Do we still need 2 top 6 forwards and a true top 4 Dman?

[Stylizer1]

In order to win can we rely on our 2nd line to be consistent enough to be a threat? Zibby is still growing but seems to lack chemistry with Ryan who is also not looking too good so far. With Mac's injury and the fact imo he is a serviceable 2nd liner but on a very good team is probably a 3rd liner, is our second line strong/skilled enough to get the job done?

How do the players we use on the second line stack up league wide and are we at a disadvantage?

Click to read more...

 

[topshelf15]

We need a top line center ,Stamko,s would be ideal ,put him with Stone .Then KT with Ryan

 

[BigBush*]

To win the cup, I'd say without a doubt yes

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Well if Ryan and zibanejad do stuff than no. A defense is for sure though.

 

[KAPOW]

i'd say we just need macarthur back and the 2nd line would be fine. definitely need one or two good defenseman, no chance to go all the way with that group unless the bottom 4 step it up massively (which i doubt)

 

[Busboy]

I think we need an upgrade at #2C and an upgrade at #3D if we want to be a contending team at the same level of Anaheim, Chicago, New York, Pitsburgh.

Hoffman - Turris - Stone
MacArthur - xxx - Ryan
Michalek - Zibanejad - Lazar
Smith - Pageau - Chiasson
Prince - Neil

xxx - Karlsson
Methot - Ceci
Cowen - Borowiecki
Wideman

Trade assets: Wiericoch, Puempel, Chabot, White, 2016 1st, Wilkstrand,

Caliber of player needed up front: Hudler, Brassard, Kesler, Stastny, Koivu

Caliber of player needed on backend: Stralman, Shattenkirk, Hjalmarsson, Bouwmeester, Hamhuis

Our best bet will probably be if Z-bad or Lazar can develop into a better player and a good D-man becomes available by trade.

 

[Proust*]

Defense. Imagine one of Ceci, Karlsson or Methot get injured?

 

[TheKingSlayer]

Krejci and Chara

for

Ottawa's 1st 2016
Puempel
Chabot
Wideman
White


Other Picks to even things out. Sens go all in, but keep core intact. Krejci is young and still dominant, so this makes giving up the youth worth it. Chara sells jerseys and tickets, and helps out on a 2nd pairing where he does not have to play 30 mins a night.

 

[umma gumma]

Krejci and Chara

for

Ottawa's 1st 2016
Puempel
Chabot
Wideman
White


Other Picks to even things out. Sens go all in, but keep core intact. Krejci is young and still dominant, so this makes giving up the youth worth it. Chara sells jerseys and tickets, and helps out on a 2nd pairing where he does not have to play 30 mins a night.

Wow.

 

[Busboy]

Krejci and Chara

for

Ottawa's 1st 2016
Puempel
Chabot
Wideman
White


Other Picks to even things out. Sens go all in, but keep core intact. Krejci is young and still dominant, so this makes giving up the youth worth it. Chara sells jerseys and tickets, and helps out on a 2nd pairing where he does not have to play 30 mins a night.

Too much to give up and too little salary going to Boston.

 

[pm88]

absolutely we do. Our secondary scoring is awful based on numbers and we've been looking to add another top 4 man for a while now

 

[aragorn]

Yes, but on the other hand maybe we have some of what we need internally. Unfortunately they are young & it could take them a while to be not just NHL ready but playoff ready or cup contender ready. I would definitely try & get Wayne Simmons out of Philly or Brayden Schenn with some of the assets we have this yr.

Ryan - Turris - Stone - Ryan needs a playmaker & Stone is one of the best
MacArthur - Zibanjead - Simmons - Mac can be a playmaker for Simmons
Hoffman - Lazar - Michalek - Hoffman can make his own plays or set up Michalek
Lindberg - Paul - Robinson/Z. Smith - big, young, fast, skilled line

MacArthur - Turris - Ryan
Hoffman - Zibanejad - Stone
Michalek - Schenn - Lazar - Puempel replaces Michalek next yr
Lindberg - Paul - Robinson

Methot - Karlsson
Boroweicki - Ceci - Boro is warming this spot for Chabot
Cowen - Wideman/Wiercioch

Anderson - Hammond

 

[SpezDispenser]

Top pairing dman will do the trick. Hard to find obviously. Maybe a playmaking 2nd liner as well, but we haven't really seen Mac with z and Ryan this season.

