - Staois has gotten their attention, they are ready to work and from day 1 of training camp they’ll have Stanley Cup havits

 

[The Waffler]

They certainly could.

I don't think DJ had them playing a style that worked when things don't go your way. Martin played a big role in cleaning things up

I think poor goaltending undermines a teams confidence, I think Ullmark cleans that up

I think Heath (and suspensions) played a big role in our performance, hopefully Pinto can stay off bet365 and Stü's wrist is better

There are lots of areas were we can reasonably expect to see improvement over last year. We'll have to wait to see how it goes, but I don't think assuming things will go as poorly as last year is any better than assuming things will exceed reasonable expectations. Imo, is being a bubble team is setting expectations in the middle of plausible outcomes.

Well, there’s always gonna be injuries and that’s not just an Ottawa Senator thing, that’s sports. That’s where the value of good depth comes into play, and that’s something I think management is addressing fairly well, even at the minor league level.

I’ve been cautiously optimistic about this offseason. They needed to change something, what they were trying to do just wasn’t working. So good trade/bad trade, good signing/bad signing, draft picks etc, just for the sake of trying something different. Im open to it all and hope for the best.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Well, there’s always gonna be injuries and that’s not just an Ottawa Senator thing, that’s sports. That’s where the value of good depth comes into play, and that’s something I think management is addressing fairly well, even at the minor league level.

I’ve been cautiously optimistic about this offseason. They needed to change something, what they were trying to do just wasn’t working. So good trade/bad trade, good signing/bad signing, draft picks etc, just for the sake of trying something different. Im open to it all and hope for the best.

What about the Cup?

 

[The Waffler]

What about the Cup?

Oh the cup is most definitely ours.

 

[Micklebot]

Well, there’s always gonna be injuries and that’s not just an Ottawa Senator thing, that’s sports. That’s where the value of good depth comes into play, and that’s something I think management is addressing fairly well, even at the minor league level.

I’ve been cautiously optimistic about this offseason. They needed to change something, what they were trying to do just wasn’t working. So good trade/bad trade, good signing/bad signing, draft picks etc, just for the sake of trying something different. Im open to it all and hope for the best.

I think injuries are one thing, but a 41 game suspensions for off ice conduct made it a lot harder for our depth to mitigate Norris not being ready to start the season and Stü sustaining a wrist injury in game 4 that bugged him all year.

That's a big hit to our center depth right out of the gate that I'm hopeful won't repeat itself.

There are things that I expect to happen, like taxes and death, Chabot will miss a dozen games, Zub will break his jaw or take a cross check to the head or some other freak accident, and at this point I'm assuming someone will go down to a shoulder injury and need surgery. But, what makes injuries tough to deal with is when they compound, I'm hopeful we won't see both Chabot and Zub out at the same time, or three Centers all either out or playing though something significant at the same time. I'm also confident we won't put ourselves in such a cap bind that we can't call up replacements and need to play a man short.

 

[The Waffler]

I think injuries are one thing, but a 41 game suspensions for off ice conduct made it a lot harder for our depth to mitigate Norris not being ready to start the season and Stü sustaining a wrist injury in game 4 that bugged him all year.

That's a big hit to our center depth right out of the gate that I'm hopeful won't repeat itself.

There are things that I expect to happen, like taxes and death, Chabot will miss a dozen games, Zub will break his jaw or take a cross check to the head or some other freak accident, and at this point I'm assuming someone will go down to a shoulder injury and need surgery. But, what makes injuries tough to deal with is when they compound, I'm hopeful we won't see both Chabot and Zub out at the same time, or three Centers all either out or playing though something significant at the same time. I'm also confident we won't put ourselves in such a cap bind that we can't call up replacements and need to play a man short.

Definitely. Although I think a lot of us were fooling ourselves when predicting the standings last offseason, it should have been a lot closer than it was.

Injuries aside, good goaltending and a strong start to the year will get me starting parade threads on the main boards.

 

[Micklebot]

Definitely. Although I think a lot of us were fooling ourselves when predicting the standings last offseason, it should have been a lot closer than it was.

Injuries aside, good goaltending and a strong start to the year will get me starting parade threads on the main boards.

I eagerly await your Sens >>> NHL thread

 

[HSF]

if norris isnt ready then I have concerns over the center depth on the team. Also need a bottom pairing guy. One injury away from having JBD/Hamonic in the top 4/6 is not good

 

[Cosmix]

If the Sens do make the playoffs, you'd assume they automatically forfeit their first rounder not wanting to risk anything in 2026 (And best case scenario they can use 2026 1st rounder for trade bait if it comes down to it).

They might if their pick is #17 to #20. Then again, Staios might be thinking he has a SC contender roster if they win a round.

 

[Cosmix]

If we hold off as long as possible there's the chance we could get the NHL to reconsider like they did for NJD.

