2023-24 Ottawa Senators MVP

[Felidae]

Another team that imo has multiple solid candidates.

Let me know if I omitted anyone thay should be an option.

The main ones imo and a surface level overview of their stats.

Brady Tkachuk
- leads the team in goals, 7 over 2nd place.
- 2nd in points
- leads the team in hits with 276 and has the 3rd most in the league. Next closest on team is 258


Tim Stutzle
- leads the team in points
- averages the most time on ice of any forward on the team. A minute more than the 2nd highest forward


Jakob Chychrun
- leads the defensive squad in points, 6th in overall scoring.
- is just 1 block shy of tying for most on the team with 144.


Jake Sanderson
- 2nd in points among defenseman, 7th in overall scoring.
- has the highest +/- rating of all defenseman on the team


Claude Giroux
- 3rd in points and goals
- averages the 2nd most time on ice of any forward, a minute more than 3rd best.


Vladimir Tarasenko
- 5th in points and goals, but played 20 or so fewer games than everyone ahead
- leads the team in +/- with a +13, tied with Greig The next best forward is a +1


Thomas Chabot
- is 3rd in defenseman scoring despite playing 30+ fewer games
- has the best PPG of any defenseman on the team. Translating to a 7 point lead over Chychrun and 6th in scoring.


Drake Batherson
-2nd in goals and 3rd in points (tied with Giroux)

Click to read more...

 

[Felidae]

BTW, since all of Tkachuk, Giroux, Stutzle and Batherson are within reach of each other's point totals. How are their defensive games?

All of them are negative players except Tkachuk. But that could be explained by deployment.

I know Giroux was very good defensively in the past, but not sure if that still holds up right now.

 

[NyQuil]

Jake Sanderson is Ottawa's MVP for this season.

With Chabot and Chychrun providing extremely inconsistent offence and defence, it's been up to the sophomore to provide stability from the back line in all situations.

All of them are negative players except Tkachuk. But that could be explained by deployment.

It's mostly explained by the worst goaltending in the league.

 

[Felidae]

Jake Sanderson is Ottawa's MVP for this season.

With Chabot and Chychrun playing extremely inconsistent offence and defence, it's been up to the sophomore to provide stability from the back line.



It's mostly explained by the worst goaltending in the league.

View attachment 848557

Oh I wasn't wondering about them being negative +/- players. I know the team defense and goaltending numbers have been pretty bad.

I was moreso referring to the discrepancy between the 4 forwards I mentioned. Stutzle is a -17, Giroux -14, Batherson -10. Meanwhile, Tkachuk is sitting at 0. That's why I asked about the defensive abilities of the forwards and that perhaps it can be explained by something else. Unless Tkachuk really is better defensively than the other 3.

 

[NyQuil]

I was moreso referring to the discrepancy between the 4 forwards I mentioned. Stutzle is a -17, Giroux -14, Batherson -10. Meanwhile, Tkachuk is sitting at 0. That's why I asked about the defensive abilities of the forwards and that perhaps it can be explained by something else. Unless Tkachuk really is better defensively than the other 3.

To be honest, I think it's mostly due to the vagaries of the line blender as opposed to any real advantage.

The most improved player defensively is Batherson, whose -35 last season was 5th worst in the NHL, playing with Alex DeBrincat (-31). He appears to have settled down and benefited from Martin as the interim coach.

Stylistically, I think Giroux and Stutzle are guilty of trying to force offensive plays too much, as they are puck possession play-maker types. They can be prone to turning the puck over. Giroux does typically provide superior faceoff ability in crucial situations.

Tkachuk tends to be a bit more focused on the net and north-south play, although his playmaking is a bit underrated. He's been guilty in the past of leaving the zone too early before possession has been safely established but he's worked on that throughout the season IMO.

But none of them I would call effective defensive forwards which is part of Ottawa's problem.

The fact that Joseph (for most of the season), Pinto and Grieg have much higher plus/minus results is partly due to the level of their opposition but also because they are much more defensively responsible in mindset IMO.

Again, it's still hard to look good defensively when you have 3 of the worst 6 goalies in the league. I get that team defence is a shared responsibility but the state of our goaltending goes way beyond that.

 

[Albatros]

Sanderson definitely. Tkachuk has also been worthy to the extent anyone in that team is, but he has significantly more support in offense than Sanderson in defense.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Sanderson then Tkachuk.

To me they've distanced themselves from the rest, even Stutzle.

 

[Xspyrit]

DJ Smith’s systems have never been goaltender friendly but this season, I can’t deny how bad Ottawa’s goaltending has been in contrast to how left to dry they were the last few seasons. They’re literally the reason why this team hasn’t done much better in the standings (refer to NyQuil’s post)

Mathieu Joseph and Ridly Greig should be options over the goalies

 

[1specter]

Ridly Greig is my MVP.

 

[NyQuil]

Ridly Greig is my MVP.

He's been excellent.

Leading the team in plus/minus to go along with physical play and general feistiness.

