What the HELL is wrong with the Ottawa Senators!?

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

Matt Duchene should have been acquired in the off-season, not in the middle of the season. It takes time to adapt and when you have pre-season to go through plans and stuff, it helps.

Additionally, this is the worst "Win now!" roster for today's NHL. Right now, you need tons of puck movement, speed in skating and execution and so on. Last year's run was illusory because Boston was super injured, Rangers quite "meh" and Pittsburgh out their top puck mover. We were never a conference finalist team, we were a bubble team that got a boost because Tampa Bay Lightning were injury-riddled.

We should be better, but Boucher is a one-season coach and 95 should have been traded for in the off-season. Dorion is addicted to the mic like Murray was, so he made a reactionary trade that blew up in his face. Good for him. Now he can actually have a long-term plan instead of just winning and hoping for luck.

If Cheapass Melnyk allows it, of course.

 

[JT Kreider]

The most luckiest team last year (not even joking, check out their stats). Their luck has finally ran out.

Yeah some of the goals they scored last year were straight up ridiculous luck.

And simply put if AV doesn't "lose" his best defensive pairing in favor of Staal and Holden the Rangers win Games 2 and 5.

 

[Gnashville]

Kyle Turris is just not a player you trade!!
He was too valuable to them.
They should have resigned him and gotten rid of Ryan or Phaneuf.

 

[Loosie]

In before Matt Duchene.

 

[HSF]

saying Matt Duchene is the easy ' i haven't watched the sens' answer.

Karlsson isn't Karlsson
Andy isnt Andy
PP is putrid

Those imo are the key factors as to why we suck rn.

 

[InAllOurLeafsCommand]

Kyle Turris is just not a player you trade!!
He was too valuable to them.
They should have resigned him and gotten rid of Ryan or Phaneuf.

Well there was an attempt to expose Dion in the expansion draft, but he put a stop to that.

Going to be hard to dump either one of those contracts without retaining salary/packaging up picks and prospects with them. Ryan is the bigger worry going forward, imo. Longer term and he seems a shadow of his former self.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

There is nothing wrong with them, this is what they are ad anyone that paid attention last year could see it, the major difference is their goalies are no longer in god mode and now that they have come back to earth they are started to lose.

They simply are not a good team.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

White, Chabot, Brown, Jaros, Englund, Lajoie, Formenton, Batherson, Hogberg??????

Most teams can rattle off a list of prospects with optimism, no?

 

[CraigsList]

The Duchene effect.

 

[joe dirte]

You forgot Chlapik, Gagne, Bowers and Perron

I'm not going to sit here and try to argue over individual prosoects. every fan looks at their own prospects and gives them lots of love. every team in the NHL has several prospects at or near the top of their junior leagues. it doesn't mean much.

as a leaf fan, eemeli rasanen is near ppg as a dmen in the OHL at 18. liljegren putting up points and playing well in the AHL at 18. Adam Brooks score 250 points in his last 2 years in junior. then there is bobylev, korshkov, timashov. blah blah blah.

every team looks at their prospects like this.

the publications may not be perfect but they're better than a group of fans fawning over their second rate kids because they score in junior.

 

[joe dirte]

Most teams can rattle off a list of prospects with optimism, no?

not most. EVERY.

for whay it's worth the hockey writers has the sens at 27th. dobber says 22nd. can't get into pronmans it's pay content. I never really like his assessments anyway.

 

[pheasant]

Well Turris was under appreciated. But Duchene should have still provided a boost. I think there's a lot wrong right now. But it start with EK and Anderson. Both have been less than expected recently, and they are probably the 2 players the team can least afford to have under perform.

 

[HSF]

Most teams can rattle off a list of prospects with optimism, no?

White Chabot and Brown are considered blue chippers by most i guess.

Formenton and Batherson could make team canada so lets see

 

[HSF]

Well Turris was under appreciated. But Duchene should have still provided a boost. I think there's a lot wrong right now. But it start with EK and Anderson. Both have been less than expected recently, and they are probably the 2 players the team can least afford to have under perform.

