I haven’t been this happy since 2017

[Dionysus]

Flew too close to the sun, thread is now bringing the optimism crashing back down.

 

[PlayOn]

Dallas only missed the playoffs twice single 2017 and even made the finals in 2020 with a bunch of players they've had since forever, like Seguin, Benn, Klingberg etc.

Carolina also only missed one playoff since 2017, but yeah, they're probably the only example.

Anyways, all I'm saying is "drafting is the easiest part of a rebuild" is a pretty stupid argument. That's the biggest failure point of so many rebuilds around the league. That's not the case for us.

Not only this, but there’s a long history of teams that get top 5 picks wrong.

2017 - Nolan Patrick
2018 - Kotkaniemi, Hayton
2019 - Kakko, Dach, Turcotte
2020 - Byfield over Stützle

Etc…

Every year someone makes a mistake in the top 5. And a lot of teams draft well but find themselves with major holes at a certain position - the Sens did a pretty good job of balancing out the team. Not to say it was perfect but basically this entire core and then some was built through the draft.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

How many teams have successfully done a rebuild since 2017 without a 1st overall pick?

I agree with you to an extent, but I don't like looking at drafts in a static basis as if every draft slot is of equal value year to year. The 2020 draft was advertised as having three 1st overall type talents in Lafreniere, Byfield, and Stutzle. Byfield and Stutzle were both seen as guys who could go 1st in weaker draft year.

It's also ironic that not winning the 1st overall pick that year ended up helping them in the end.

 

[Silky Johnson]

Jinx thread jinxed.

 

[swiftwin]

I agree with you to an extent, but I don't like looking at drafts in a static basis as if every draft slot is of equal value year to year. The 2020 draft was advertised as having three 1st overall type talents in Lafreniere, Byfield, and Stutzle. Byfield and Stutzle were both seen as guys who could go 1st in weaker draft year.

It's also ironic that not winning the 1st overall pick that year ended up helping them in the end.

Yes, Stutzle was a no-brainer pick, but Tkachuk and Sanderson were not.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Nice to see positive on goal differential

 

[guyzeur]

My only beef with the Sens is that they lose EVERY away game that I go to. Edmonton, Calgary, New York, Winnipeg. etc.

They refuse to win on the road when I’m present.

Why Adrian, just why??

 

[Xspyrit]

I don't want to turn this into a 2018 redraft thread, but I'm intrigued that you put Bouchard ahead of Svechniokv. Dobson, you can make the argument, but Svechnikov is a better top-line winger than Bouchard in top pairing D.

Also, not sure about Hughes comfortably ending up as higher than EK. EK at a certain point was a top 3 player in the league. Not sure if Hughes will be that, although you can probably make that case this season.

Svechnikov missed a lot of games the last 2 seasons, that plays a role. Then his scoring is not that impressive, he's 4th in points on the Canes this season for example, pacing for 57 pts.

Bouchard I think is underrated, the same way Draisaitl is underrated because "they play with McDavid". Last season he scored 114 pts in 106 games playoffs included, not even sure the last time a player did that. Even his overall game is underrated, as if you looked at him in the playoffs, he was dominant.

This season and last, Bouchard, the D-man, has scored 35 more pts than Svechnikov the forward.

I still put them all in the same tier, meaning there's little separation between them and it can fluctuate over time but Dobson and Bouchard are RHDs so I rated them higher than Svechnikov.

As for Hughes you will see (as long as no severe injuries). Let's not forget that injuries robbed Karlsson of even more greatness.

It's also ironic that not winning the 1st overall pick that year ended up helping them in the end.

This rebuild would have no chance to succeed without Stutzle... Norris, Pinto and Greig down the middle is just not good enough and on top of that, 2 of them are injured often. Yes, our LW would be nice with Lafreniere and Tkachuk but need a strong C line.

Every year someone makes a mistake in the top 5.

I guess we can be grateful that Dorion didn't screw up with the 3 Top-5 picks.... but he screwed up on Brown (11th OA) and big time on Boucher (10th OA) though and screwed himself OUT of a Top-12 pick in 3 other drafts...

The damage done is immeasurable

 

[Norris4Norris]

The best way to ensure destruction is when your team finally gets into a more favourable playoff position and you start a thread about the happiness it has created.

If we lose our next game this thread has to be taken down. In 2017 the Sens were one double overtime goal away from winning the Stanley cup. Now the Sens are a couple of bad games away from being out of the playoff picture.

Terrible comparison, jinxed the whole team. The puck don't lie!

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

We are 0-2 since this thread. Stick to the main boards

 

[Sun God Nika]

Mods please wipe this thread