 

[Boud]

I think our offense is fair for now. Obviously we need MacArthur back and shuffle the lineup a bit and maybe even bring Puempel or another kid but overall the offense isn't a concern for me. We we're the only team last season with 5 guys who scored 20 goals and that could've been 6 if Ryan only scored 2 more and if MacArthur wouldn't have missed almost half the season it could potentially have been 7. I understand it is unikely, but still we we're the only team with 5 guys who scored 20. Zibanejad and Ryan especially need to get going. The 3rd line has been good so far with Pageau and Michalek. The 4rth line has also been fine, Smith has played good so far. I hate Chiasson with a passion but he's been just OK this season and Neil hasn't been bad. Would love to have a Robinson or McCormick instead of Neil but I have no problem with Neil so far.

The defense is where there is a major problem. Ceci needs a partner with more experience. Dan Hamhuis is the guy we need.

Methot - Karlsson
Hamhuis - Ceci
Cowen - Wideman
Boro

Wiercioch shipped to Guantanamo bay (traded)

 

[OmniSens]

Krejci and Chara

for

Ottawa's 1st 2016
Puempel
Chabot
Wideman
White


Other Picks to even things out. Sens go all in, but keep core intact. Krejci is young and still dominant, so this makes giving up the youth worth it. Chara sells jerseys and tickets, and helps out on a 2nd pairing where he does not have to play 30 mins a night.

Whoa, ouch! No thanks.

 

[Benjamin]

We can get away without another top 6 forward. Absolutely need a top 3 dman if we want to do any damage.

 

[MikeyMagic]

We can get away without another top 6 forward. Absolutely need a top 3 dman if we want to do any damage.

Absolutely this. It's ridiculous that most fans have seen it this way since last year and management still doesn't really think so. We need our 2015 Kuba. The top 4 defenseman that can play 2nd unit PP and play 1st or 2nd unit PK. Fix the D!

 

[BigBush*]

Absolutely this. It's ridiculous that most fans have seen it this way since last year and management still doesn't really think so. We need our 2015 Kuba. The top 4 defenseman that can play 2nd unit PP and play 1st or 2nd unit PK. Fix the D!

our best chance is to wait a few years and hope this is Chabot. Better then trading for some over the hill defenseman or signing a UFA like Sekera to a huge contract

 

[Boud]

our best chance is to wait a few years and hope this is Chabot. Better then trading for some over the hill defenseman or signing a UFA like Sekera to a huge contract

I don't think this team can wait for that long. Until Chabot comes in and get compfortable in the NHL that will take 2-3 years and by then we might be seeing the end of Anderson and we have no clue what we have in net for the future still (Realistically it's unclear). In 2-3 years, we'll have to resign Stone, Turris, Zibanejad, Maybe Hoffman, Maybe Ceci(both depending on what kind of deal they'll sign this offseason). There's some guys who'll come up like Chabot, White, Paul, Lindberg, and maybe guys like Chlapik and Gagné but still this team will most likely change quite a bit over the next 2-3 years. If we want a good shot now we need to take advantage of Karlsson, Hoffman, Turris and Stone getting paid less than half of what they should.

Think about it, in 3+ years

Turris will be making 7M
Stone also 7-7.5M
Hoffman 4-7M (Depends on how he produces obviously)
Ryan 7M (sigh)
Zibanejad likely close to 5M

Thats a big difference compared to what we have now. Ottawa is lucky to have their best players getting paid significantly less than what they should and they need to take advantage of this. We have plenty of assets (picks, prospects, roster players) we could deal for a legitimate defensemen that could help us contend right away. We have the cap space to fit a top guy on the backend without a problem and we have a deep prospect pool that we could use to our advantage. Our forward group is very good, our goaltending is great so why not get a guy that could take us from pretender to a serious playoff team.

 

[Othello*]

Yes we do. Wiercioch and Ryan aren't playing well in their respective roles.

 

[BigBush*]

I don't think this team can wait for that long. Until Chabot comes in and get compfortable in the NHL that will take 2-3 years and by then we might be seeing the end of Anderson and we have no clue what we have in net for the future still (Realistically it's unclear). In 2-3 years, we'll have to resign Stone, Turris, Zibanejad, Maybe Hoffman, Maybe Ceci(both depending on what kind of deal they'll sign this offseason). There's some guys who'll come up like Chabot, White, Paul, Lindberg, and maybe guys like Chlapik and Gagné but still this team will most likely change quite a bit over the next 2-3 years. If we want a good shot now we need to take advantage of Karlsson, Hoffman, Turris and Stone getting paid less than half of what they should.

