By: Adamo Marinelli
May 9, 2021
Despite being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, the Ottawa Senators are by no means a pushover. With their dominant 4-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets on May 8, the Senators are now 8-1-1 in their last 10 games and are in sole possession of 5th place in the North Division.
If the Senators’ did not start the season 2-12-1, they would for sure be in contention for a playoff spot in the North. They are a good team and will definitely be in the playoffs next year.
The Senators have a lot of talent and youth on their roster and a lot of young players like Tim Stutzle, Alex Formenton, Drake Batherson, Connor Brown, Erik Branstrom, Jacob Bernard-Docker, and Shane Pinto among others.
Sure, goaltender Matt Murray hasn’t had a great year, but the Sens have had several goalies who have had a good year and are making a name for themselves. For example, Marcus Hogberg, Joey Daccord, Filip Gustavsson, Anton Forsberg, etc.
The current Senators roster looks like this:
Forwards
Tkachuk - Norris - Batherson
Formenton - White - Paul
Stutzle - Pinto - C. Brown
Dzingel - Tierney - Dadonov
Amadio - Haley
Defense
Mete - Zaitsev
Brannstrom - Zub
Allsing - Bernard-Docker
*Chabot is injured
Goalies
Forsberg
Gustafvsson
*Murray and Daccord are injured
At the beginning of the season, it looked like this:
Forwards
Tkachuk - White - Batherson
Tierney - Norris - Paul
Stuztle - Galchenyuk - Dadonov
Watson - Stephan - Anisimov
Defense
Chabot - J. Brown
Gudbranson - Coburn
Reilly - Zaitsev
Wolanin
Goalies
Murray
Hogberg
The Senators traded Erik Gudbranson, Mike Reilly and Braydon Coburn for multiple draft picks in 2022 and 2023. In addition, they added Victor Mete after acquiring him off waivers from the Canadiens. The Senators also waived Cedric Paquette and traded Alex Galchenyuk.
Many rookies like Drake Batherson, Josh Norris, Shane Pinto, and Tim Stutzle had great campaigns and proved themselves in the NHL, establishing their spot in the lineup. In addition, young guys like Colin White, Chris Tierney, and Nick Paul had productive seasons. This team has the offensive firepower to be competitive in the near future. Connor Brown started the season for Bellville after not cracking the main roster but has had an incredible season offensively, recording 19 goals and 31 points. He even scored 8 goals in 8 games, a franchise record.
Moving on from those defensemen at the trade deadline gave opportunities to rookies like Erik Brannstrom and Artyom Zub who have all played increasingly well as the season has gone on. Jacob Bernard-Docker has only played in 3 games but has looked good in both. Nikita Zaitsev has been reliable all season long and Victor Mete has been good since joining the Senators.
In addition, the Senators have a large list of prospects both on offense and on defense, none of which have played in the NHL yet but do look good enough to go to play in the NHL. Most of these guys are in the NCAA or are playing in the AHL with Bellville.
Forwards:
Ridley Grieg
Egor Sokolov
Angus Crookshank
Vitaly Abramov
Jack Kopacka
Defensemen:
Jake Sanderson
Lassi Thompson
Jonathan Aspirot
Tyler Kleven
Goalies:
Mads Sogaard
Kevin Mandolese
Levi Merilainen
Guys like Sanderson and Thompson, even Grieg, Sokolov, and Crookshank can be on the roster next season. All of these guys will get at least a chance on the team, in the next few seasons.
Having a plethora of talent in the minors and on your taxi squad gives the team plenty of opportunities to put together the best lines with the most chemistry and gives an already young team even more young talent to work with - this team can contend for a decade or even more.
In addition, the Senators have a lot of talent on their taxi squad. Guys like Shane Pinto, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Erik Brannstrom, Alex Formenton, Logan Brown, and Artyom Zub among others have all played for the Senators this season, but have found themselves on the taxi squad at some point this season.
Jonathan Aspirot, Filip Chlapik, and Vitaly Abramov are 3 promising prospects on the taxi squad currently. Olle Alsing was on the taxi squad before getting called up to help fill the hole left by Chabot’s injury. Those four prospects aren't the only talented prospects on the taxi squad, however.
With Matt Murray and Joey Daccord injured, the Senators currently have Anton Forsberg, Filip Gustavsson, and Marcus Hogberg as the 3 goalies on the active roster. Expect the Senators to trade 1-2 of their goalies to acquire more draft capital and/or depth on the right side of the defense and a playmaker and shot creator at the center position.