Bingo

 

[le_sean]

They were never that good to begin with. Well coached, sure, but completely reliant on Karlsson and two good forwards (Hoffman and Stone).

Also their series against Pittsburgh was good, but the Bruins and Rangers were both quite flawed teams, so it was no surprise to beat them. It helped that Bobby Ryan went from someone you might put on waivers to Claude Lemieux once the playoffs started. It was an aberration.

 

[Territory]

They were that team that everyone expected to regress at some point. Overachieved/got lucky last season, bad underlying numbers, etc.

 

[pheasant]

They were never that good to begin with. Well coached, sure, but completely reliant on Karlsson and two good forwards (Hoffman and Stone).

Also their series against Pittsburgh was good, but the Bruins and Rangers were both quite flawed teams, so it was no surprise to beat them. It helped that Bobby Ryan went from someone you might put on waivers to Claude Lemieux once the playoffs started. It was an aberration.

I'm still completely baffled by this guy. I really thought he could be a PPG guy when he was traded to Ottawa. Then he just kept getting worse. Then I thought he would bounce back to a 25 goal guy this season after the good playoff performance, and now he's invisible.

I really want him to succeed. But he continues to do nothing. Is he really this bad?

 

[le_sean]

I'm still completely baffled by this guy. I really thought he could be a PPG guy when he was traded to Ottawa. Then he just kept getting worse. Then I thought he would bounce back to a 25 goal guy this season after the good playoff performance, and now he's invisible.

I really want him to succeed. But he continues to do nothing. Is he really this bad?

I’m baffled too. I don’t watch enough Sens games to form an opinion but he’s always been talented. Is it an effort issue or a skating issue? I’m not sure. But he should be at least a 25-25 player with his hands and intelligence.

 

[harrisb]

I'm still completely baffled by this guy. I really thought he could be a PPG guy when he was traded to Ottawa. Then he just kept getting worse. Then I thought he would bounce back to a 25 goal guy this season after the good playoff performance, and now he's invisible.

I really want him to succeed. But he continues to do nothing. Is he really this bad?

Started off exactly where he left off from the playoffs, then broke another finger. He's been playing with it frozen but other teams are obviously targeting it due to the numbers of slashes to the hands he is receiving. If he can ever get healthy he'll be just fine. Karlsson on the other hand I believe may not ever reach his peak again, that is our biggest issue; Andy playing like an AHL goalie is second.

 

[joe dirte]

I'm still completely baffled by this guy. I really thought he could be a PPG guy when he was traded to Ottawa. Then he just kept getting worse. Then I thought he would bounce back to a 25 goal guy this season after the good playoff performance, and now he's invisible.

I really want him to succeed. But he continues to do nothing. Is he really this bad?

hes always been a rather smooth skater, but not a very explosive one. the game has does up, he hasn't, he's gotten older and slower. and he's proven to be soft and fragile too. none of these are good for a goal scoring winger that relies in getting to the right place.

he wasn't a bad player but he's been complementary his entire career.

 

[Byron Bitz]

The return they get for Karlsson might be what turns this franchise around. Letting Karlsson walk might be what sends this franchise to Seattle. The decision they must make to trade him or not to trade him is the most important decision in franchise history.

 

[harrisb]

The return they get for Karlsson might be what turns this franchise around. Letting Karlsson walk might be what sends this franchise to Seattle.

exactly!

 

[Halakitlikethat]

We literally just had this exact thread on the weekend, same title and everything

 

[FinnLightning26]

What's happening in Ottawa is eerily similar to what happened in Tampa when Boucher was there. The team goes out of nowhere to game 7 of ECF in his first season, loses by a single goal and the downfall starts from there. I don't know if it's the system or what but it seems like nothing has changed with Guy.

 

[ICanMotteBelieveIt]

They obviously overachieved last season, this can't come as a surprise?

Karlsson had surgery and isn't 100% yet, and maybe Turris was well-liked by the players? Morale dropped as he was traded?

Duchene hasn't produced either.. so yeah.