 

[pcruz]

Ridly Greig is my MVP.

Who?

Still have no clue who that is.


Regardless, the answer is likely Pinto.

He missed half the season and the team that was supposed to be a top end team ended up being almost last in the league.

 

[NyQuil]

Regardless, the answer is likely Pinto.

He missed half the season and the team that was supposed to be a top end team ended up being almost last in the league.

Between Norris' slow recovery and subsequent re-injury, and Pinto's absence, depth at centre has certainly been an issue.

 

[Felidae]

DJ Smith’s systems have never been goaltender friendly but this season, I can’t deny how bad Ottawa’s goaltending has been in contrast to how left to dry they were the last few seasons. They’re literally the reason why this team hasn’t done much better in the standings (refer to NyQuil’s post)

Mathieu Joseph and Ridly Greig should be options over the goalies

Added.

 

[The Management]

As an outsider, Tkachuk still appears to me to be the most unique / irreplaceable element on that team. There probably isn't a team in the league that doesn't shuffle around their cap to fit a player like that onto their roster. I'll defer to Sens fans, though.

 

[NyQuil]

As an outsider, Tkachuk still appears to me to be the most unique / irreplaceable element on that team. There probably isn't a team in the league that doesn't shuffle around their cap to fit a player like that onto their roster. I'll defer to Sens fans, though.

After what is essentially a failed season, there are few bright spots over the complete balance of the year.

Stutzle, Chabot and Chychrun did not play up to expectations, and Giroux fell off once the team was essentially out of the playoff picture.

With Norris either returning from the shelf or back on the shelf and Pinto playing half a year, there are very few candidates indeed.

Noodles called Sanderson Ottawa’s most consistent performer over the season, playing a position that calls for it.

Tkachuk is a bit more boom/bust which isn’t surprising for a power forward, where he can take over a game one night but be fairly unnoticeable the next.

They both have cases to be made.

Part of my vote is simply the fact that Chychrun and Chabot underwhelmed more than the forwards for the most part IMO, making Sanderson more valuable in the vacuum.

Value wise, Tkachuk, Sanderson and Stutzle all make similar amounts of money but are attractive to other teams in much different ways.

Tkachuk probably has the rarest skillset but is also the oldest and plays the least important position of the three.

Stutzle probably has the highest talent level but has work to do to become a complete centre. Health was also a problem for him this year.

Sanderson is sort of a smooth skating Jack of all trades who plays well in every conceivable situation but it remains to be seen whether he can produce the kind of offence required for Norris voting recognition.

 

[General Fanager]

Missing option...The Sens Fans

For putting up with that nonsense. On paper they are good but wow did they let their fans down

 

[NyQuil]

Missing option...The Sens Fans

For putting up with that nonsense. On paper they are good but wow did they let their fans down

Definitely a step backward from last season.

Given all the optimism and excitement, it was a kick to the nuts to be sure.

Despite what trolls were saying to the contrary, or what idiot savant Pierre Dorion was saying in his press conferences, for most Sens fans, this was the season where they were supposed to be a legitimate playoff contender and they fell terribly short.

Both DJ Smith and Pierre Dorion were long overdue to be turfed, so they wasted yet another half season getting that done as well.

Jacques Martin has no interest in being the full-time coach, meaning that whoever they hire in the off-season, they'll presumably get yet another few months free from criticism to "get to know the team" which will be even more delays for this core.

 

[Felidae]

Missing option...The Sens Fans

For putting up with that nonsense. On paper they are good but wow did they let their fans down

Yeah, goes without saying ofc, and the same has been said for every bottom feeder team ive done with this type of poll. If I included that as an option then there'd be no point

 

[jbeck5]

Why are we doing MVPs for bad hockey teams?

 

[NyQuil]

Why are we doing MVPs for bad hockey teams?

The OP is doing a thread for every team in the league.

 

[jbeck5]

The OP is doing a thread for every team in the league.

Yeah, but I guess the question holds for the other bad teams too.

"You're so valuable that you helped your team finish 26th" or something just sounds strange.

Usually when a team finishes that badly, probably a lack of having mvp type players is a big reason lol.

 

[NyQuil]

Yeah, but I guess the question holds for the other bad teams too.

"You're so valuable that you helped your team finish 26th" or something just sounds strange.

Usually when a team finishes that badly, probably a lack of having mvp type players is a big reason lol.

Personally I find the threads interesting regardless of how well or badly the teams did collectively.

The fact that we only have one or two candidates at best says a lot.

 

[Albatros]

Yeah, but I guess the question holds for the other bad teams too.

"You're so valuable that you helped your team finish 26th" or something just sounds strange.

Usually when a team finishes that badly, probably a lack of having mvp type players is a big reason lol.

Erik Karlsson got Hart votes last year after finishing 29th.

 

[Bileur]

Dorion probably

 

[jbeck5]

Erik Karlsson got Hart votes last year after finishing 29th.

I don't think there's an Erik Karlsson on this team unfortunately lol

But good point.