Is Ottawa good?

[Hobnobs]

Sens haven't had a good October in forever though, maybe they are finally decent?

They are 4-2 this year. A slight improvemnt over last years 3-3 and the same as '22s 4-2.

If they keep winning then yeah but this is way too early to say this ottawa team is different then previous seasons.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Yearly thread.

 

[The Professional]

They're a top 10 offensive team in this league so far this season. 8th for G/GP, 2nd best powerplay. They're 17th in GA/GP, so firmly middle of the pack in that category. But they've been playing without their #1 goalie(Ullmark) and one of their top 4 D (Zub). Forsberg just had a great game against Utah last night, but other than that, he's been very shaky and has let in a ton of bad goals.

The take away is, their offense has been good, if Ullmark can come back and provide solid goaltending along with Zub coming back hopefully, the defense and GA/GP can improve as well. They can be a playoff team this year, but it's still early. Let's revisit a month from now to get a better idea.

 

[Masked]

I just hope that the draft lottery doesn't knock the Senators out of the first overall pick next June.

 

[NailsHoglander]

Maybe but I wouldn't give Green any credit yet. They are a young skilled team with something to prove and are playing with max energy level. Lets see how Greens system holds up over the season.

 

[Mr Kot]

They normally playu slow to start the season and actually have jump now. So far so good.

 

[Rals]

Jake Sanderson is a top 5 NHL Defensemen.

So I'll take Ottawa's chances

 

[newfy]

No, they really have not. At the top end? Sure. But this is the first Sens team since their ECF run that has any depth whatsoever

Really? I think Chychrun/Tarasenko out and Jensen/Perron in is a net downgrade on scoring/defensive depth from last year. Guys like Cousins are going to help be hard to play against but I wouldn't really consider him a needle mover at all. The obvious upgrade is in net, who am I missing that was added that adds meaningful depth?

If a team is dressing Macewen every night, I don't think the depth is notable at this point but I'm open to who I'm missing.

Fair enough, but it's worth pointing out they would have been on the bubble of the playoffs last year if they just had average goaltending instead of historically terrible netminding from Korpisalo and Forsberg.

Yeah that's probably true. How much of their goaltending issues were due to the team in front of the goalies vs the actual goalies? We'll find out this year

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

Really? I think Chychrun/Tarasenko out and Jensen/Perron in is a net downgrade on scoring/defensive depth from last year. Guys like Cousins are going to help be hard to play against but I wouldn't really consider him a needle mover at all. The obvious upgrade is in net, who am I missing that was added that adds meaningful depth?

If a team is dressing Macewen every night, I don't think the depth is notable at this point but I'm open to who I'm missing.

Tarasenko/Chychrun vs Jensen/Perron illustrates the point well. The first two were big names who brought absolutely nothing that we dont already have in spades; hell, the most notable contribution Tarasenko made was in his defensive attention to detail. Jensen is our 2nd shutdown D, Chychrun was our 3rd OFD and probably our 4th best D in transition.

Amadio is also a significant addition… even Gregor.

Kleven on the 3rd pair, healthy Norris and Hamonic, Pinto ready from day 1… and, most significantly, a legit starting goalie.

The Sens need 1 more legit NHL forward to replace MacEwen (although he has been good so far)… but we have been 3-5+ men short every year on opening night and this year we have legitimate options.

 

[TeamRenzo]

Really? I think Chychrun/Tarasenko out and Jensen/Perron in is a net downgrade on scoring/defensive depth from last year. Guys like Cousins are going to help be hard to play against but I wouldn't really consider him a needle mover at all. The obvious upgrade is in net, who am I missing that was added that adds meaningful depth?

If a team is dressing Macewen every night, I don't think the depth is notable at this point but I'm open to who I'm missing.


Yeah that's probably true. How much of their goaltending issues were due to the team in front of the goalies vs the actual goalies? We'll find out this year

We had too many LD and not enough RD, bringing in Jensen allows players to play their natural position. Having Josh Norris back in the lineup is a big upgrade on offense. Korpisalo was one of if not the worst goalie in the league last year so Ullmark will be a huge upgrade in nets.

I think Ottawa is much improved but not sure if they have enough to make the playoffs

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

The Leafs are regressing towards normalcy. That ought to boost Ottawa's chances.

 

[fsanford]

US Thanksgiving is about a month a way. Let's check back then.

Talent is certainly there

 

[Hale The Villain]

Yeah that's probably true. How much of their goaltending issues were due to the team in front of the goalies vs the actual goalies? We'll find out this year

That's where the goals saved above expected stat is supposed to take team performance into consideration, and it had Korpisalo 2nd worst in the league for goaltenders in 23/24.

And the Sens backups were not much better, as Sogaard ranked 6th worst and Forsberg 11th worst.

Combined the Sens goalies gave up 33.7 more goals than would have been expected given the scoring chances they faced.

If Ullmark can deliver above-average goaltending, like he has for almost every season of his career thus far, should make a world of difference.

 

[TBF1972]

depends on what you think good is? good to me means top 3 in division and a step above wildcard teams like wash last year. i dont think were quite there so im gonna say no were "fair" instead lol

agreed. they are too good to get demoted to the ahl.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

The Leafs are regressing towards normalcy. That ought to boost Ottawa's chances.

When have the Leafs not been a huge disappointment?

They are not regressing, they are where they ought to be: overrated