Think about it, in 3+ years

Turris will be making 7M
Stone also 7-7.5M
Hoffman 4-7M (Depends on how he produces obviously)
Ryan 7M (sigh)
Zibanejad likely close to 5M

Thats a big difference compared to what we have now. Ottawa is lucky to have their best players getting paid significantly less than what they should and they need to take advantage of this. We have plenty of assets (picks, prospects, roster players) we could deal for a legitimate defensemen that could help us contend right away. We have the cap space to fit a top guy on the backend without a problem and we have a deep prospect pool that we could use to our advantage. Our forward group is very good, our goaltending is great so why not get a guy that could take us from pretender to a serious playoff team.

Ya, Ive always said that 2017-2018 will be our best chance, right before Turris and Stone need new contracts, and a year later Karlsson.

In 3 years, everyone on the team should be better/experienced/more mature. the only guys im worried about is Ryan, Anderson, and to a lesser extent Methot.

Hopefully we will see a combination of guys like Chabot, White, Paul, and Lindberg come in and can play a strong secondary role. I'd rather stay the course and be patient, unless for some crazy reason a top flight guy like Ekman-Larsson or Logan Cotoure becomes available.

 

[Micklebot]

We need MacArthur back, once that happens I like our top 9.

Hoffman-Turris-Stone
MacArthur-Zibanejad-Ryan
Pageau with any two of Prince, Michalek, Chiasson or Lazar

Leaving two of the above with Smith, and possibly Neil.

Never understood why MacArthur wasn't playing with Ryan and Zibanejad over Lazar. Made no sense.

Now, our D needs improvement but I think it can come from within; Wideman imo is a better match for Cowen than Boro (or Boro than Cowen for that matter). Wiercioch will need to either get back to how he finished the season or he ends up in the press box in favour of Wideman.

Methot-Karlsson
Cowen/Boro-Ceci
Boro/Cowen-Wideman

I know they want to ease Cowen back in, so if they must keep him on the bottom pair the coach trusts Boro with Karlsson, he should trust him with Ceci. This would allow Ceci to open up a bit offensively, and might actually be good for his development.

 

[BigBush*]

We need MacArthur back, once that happens I like our top 9.

Hoffman-Turris-Stone
MacArthur-Zibanejad-Ryan
Pageau with any two of Prince, Michalek, Chiasson or Lazar

Leaving two of the above with Smith, and possibly Neil.

Never understood why MacArthur wasn't playing with Ryan and Zibanejad over Lazar. Made no sense.

Now, our D needs improvement but I think it can come from within; Wideman imo is a better match for Cowen than Boro (or Boro than Cowen for that matter). Wiercioch will need to either get back to how he finished the season or he ends up in the press box in favour of Wideman.

Methot-Karlsson
Cowen/Boro-Ceci
Boro/Cowen-Wideman

I know they want to ease Cowen back in, so if they must keep him on the bottom pair the coach trusts Boro with Karlsson, he should trust him with Ceci. This would allow Ceci to open up a bit offensively, and might actually be good for his development.

Ya, you've hit the nail on the head with what line up decisions should be made, but are we going to get past the first or second round with that line up?

 

[Boud]

We need MacArthur back, once that happens I like our top 9.

Hoffman-Turris-Stone
MacArthur-Zibanejad-Ryan
Pageau with any two of Prince, Michalek, Chiasson or Lazar

Leaving two of the above with Smith, and possibly Neil.

Never understood why MacArthur wasn't playing with Ryan and Zibanejad over Lazar. Made no sense.

Now, our D needs improvement but I think it can come from within; Wideman imo is a better match for Cowen than Boro (or Boro than Cowen for that matter). Wiercioch will need to either get back to how he finished the season or he ends up in the press box in favour of Wideman.

Methot-Karlsson
Cowen/Boro-Ceci
Boro/Cowen-Wideman

I know they want to ease Cowen back in, so if they must keep him on the bottom pair the coach trusts Boro with Karlsson, he should trust him with Ceci. This would allow Ceci to open up a bit offensively, and might actually be good for his development.

This is exactly how I see it. I'd like to see a more experiences guy for sure if one way of another we're able to pull of a Petry type of trade but if not that's what I'd like to see.

 

[DrEasy]

Where are we in our compete cycle? Are we still rebuilding, or are we supposed to compete? If we are supposed to compete this year, it sure wouldn't hurt to upgrade everywhere we can. We sure aren't limited by our salary cap. A top 4 D seems more urgent than a top 6, and we may have internal solutions for our top 6 that management isn't willing to use yet, but even then we see how all it takes is an injury (Mac, Meth) to test our depth in every position.

If we are still rebuilding, then sure, a status quo is fine. But then we should give Prince, Puempel, Wideman a chance to show what they can do.