2023-2024 preseason game 3 vs Leafs (September 27, 2023). From best to worst:
1. Joseph: Two games so far this preseason and two games where he was clearly the best Sens forward on the ice. There’s no trading him. Move along.
2. Kubalik: His shot is a weapon, his passing is adequate and he’s engaged all over the ice. A Joseph - Pinto - Kubalik 3rd line has the potential to be a real problem for opposing teams and provides the Sens with three legitimate options to move up the lineup, should a top-6 forward go down.
3. Smejkal: He might have made the team tonight by standing out among a bunch of fringe NHL players. He’s not perfect. Among other nitpicks, his hands and timing need work. But the good certainly outweighs the bad. There’s no competition when compared to some of the other bottom 6 options. He’s smart, very big and decently fast. His professional experience shines through on the ice and there’s clearly untapped potential here.
4. Sokolov: Not as impressive this time around as in the first game, but he was still comfortably better than most of his competition. Although his effort and performance weren’t consistent wire-to-wire tonight, there were lots of great plays and flashes of brilliance. He’ll never be the fastest player on the ice, but he (again) managed to be quite noticeable on the backcheck. The setup to Greig in the slot that was saved by Montembeault is a play maybe three players on tonight’s roster can make.
5. Kastelic: Without the insulation of better centers slotting ahead of him, he looked quite pedestrian. Not bad, just unspectacular. Thankfully, he won’t be asked to be more than a 4th line center anytime soon and that’s a role he can absolutely dazzle in.
6. Bailey: Noticeable for plenty of good reasons tonight. His poise was evident, his PK positioning was good and his vision on the PP was excellent. On the flipside, there is zero speed or physical edge here. With no prospect really grabbing a spot with certainty so far, one has to start coming around the idea of a league minimum deal as the 13th forward.
7. Greig: Still waiting for him to impose his will and seize the 3C opening… Yet it’s not happening. He came alive in the 3rd period, but like many others tonight, it just wasn’t enough. At the moment, Belleville looks far more likely than Ottawa.
8. MacEwan: There’s something about him. You just know and see that he can play, on top of being a physical presence. Slightly concerned about the dumb penalties and dangerous plays nonetheless. Guess that comes with the territory.
9. Reinhart: If he had just a bit of skill, he’d be a fantastic bottom 6 player, given his size, speed and drive.
10. Kelly: I like him, but time has to be up here. Smejkal has shown more in two preseason games than he has in 97 NHL games. It’s starting to feel like being good on the PK is not enough.
11. Chartier: Good hustle in the 1st period when the Sens were thoroughly outplayed, then he completely faded. There’s absolutely zero NHL upside here.
12. Imama: Awesome in game one, terrible in this one.
DEFENSE
1. Brännström: He was barely decent. Not good and certainly not great. Yet, he was still (unsurprisingly) the best Sens defenseman on the ice. Especially brutal on the PP, but otherwise palatable. If only he was 6’2’’, 195lbs with that skating…
2. Touré: Nice long-term RhD project. That size and skating combo can’t be taught.
3. Sebrango: He didn’t play much, which probably helped his cause.
4. Hamonic: He made Mantipalo look good without the latter even touching the ice tonight. From the very limited viewing so far, Mantipalo is in a completely different league. Hopefully, this was just a vet not giving a damn about a preseason game and not a vet falling off a cliff. If it happens to be the latter, one would think the organization won’t take half a season to make adjustments like it was the case with Zub vs Coburn, Gudbranson, Zaitsev, Reilly, Wolanin and Mete in 2020-2021.
5. JBD: Time to hit the waiver wire or the trade block. Good luck to him if he’s picked. Fingers crossed he can progress into a decent, steady #6-7 if he goes back to Belleville. He simply should not be penciled into anyone’s top 7 heading into the season. He has looked heavy (in a bad way), slow and at times barely capable of a tape-to-tape pass in both games. All he does out there is react, but his decision time is nowhere near NHL-level. Not good. Yes, he improved as the game progressed, but it still wasn’t nearly enough. His shot is his best asset at this point, with everything else being subpar. Not a good thing, for a supposed defensive defenseman. He has plateaued at best or is a bust at worst.
6. Heatherington: The only slower defenseman than JBD on the ice tonight. Time for some cuts.
Korpisalo: Same as the day he was signed. That HALF A DECADE contract for a guy that has never been a proven starter and never played more than 40 games in a season is going to be a major problem. He has his moments of brilliance, but is he a goaltender a team with cup aspirations should count on for stability and steady performances? No.
1) Hope Norris is 100% ready by the time the regular season begins.
2) Why are fans treated to an assorted collection of plugs when they have yet to see Tarun Fizer, the clear standout in rookie camp, hit the ice?
3) Are we just supposed to pretend Tyler Boucher doesn’t exist anymore? What was it? “Not an injury” and “a minor tweak”?
4) Pinto needs to be signed as soon as possible. Trade Brännström if you must. He has positive value and absolutely no future with the organization. There’s a clear top 9 up front and very little (proven) offensive depth beyond it, while Mantipalo, Thomson and Guenette have shown they could play Brännström’s bottom pair minutes so far.
Thank you for reading, this has been your TED talk.
