Not good enough - no playoffs again!

[Tuna99]

This market can’t sustain another rebuild.

Assuming this doesn’t turn around, I think Brady will get traded and maybe Zub. Chabot will be used as a placeholder for a few more years til Kleven/Yak/whatever other young dmen get settled in and get moved then. Batherson might go depending on what return you get for him, if it doesn’t blow them away I’d probably just keep him.

IMO they will opt for a retool where they’re not necessarily trying to tank, just focusing on settling down the fans and developing. I think they will want to be out of it in about 2 years, they can’t really keep icing a losing product for another 5+ years.

Keep:

Batherson
Stutzle
Ostapchuk

Everyone else can go IMO

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

They haven't recovered mentally after losing that Philly game.

Yup. They really haven't.

Goaltending is what builds the fortitude of a team. They are double clutching every pass now. Horror.

 

[Butchy Dakkar]

Jekyll and Hyde Senators. It’s infuriating. Especially the part when we can’t even win or pick up points when we’re playing well.

Imagine cheering for a team where you know what you will get in terms of effort and fire, night in night out. It must be nice to be a fan of a team like that. And (cough) average (average!) goaltending.

Hello darkness my old friend. I’m still so pissed about going to the game last night only to be embarrassed being a fan of this version of the Sens.

 

[senswon]

Not great to be checking this out already

 

[Loach]

This market can’t sustain another rebuild.

Assuming this doesn’t turn around, I think Brady will get traded and maybe Zub. Chabot will be used as a placeholder for a few more years til Kleven/Yak/whatever other young dmen get settled in and get moved then. Batherson might go depending on what return you get for him, if it doesn’t blow them away I’d probably just keep him.

IMO they will opt for a retool where they’re not necessarily trying to tank, just focusing on settling down the fans and developing. I think they will want to be out of it in about 2 years, they can’t really keep icing a losing product for another 5+ years.

Chabot needs to go. He is what he is now. All the numbers can say he is good for 95% of the game, but he loses games in the other 5%. Addition by subtraction.

 

[Butchy Dakkar]

I was dreading we would make it to the part of the year where we start calculating win percentages needed to get into the playoffs. It’s happening in November… again.

Queue the endless debates about how unlikely it will be to get there. Yay.

I reserve the right to return to optimism. What are the odds of that?

Hey speaking of odds, remember that time when we had better odds to make the playoffs and win the cup than any Canadian team? Oh right, it was two weeks ago. LMAO.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Chabot needs to go. He is what he is now. All the numbers can say he is good for 95% of the game, but he loses games in the other 5%. Addition by subtraction.

Yea I don't think he should be here any longer for both the organizations and his sake. He needs a fresh start. He's playing better than he has in years past but he is not part of the solution here.

 

[Xspyrit]

Tkachuk : 3 more years
Batherson : 2 more years
Norris : 5 more years
Amadio : 2 more years
Perron 1 more year
Chabot : 3 more years
Zub : 2 more years
Jensen : 1 more year
Ullmark : 4 more years

So what do we do?

IMO KEEP Stutzle, Batherson, Pinto, Greig, Sanderson, Kleven, JBD

Keep Batherson since his contract is so good and he's one of the few who can create something out of nothing. Perron and Amadio were mistakes like I feared this summer. Norris and Tkachuk have qualities but we need changes. Chabot needs a change of scenery, it's not fair to ruin his career like that. We'd have to take salary back for Norris and Chabot but we could get young players for Tkachuk. I'm not sure if Perron and Amadio could be moved frankly, terrible contracts. Not sure what to do with Zub and Jensen, for sure have to keep at least one since RHD are hard to get but if we could get good value for Zub... I don't know. Regarding Giroux, might as well trade him. I'd keep Gaudette unless a good offer comes by.

For trade IMO :

Tkachuk, Norris, Giroux, Amadio, Perron, Chabot, Zub, and of course all of Cousins, MacEwen, Gregor and Hamonic

I think we need to revamp the Top-9. Bring speed and tenacity.

?????? - Stutzle - Batherson
?????? - ?????? - ??????
Greig - Pinto - ??????
Reinhardt - Ostapchuk - Gaudette

Sanderson - ??????
?????? -??????
Kleven - JBD

Forsberg - Ullmark (play the guy who plays the best, simple as that)

Brothers and sisters, if we do make the playoffs by some miracle laid upon us by the God's of hockey we will be penetrated raw in the first round.

I think Chabot would be the very first person to crumble in playoff type games.

He unfortunately hasn't played in these situations in a long time but before joining the Ottawa Senators, he dominated his peers, becoming one of the best prospects in the world after dominating the CHL and the WJC

2016-2017 (there was more but just listing a few)

CHL Defenseman of the Year
QMJHL Champion
QMJHL Defenseman of the Year (Emile Bouchard Trophy)
QMJHL Playoffs MVP (Guy Lafleur Trophy)
U20 WJC Best Defenseman
U20 WJC Most Valuable Player

 

[PlayOn]

I think there are real considerations to be made about whether these guys should or want to spend another 3-4 years losing. Because that’s what’s in the cards right now.


That just seems like a recipe for more losing, only without the light at the end of the tunnel. I just don’t see how this team is transformed into a perpetual playoff team by retooling. Improvements will cost cap space and/or pick prospect capital and the team has neither.

It depends how you see their current failures I suppose. This team is worse on the ice than it is on paper.

I see a retool’s purpose as more shedding the baggage and buying yourself more time. It’s clear that going into every season carrying the weight of the previous seven years isn’t working for them. They’ve got some pretty decent centres, defencemen and a goalie to work with.