Yes, the punishment was unduly harsh; moving the pick back to #32 would be welcome but still harsh IMO.

I don't think Dorion would deliberately lie; I suspect he was mistaken as it would certainly be found out at some point. Dorion was certainly negligent for not checking and confirming the status.

 

[SENStastic]

Second half of last year we played at a 90 pts pace despite losing Norris to injury and trading off Tarasenko, oh and the Korpisalo/Forsberg tandem continuing to suck.

Last year's team underperformed. With the addition of Ullmark, and the roster playing to it's capabilities, there really isn't any reason we shouldn't be a bubble team.

We tend to over perform in the second half of the season, when the year is already sunk. The key is the first couple months, we've been reading way too much into decent back half season performances when we're already out of any realistic playoff contention and the games have little to no meaning. Being on 90pt pace has no bearing if they can't carry that momentum through to the beginning of following season, which they've failed to do for multiple years now. Its nothing new.

 

[Micklebot]

We tend to over perform in the second half of the season, when the year is already sunk. The key is the first couple months, we've been reading way too much into decent back half season performances when we're already out of any realistic playoff contention and the games have little to no meaning. Being on 90pt pace has no bearing if they can't carry that momentum through to the beginning of following season, which they've failed to do for multiple years now. Its nothing new.

Over the last few years, our starts have often been mared by unexpected issues at the start of the season

2023-24, Pinto 41 game suspension combined with Norris and Stü health decimated our depth at center. Add to that Dorion's mismanagement of the cap and we couldn't do much to compensate.

2022-23, Talbot injured out of the gate, then we lose Norris for the season 5 games in. Zub also missed a huge chunk of the first half, playing 14 of the first 35 games.

2021-22: Pinto blows his shoulder in game 5, Murray misses 8 of the first 15 games and the team has a Covid outbreak decimate the roster around game 12 but the league opts not to reschedule any of our games the way it would with other teams shortly afterwards. White also injured long term before the season even started, though he was a third liner at best it still killed our depth

Injuries happen, it is what it is, but I believe our poor starts are at least partly the product of the timing of our health issues,

 

[SENStastic]

Over the last few years, our starts have often been mared by unexpected issues at the start of the season

2023-24, Pinto 41 game suspension combined with Norris and Stü health decimated our depth at center. Add to that Dorion's mismanagement of the cap and we couldn't do much to compensate.

2022-23, Talbot injured out of the gate, then we lose Norris for the season 5 games in. Zub also missed a huge chunk of the first half, playing 14 of the first 35 games.

2021-22: Pinto blows his shoulder in game 5, Murray misses 8 of the first 15 games and the team has a Covid outbreak decimate the roster around game 12 but the league opts not to reschedule any of our games the way it would with other teams shortly afterwards. White also injured long term before the season even started, though he was a third liner at best it still killed our depth

Injuries happen, it is what it is, but I believe our poor starts are at least partly the product of the timing of our health issues,

Yes, injuries are indeed a thing, for every team.

 

[Micklebot]

Yes, injuries are indeed a thing, for every team.

Some more than others, which gets lost in the "everyone deals with injuries" mantra.

That's the thing that gets lost, in a league that has tried to encourage parity, it doesn't take much to disrupt a teams season. + or - 5 or even 10 pts due to health can be the difference between a division spot vs fighting for the wildcard, or in the case of a bubble team, playoffs or not.

 

[SENStastic]

Some more than others, which gets lost in the "everyone deals with injuries" mantra.

That's the thing that gets lost, in a league that has tried to encourage parity, it doesn't take much to disrupt a teams season. + or - 5 or even 10 pts due to health can be the difference between a division spot vs fighting for the wildcard, or in the case of a bubble team, playoffs or not.

Yes thats true, but good teams are able to compensate or at least mitigate key injuries through depth and good team structure. We don't have any of those advantages set in place right now, if Chabot/Norris go down, or God forbid something happens to Ullmark, then its game over again. Doesn't take much for us to fall off unfortunately.

 

[Micklebot]

Yes thats true, but good teams are able to compensate or at least mitigate key injuries through depth and good team structure. We don't have any of those advantages set in place right now, if Chabot/Norris go down, or God forbid something happens to Ullmark, then its game over again. Doesn't take much for us unfortunately.

Sure, good teams deal with injuries, rebuilding teams expected to fight for a wildcard spot tend tend to struggle. The one position that will sometimes break that rule is goalies, a great goalie can allow teams to overachieve short term, like the Anderson/Bishop/Lehner combo did in 2013 for us, but we've had some of the worst goaltending the last few years so no luck there

It's a process, and if you expected us to be resilient to key injuries the last few years, that's an issue with expectations less so than the progress of the team. We are the VGK (and even they couldn't survive injuries a few yrs ago)

I will say our progress has been slowed by some poor decisions trading for Murray, DBC, Chychrun, and Talbot, not to mention the Korpisalo signing,