Not good enough - no playoffs again!

[Alex1234]

Yeah man we been getting unlucky for past 3+ seasons

before it was the ownership and management
then it was the rebuild
then players are too young
then ownership and management again
then coaching
then coaching again
then goaltending
include the fans as well
then goaltending again
now luck isn't in our favor
soon to be coaching again
followed by another goaltending

You're missing Covid, Zaitsev, illegal gambling, officiating, injuries, among other things

 

[Xspyrit]

I think some are selling Stutzle short a bit... Since 2022-23 when he was 20 y/o, he has the 18th most ES pts, tied with Clayton Keller and Kirill Kaprizov. 20th most pts, 21st best PPG among forwards...

I mean, 20 to 22 y/o and he's already among the best. And he's not playiong with other elite forwards, high end talent in Tkachuk/Batherson/Giroux but not elite (anymore in Giroux's case)

I’d wonder how November’s advanced stats look versus October’s?

It wouldn’t be surprising if there’s a regression. It's a question as I haven’t looked tbh (too lazy I guess). Regression could be a key word as a sample based on October is kind of small.

No time to check right now but I think they even got a little better in November.

Problem? Ullmark not making the saves, shooters not converting enough on their chances

I have a shitload of friends who are Habs fans and one of the things they brought up was that their team will never be a legitimate Cup contender if Suzuki and Caufield are the two best players on their team, they need more talent. I think this is the realization that we need to come to about the Sens as well, Stützle and Tkachuk as our two best players is never going to cut it either, we need more talent.

Suzuki and Caufield are going to be their tier 2 forwards, Demidov and Slafkovský probably their 2 best. Hutson looks like a game breaker too. Thank Alfie they passed on Michkov

A legitimate SC cup contending core, IMO, is 5 elite players. Tampa had Hedman-Stamkos-Vas-Kucherov-Point. Chicago had Toews-Kane-Keith-Seabrook-Hossa. The Kings had Doughty-Kopitar-Quick-Brown-Carter and so on.

As currently constructed, I believe we have 2 of our 5 in Stützle and Sanderson but we still need to add 3 elite pieces to turn this around for good. I'm not saying Tkachuk is not good enough to be part of a core 5 (I think he is) I just believe his time in Ottawa has run out.

Agreed that Tkachuk and Batherson are great but you don't want them to be your #2 and #3. They would actually need to be #3 and #4. Ideally, we'd have another Stutzle level forward...

I'd be good with : Stutzle - Stutzle2 - Tkachuk - Batherson - Sanderson - Chabot

 

[Mosby]

This isn't meant as a troll, just bewilderment, but I don't understand why your new owner would pay almost $1 billion for a team and then cheap out on GM and head coach?

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

This isn't meant as a troll, just bewilderment, but I don't understand why your new owner would pay almost $1 billion for a team and then cheap out on GM and head coach?

Those hires weren't dictated by finances.

 

[DrEasy]

This isn't meant as a troll, just bewilderment, but I don't understand why your new owner would pay almost $1 billion for a team and then cheap out on GM and head coach?

They are best in class!

We even have a POHO now! The POHO is the GM.

 

[SENStastic]

This isn't meant as a troll, just bewilderment, but I don't understand why your new owner would pay almost $1 billion for a team and then cheap out on GM and head coach?

Indeed, same patterns carrying over from previous ownership. Instead of going out and grabbing the most experienced, qualified proven leadership with a successful track record, we go for the complete opposite. Time and time again. Everything else flows downhill from there. Mediocrity at its finest, such a travesty.

 

[swiftwin]