Traded Vladimir Tarasenko (1 year, 5 million)

[Micklebot]

Interesting they have Sens ahead of the Sabres to win the cup but the Sens behind the Sabres in the Atlantic division standings
View attachment 732590

cut this from a slide on the Coming in Hot show shown this am

I guess they see us as built for the playoffs, while they see Buffalo as built for reg season

In both cases, I'd say the two teams are within the margin of error. there's a gap up or down though (within the east).

 

[Nova Stutzlia]

Our young guys really gotta improve on the defensive side of the puck for us to be good

thats the next big step

One way of improving defensively is to improve puck possession, which should show pretty good improvement this season.

 

[Alex1234]

I still think Timmy needs Brady on his line to avoid "injuries "
Even with McEwen in the line up

 

[swiftwin]

Our young guys really gotta improve on the defensive side of the puck for us to be good

thats the next big step

Norris should help a ton. The center typically has way more defensive responsibility than the wingers. Last season, we had Stutzle and two rookies (Pinto & Kastelic) down the middle. Along with a PTO (Brassard).

 

[OD99]

post lockout era, biggest FA signing I can remember pre-Giroux was Gonchar.

Clarke MacArthur​

 

[Sun God Nika]

Clarke MacArthur​

MacArthur was a pretty mid signing at the time he showed his value after getting the contract . The extension is when it went bad due to the concussions

 

[Wondercarrot]

If this team is averagely healthy, they are easily talented enough to be well into the playoff mix. Not hanging around at the end hoping to get in…
IMO a failure to accomplish this would be 100% coaching.

 

[SensFactor]

Our young guys really gotta improve on the defensive side of the puck for us to be good

thats the next big step

I think it's partially the players and partially coaching. DJ needs to make this a priority in training camp.

 

[JD1]

If this team is averagely healthy, they are easily talented enough to be well into the playoff mix. Not hanging around at the end hoping to get in…
IMO a failure to accomplish this would be 100% coaching.

If healthy, yep I'd agree with that

 

[PlayersLtd]

If this team is averagely healthy, they are easily talented enough to be well into the playoff mix. Not hanging around at the end hoping to get in…
IMO a failure to accomplish this would be 100% coaching.

I want to share that belief but it will depend largely on how well we play against our own division which could be the strongest in the league, yet again. Nearly 1/3 of our season is against the Atlantic (26 games).

Sure, 5 Atlantic teams could make it meaning we only need to beat out 3 of them, 2 if you count out Montreal right off the bat. But still, there is potential for 7 of us to be quite good and so it will be imperative to have a winning record in those non-Montreal 4 point games (22 of them).

Also, I don't think you should have your mind made up as to the cause of not making the playoffs before the season even starts. Looking at the quality of the roster you could just as easily say it is 100% on the individuals if they underachieve, or maybe it is goaltending and injuries again.... It better not be any of them but we can't draw any conclusions before we see it unfold.

 

[JD1]

I want to share that belief but it will depend largely on how well we play against our own division which could be the strongest in the league, yet again. Nearly 1/3 of our season is against the Atlantic (26 games).

Sure, 5 Atlantic teams could make it meaning we only need to beat out 3 of them, 2 if you count out Montreal right off the bat. But still, there is potential for 7 of us to be quite good and so it will be imperative to have a winning record in those non-Montreal 4 point games (22 of them).

Also, I don't think you should have your mind made up as to the cause of not making the playoffs before the season even starts. Looking at the quality of the roster you could just as easily say it is 100% on the individuals if they underachieve, or maybe it is goaltending and injuries again.... It better not be any of them but we can't draw any conclusions before we see it unfold.

I think we improved over last year and some of our divisional opponents weakened. Last year we were over .500 in the Atlantic. But ya, I agree, those head to head match ups will be critical.

 

[Stylizer1]

Clarke MacArthur​

 

[Nova Stutzlia]

I want to share that belief but it will depend largely on how well we play against our own division which could be the strongest in the league, yet again. Nearly 1/3 of our season is against the Atlantic (26 games).

Sure, 5 Atlantic teams could make it meaning we only need to beat out 3 of them, 2 if you count out Montreal right off the bat. But still, there is potential for 7 of us to be quite good and so it will be imperative to have a winning record in those non-Montreal 4 point games (22 of them).

Also, I don't think you should have your mind made up as to the cause of not making the playoffs before the season even starts. Looking at the quality of the roster you could just as easily say it is 100% on the individuals if they underachieve, or maybe it is goaltending and injuries again.... It better not be any of them but we can't draw any conclusions before we see it unfold.

I posted elsewhere (probably in this thread) that the Sens were 15-9-2 within their division last season.
They could definitely improve on that this season.

 

[PlayersLtd]

I posted elsewhere (probably in this thread) that the Sens were 15-9-2 within their division last season.
They could definitely improve on that this season.

Which is sweet but I'm not sure how many conclusions we can draw from that. I'd like to say that we match up well against our division or that we get up for rivalry games but it's more likely an anomaly that a non playoff team dominated the best division in the league. Not trying to be a wet blanket and believe me I'm as confident in this roster as anyone but the Atlantic is going to be a blood bath, yet again.