As of May 9, the Senators sit 22nd in the league and are projected to get the 9th pick in the 2021 NHL draft. They have 40% odds of a top 4 pick, a 9.3% chance to get a top 2 pick and they have a 4.5% chance to get the #1 overall pick.
The Senators are a pretty talented team with lots of youth, but two of their biggest needs are a right-sided defenseman and a centerman who can create plays and shots with his speed and hockey IQ.
They would have needed a goalie, but with the emergence of Filip Gustavsson and Anton Forsberg, in addition to Marcus Hogberg, Matt Murray, and Joey Daccord in addition to their prospects in Bellville, the Sens do not need a goalie.
Lucky for the Senators, two of the best, most NHL-ready forwards can fall to the Senators when they draft. Both Matthew Beniers and William Eklund both have the potential to be franchise centermen.
Matthew Bernier can cause turnovers defensively and use his speed to generate transition offense which creates chances in the attacking zone and helps his team control possession time. He’s responsible with the puck, plays with speed, and is a prime playmaker for his teammates given his ability to quickly read the ice, anticipate where his teammates will be, and his ability to make the correct decisions. He’d be good on a line with Stutzle and Tkachuk.
William Eklund is great in the faceoff dot and he’s a high-pace, deceptive dual-threat scorer with advanced puck-protection mechanics and strong habits in all three zones. He has a high hockey IQ, great hands, and can make almost any pass. A lack of ankle flexion limits his straight-line explosiveness but that can be improved upon. He is a superb talent.
In terms of right-shot defenseman, both Brandt Clarke and Corson Cuelemans are both great fits for the Senators' already youth-filled defensive core.
Brandt Clarke is a two-way defenseman with great speed and agility and good acceleration and endurance. He is a well-disciplined defenseman who can block shots, can read the offense, and predict passing and shooting lanes. He can throw his body around and has the strength to hit very hard. He’s very aggressive and wins puck battles in open ice. He has good hands and can make accurate passes but his offensive awareness can improve which will help his playmaking ability. He’d fit well with Sanderson, Chabot, or Mete.
Corson Cuelemans is also a physical defenseman who can create turnovers, can win puck battles, set up his teammates with crisp accurate passes. However, like Cole Makar, Cuelemans plays a fast-offensive oriented style of hockey that emphasizes good puck handling, out-thinking, and out-speeding his opponents. He also has a decent shot and will be good on the power-play with his passing skills. Although, he plays in the AJHL which isn’t the best league in terms of developing their players, and though his vision is good, his decision-making is not the best which leads to turnovers. He can also be too aggressive on offense which leads to turnovers.
If the Senators land one or even more of these prospects with their one first-round pick and two second-round picks, they’d be a better team. They also have $8.7 million still left in cap space and roster space on their taxi squad to sign and develop all rookies from this class.
Finally, I will predict the Ottawa Senators’ 2021-22 and 2022-23 starting lineups.
Here is my projected 2021-22 starting lineup:
Forwards:
Tkachuk - Norris - Batherson
Stutzle - White - Paul
Formenton - Pinto - Brown
Dzingle - Tierney - Dadonov
Grieg - Bernier - Haley
Defense:
Chabot - Mete
Sanderson - Brannstrom
Bernard-Docker - Clarke
Zub - Alsing
Goalies:
Murray
Gustavsson
Daccord
Forsberg
Here is my projected 2022-23 starting lineup:
Tkachuk - Norris - Batherson
Stutzle - White - Paul
Formenton - Pinto - Brown
Grieg - Bernier - Sokolov
Crookshank - Tierney - Dadonov
Defense:
Chabot - Sanderson
Bernard-Docker - Brannstrom
Thompson - Clarke
Aspirot - Kleven
Goalies:
Murray
Gustavsson
Daccord
Forsberg
To conclude, the Senators will miss the playoffs this season, but in the next few years they will not only be contending for playoff spots but they also have the potential to be contending for Stanley Cups.
With their talented roster, on both offense and defense, they are a complete team that can compete with anyone in the league. They are a hard-out for a lot of teams in the North Division this year, so in the next few years, they will be even better.
For a team built from the goaltender out, adding a young defensive and forward core to a veteran goalie in Matt Murray is the recipe for success both in the short term (next 2-3 years) and in the long term (for the next 10 years).
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