In the spirit of the holiday season, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season passes the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Ottawa Senators.
What are the Senators thankful for?
The future.
While the rebuild might not yet be completely over like GM Pierre Dorion had hoped, many of the long-term building blocks are in place. Up front, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Josh Norris, Brady Tkachuk, Shane Pinto and Alex Formenton form a quality group of players who are 23 and younger. All are signed or under team control for at least the next four years, while the recently signed Tyler Boucher, as well as Ridly Greig, are first-round picks who might not be all that far away from being ready for NHL duty.
On the back end, there aren’t as many younger options who are established, but the pipeline is still strong. Jake Sanderson appears to be a candidate to turn pro at the end of the year and should be able to jump into the NHL right away. Jacob Bernard-Docker and Lassi Thomson have shown some promising signs, while Erik Brannstrom is still young enough to be a part of their long-term plans still despite his struggles. Those are all 22 and younger and under team control for at least five years after this one.
The present might not be all that fun in terms of wins and losses, but the future is coming quickly and it looks promising.
Who are the Senators thankful for?
With the state of Ottawa’s current back end, they have asked an awful lot out of their number one blueliner and he has delivered. He leads the league in ice time per game by nearly a full minute after just finishing second in that category last season (and he led the league in that category in 2019-20 as well). They ask for him to be their top offensive threat from the back end, and while he has only one goal, he leads all Ottawa blueliners in points. Despite the heavy workload — including a 35:39 outing last game — the 24-year-old has been able to thrive and emerge as a legitimate No. 1 defenseman. While he’s slightly older than those listed above, he’s signed for six more years after this at an $8M AAV, a price tag that is already below market value and growing more team-friendly by the day.
What would the Senators be even more thankful for?
Matt Murray playing at a level that’s at least somewhat close to his contract. The one element the Sens don’t truly have yet in their pipeline is a legitimate starting goalie; there are some youngsters with some upside but none who are surefire starters of the future. Murray was supposed to lessen the need for that right away when he was acquired and quickly signed a four-year, $25M contract, giving him the sixth-highest AAV among all NHL goaltenders. For that money, he has played to a 3.35 goals-against average with a save percentage of just .892. Goaltending was a big question mark before and even after this commitment, it’s still a big question mark.
What should be on the Senators’ Holiday Wish list?
With the Sens being 13 points out of the last playoff spot already, a trip to the postseason isn’t in the cards. As a result, the wish list will be more draft picks and prospects. At this point, Chris Tierney, Zach Sanford and Nick Holden are the veterans they’re likely to move, but with how each has performed this season, they’re not likely to bring back much. In an ideal world, those underperforming veterans improve their play over the next couple of months to give them some better trade chips to work with.
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