The good news, like FLA last year, whoever makes it in from the Atlantic has a great chance at going deep. That is especially true for us if we draw TOR first round which has a high probability. If we draw Toronto I am honestly going to feel like the cup is within grasp before the playoffs even start because if we slay that demon there is no stopping us.

 

[Nova Stutzlia]

Which is sweet but I'm not sure how many conclusions we can draw from that. I'd like to say that we match up well against our division or that we get up for rivalry games but it's more likely an anomaly that a non playoff team dominated the best division in the league. Not trying to be a wet blanket and believe me I'm as confident in this roster as anyone but the Atlantic is going to be a blood bath, yet again.

The good news, like FLA last year, whoever makes it in from the Atlantic has a great chance at going deep. That is especially true for us if we draw TOR first round which has a high probability. If we draw Toronto I am honestly going to feel like the cup is within grasp before the playoffs even start because if we slay that demon there is no stopping us.

Those 2 paragraphs are quite different from each other.
Sounds like someone has graduated from Butt Covering School.

 

[SpezDispenser]

If this team is averagely healthy, they are easily talented enough to be well into the playoff mix. Not hanging around at the end hoping to get in…
IMO a failure to accomplish this would be 100% coaching.

Don't underestimate all the other teams that feel the exact same way though.

 

[GCK]

If this team is averagely healthy, they are easily talented enough to be well into the playoff mix. Not hanging around at the end hoping to get in…
IMO a failure to accomplish this would be 100% coaching.

I’d say Toronto, Boston and Tampa have better rosters and way more experience. I
could see Buffalo, Ottawa and Florida in the mix for a wildcard spot. I don’t see why you think this team should be well in the playoffs.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

One way of improving defensively is to improve puck possession, which should show pretty good improvement this season.

Why should it show improvement?

 

[PlayersLtd]

Those 2 paragraphs are quite different from each other.
Sounds like someone has graduated from Butt Covering School.

Good contribution.

It will be a fight to make the playoffs. But if we make it we could go all the way. Like Florida. Dumbed down enough for you?

If you can't understand don't polute the thread with your nonsense.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Our young guys really gotta improve on the defensive side of the puck for us to be good

thats the next big step

That can still be somewhat sheltered with strong defensive system because we have an excellent 2 way D core, especially our top 4.

If our young guys improve on defensive side a lot, then we are looking at possibly winning division.

We have enough manpower on defense and goaltending that they can bail out our forward's defensive flaws and still make playoffs (but likely just squeeze in).

Plus, Stutzle was really effective defensively latter half of the season. Giroux is solid 2 way. Tkachuk improved a ton. Norris is capable and was one of our better guys 2 years ago. Only Batherson and Tarasenko really are the ones who need to be cognizant.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Why should it show improvement?

Because supposedly DJ is coaching to win now, unlike the last two years when I guess he was coaching to not win?

 

[Micklebot]

Why should it show improvement?

Well, we've pushed Hamonic to the third pair with the addition of Chychrun, cleared Zaitsev from the roster and should have Norris back; you don't think having a legit top 4 and two legit top 6 centers rather than a glaring hole in your top 4 and a rookie over slotted as a #2 center all year would contribute to better puck possession?

 

[Mingus Dew]

Well, we've pushed Hamonic to the third pair with the addition of Chychrun, cleared Zaitsev from the roster and should have Norris back; you don't think having a legit top 4 and two legit top 6 centers rather than a glaring hole in your top 4 and a rookie over slotted as a #2 center all year would contribute to better puck possession?

It will help but so many players on this team just don’t give a shit about defense and blow assignments, cheat and so on.

Also neither Chabot nor Chychrun is a defensive stalwart. Those guys are offense-first possession players.

We should be improved but it’s going to take a significant increase in buy-in from the whole team before we’re good defensively. Adding shoot-first players like Kubalik and Tarasenko probably won’t help the defensive side of things.

My guess is that we are going to win games by piling on offense and getting moderate to good goaltending. If the PP goes cold for a while or we get 2022 level goaltending it’s going to be ugly.

 

[GCK]

It will help but so many players on this team just don’t give a shit about defense and blow assignments, cheat and so on.

Also neither Chabot nor Chychrun is a defensive stalwart. Those guys are offense-first possession players.

We should be improved but it’s going to take a significant increase in buy-in from the whole team before we’re good defensively. Adding shoot-first players like Kubalik and Tarasenko probably won’t help the defensive side of things.

My guess is that we are going to win games by piling on offense and getting moderate to good goaltending. If the PP goes cold for a while or we get 2022 level goaltending it’s going to be ugly.

I’m expecting our goals against to drop by about 15 which puts us at 250. The big change will need to come from even strength scoring. Last year we had 151 5v5 goals. That was tied with Arizona for 25th, we need that to be up around 175-180 if we want a chance at the playoffs.

 

[OD99]

MacArthur was a pretty mid signing at the time he showed his value after getting the contract . The extension is when it went bad due to the concussions

Yes, he wasn't super splashy but he had established himself as a good player and he came here from the Laffs, so it was a pretty big signing.

Not sure it really went bad, poor guy may still not be right due to tbe concussions.

That run in 2017 was amazing too. I will never forget him scoring at home (loudest I have ever heard that arena) and the OT goal to eliminate Boston.