 

[PlayOn]

Chabot needs to go. He is what he is now. All the numbers can say he is good for 95% of the game, but he loses games in the other 5%. Addition by subtraction.

The previous regime made the mistake of constantly putting guys in positions before they were ready for them.

Chabot was expected to be something he wasn’t and looks better now that he is appropriately used. Sanderson imo is going to be elite but is he ready to be the guy offensively for this team? Probably not. And here we are.

Keep Chabot until Kleven is a top 4 D (if he becomes that), or Yak steals his 2nd unit PP time. It’s not even about Chabot, it’s about letting your youth take spots when they are actually ready for them and not because you have no one else.

If you wanna trade Chabot and take back bad money, then find another vet… sure I guess. I don’t see the point. He’s not a guy I care to move assuming he’s not garnering you a solid return. It doesn’t mean he’s going to be a core piece in the end.

 

[Loach]

The previous regime made the mistake of constantly putting guys in positions before they were ready for them.

Chabot was expected to be something he wasn’t and looks better now that he is appropriately used. Sanderson imo is going to be elite but is he ready to be the guy offensively for this team? Probably not. And here we are.

Keep Chabot until Kleven is a top 4 D (if he becomes that), or Yak steals his 2nd unit PP time. It’s not even about Chabot, it’s about letting your youth take spots when they are actually ready for them and not because you have no one else.

If you wanna trade Chabot and take back bad money, then find another vet… sure I guess. I don’t see the point. He’s not a guy I care to move assuming he’s not garnering you a solid return. It doesn’t mean he’s going to be a core piece in the end.

Chabot loses games. That's what I want around youth. Losses.

 

[PlayOn]

Chabot loses games. That's what I want around youth. Losses.

He’s been fine this year, don’t think he’s losing us many games at all. Him and Jensen have been our only good d-pairing.

 

[Loach]

He’s been fine this year, don’t think he’s losing us many games at all. Him and Jensen have been our only good d-pairing.

You mean Jensen has been our only good d-pairing right? Lol

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

He unfortunately hasn't played in these situations in a long time but before joining the Ottawa Senators, he dominated his peers, becoming one of the best prospects in the world after dominating the CHL and the WJC

2016-2017 (there was more but just listing a few)

CHL Defenseman of the Year
QMJHL Champion
QMJHL Defenseman of the Year (Emile Bouchard Trophy)
QMJHL Playoffs MVP (Guy Lafleur Trophy)
U20 WJC Best Defenseman
U20 WJC Most Valuable Player

None of those accomplishments translated to regular season nhl games.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

At this point I'm pretty sure like 90% of Sens fans have checked out, and will remain so until the team goes on some sort of major winning streak. One or two wins won't cut it because we all know what usually happens right after.

Even in future seasons, regardless of trades or drafts or coaching changes I figure most of us won't get excited until there are positive, long term results on the ice. Otherwise it's just too depressing watching these guys play good hockey for short stretches only to fall apart over and over again.

 

[Alex1234]

It depends how you see their current failures I suppose. This team is worse on the ice than it is on paper.

I see a retool’s purpose as more shedding the baggage and buying yourself more time. It’s clear that going into every season carrying the weight of the previous seven years isn’t working for them. They’ve got some pretty decent centres, defencemen and a goalie to work with.

Decent C, D and G that gets you bottom 7 in the NHL?

At this point I'm pretty sure like 90% of Sens fans have checked out, and will remain so until the team goes on some sort of major winning streak. One or two wins won't cut it because we all know what usually happens right after.

Even in future seasons, regardless of trades or drafts or coaching changes I figure most of us won't get excited until there are positive, long term results on the ice. Otherwise it's just too depressing watching these guys play good hockey for short stretches only to fall apart over and over again.

Total tear up - Stu is needed

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

You guys wanting to ship half the team out are being extremely reactive and trigger happy. You could completely change this team by making a single move, you don't need to change half the roster lol. Think how different this team would look with Jake Guentzel in our top 6.

Back in the 2012-2017 days we swapped out our main forwards from Spezza, Alfredsson, and Michalek to Stone, Turris, and Hoffman, and ended up nearly winning the cup in 2017. We didn't have to blow up half the roster just adding Stone and Hoffman to the team changed the look of the roster by a lot. Look at Florida swapping out Huberdeau for Tkachuk.

But no more giving up futures. Maybe there's a hockey trade to be made.

 

[PlayOn]

Decent C, D and G that gets you bottom 7 in the NHL?


Total tear up - Stu is needed

You can’t evaluate players in a vacuum. There are plenty of guys who look better in different situations, on a different year, with different linemates etc. I don’t think it’s productive to look at it from the perspective that everyone sucks and that’s why we’re bottom 7.

Stützle is a franchise C. Norris has rebounded nicely after multiple shoulder surgeries and you can’t take that context out when evaluating him - he’s likely to be better next year assuming he can stay healthy, that’s just how it works after coming back from major surgery. Pinto is struggling and has been bad this year, but I don’t think it’s indicative of what he is going to be. And anyway, you still have Greig and Ostapchuk as C options as well.

Sanderson has had a tough year, maybe he’s hurt, I think we all agree he is going to be better. Kleven is still learning. Yakemchuk isn’t here yet. Ullmark has a track record of success that we can’t negate because of 12 bad games or whatever he’s at.

I think our D needs more time/more work. I think our wingers are a huge weak point both roster wise and organizationally we don’t have much either. This idea that we need to trade everyone to fix it is silly.

St Louis got Broberg for basically nothing. Washington while retooling got Strome for nothing. You are going to get assets from whoever you trade, you have a first this year, and ultimately you have to steal some guys through good GMing. It’s not like we’re Pittsburgh and every good player we have is on the verge of retirement.