Do we have any hope of winning a Stanley Cup without an elite center?

[Wallet Inspector]

I do like the progress the team has made this year. With Stone and Hoffman breaking out, we do have a solid top 6 forward group.

However, is "solid" enough? Can we win it all without a Crosby/Toews/Kopitar/Datsyuk type of top line center?

Turris is a 60 point guy, and Zibanejad looks like he can develop to be a 60 point guy, but as of now we do not have a truly game breaking forward.

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[DrunkUncleDenis]

This guy might end up being quite good, though.

We'll see. Boston did it without a 90 point guy.

We're not a typically built team. Our offense flows through EK.

 

[Sun God Nika]

I don't think this squad will ever go all the way tbh. Murray just seems like an insanely stubborn gm who refuses to accept the game. He also offers generous contracts to players he is attached to regardless of the fact that they aren't even NHL calibre anymore (Phillips, Neil) Greening to a lesser extent. I think this team maximizes at a conf finals loss at best. Gotta remember Murray had to be convinced to draft Karlsson, and trade for Turris.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

Ya easily. I know Toews is considered elite but it not as if hes a super great scorer. Dont really need those 70-80-90 point centers

Honestly i dont think its overrated. The sum of the team just has to be good. This isnt Basketball or to a lesser extent football. You just need to have good pieces that add together to be a good team

I mean Turris tied Kopitar in points this year

I think Hockey is similar to soccer where you can get by without a elite striker if you have other elite pieces.

The only position that has to be good is goaltending. You can get by without a great center performance and win games. With goalies though it seems there is only small difference between the top tier and the mid tier though in todays NHL

Lets take a look at San Jose. Elite center depth did nothing for them over the years. They would have muliple cups if winning was based on hiow good your centers are

 

[BK201]

we need some luck. I think a lot of already NHL players are up in the air right now.

Where's zibby's ceiling he's only 22 and a late season birthday as well in April. he has enought tools to be that #1 guy but can he get there.

Where will Ceci be? Killrea would say he had Drew Doughty potential.

Cowen can he turn it around?

did weircoich just break out??? I'm not quite sure.

can Lazar be a Callahan?

Stone, Puempel, Lehner,

if were lucky and these players turn out we can be a top team in the east in a couple years.

We're very young and they are building it on a "team" team if that makes sense to you.

 

[BonkTastic]

The defence (after Karlsson) is a much bigger stumbling block in winning a Cup than our center depth is, IMO.

 

[HavlatMach9]

recent history says very small chance

 

[BK201]

recent history says very small chance

but even when you have 2 elite centers your not a shoe in to win though.

most teams now are winning on depth.

 

[Stylizer1]

We need a bonafied super star forward. Some one who is consistent and makes the other team change the way they play us.

 

[Mr Invidious]

The defence (after Karlsson) is a much bigger stumbling block in winning a Cup than our center depth is, IMO.

Yup.

We worry too much about our forward core when it is leaps and bound more impressive than our defense. After Karlsson, yeesh. Not a Cup contending blue-line by any means.

I'm content with our center depth and Zibanejad needs to be given more time to see just how good he could become. Turris is already a damn good player.

 

[Super Cake]

I don't think this squad will ever go all the way tbh. Murray just seems like an insanely stubborn gm who refuses to accept the game. He also offers generous contracts to players he is attached to regardless of the fact that they aren't even NHL calibre anymore (Phillips, Neil) Greening to a lesser extent. I think this team maximizes at a conf finals loss at best. Gotta remember Murray had to be convinced to draft Karlsson, and trade for Turris.

EVERY team has players that are considered useless. This is not just a Sens problem. Yes, the Sens might have a couple of more useless players on their team then other teams, but don't act like Murray is the only gm who gives out contracts to useless players.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Yup.

We worry too much about our forward core when it is leaps and bound more impressive than our defense. After Karlsson, yeesh. Not a Cup contending blue-line by any means.

I'm content with our center depth and Zibanejad needs to be given more time to see just how good he could become. Turris is already a damn good player.

See now one reason I am not too worried about our defense is that unlike our forward group, we already have a bonafide superstar on our blueline.

Methot is a solid top pair dman, and Ceci already looks good and will get better. So we really just need another top 4 D and we'll be more or less set.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

We need a bonafied super star forward. Some one who is consistent and makes the other team change the way they play us.

Still waiting for Jared Cowen to be tried at forward.

 

[Tee Lo]

Teams that have recently won the Stanley Cup:

LA Kings
Elite C: Anze Kopitar
Elite D: Drew Doughty
Elite G: Jonathan Quick

Chicago Blackhawks
Elite C: Jonathan Toews
Elite D: Duncan Keith
Elite G: Corey Crawford

Boston Bruins
Elite C: Patrice Bergeron
Elite D: Zdeno Chara
Elite G: Tim Thomas

*These teams also have significant pieces that fill around the Elite core

Ottawa Senators
Elite C: Kyle Turris / Mika Zibanejad
Elite D: Erik Karlsson
Elite G: Craig Anderson (right now) / Robin Lehner (in the future)

I don't think we're too far away from contending. Wait for our younger players to develop. Hopefully Zibby takes big strides in his development and becomes a dominant Centre in this league. We'll be fine I think.

 

[MiscBrah]

Toews is 0.89 PPG in the playoffs vs 0.9 PPG in the regular season. He's an elite scorer.

 

[Real Smart Sens Fan]

We were beaten by Andy McDonald and a sophomore Ryan Getzlaf. I think Turris/Zib is already pretty close to that. As others have said, bigger concern is at D.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

Toews is 0.89 PPG in the playoffs vs 0.9 PPG in the regular season. He's an elite scorer.

Ya, I have to agree (and not just because of last night). Guy's a playoff performer for sure.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

but even when you have 2 elite centers your not a shoe in to win though.

most teams now are winning on depth.

This. The team is not ready to contend yet so I won't fault management for this, but as long as we have guys like Legwand and Chiasson on the team (I think Chia will not be a core player going forward) we won't be ready. Look at the hockey being played right now, do you really want Alex Chiasson and Chris Neil at this point in his career out there in double OT?

Luckily, we have guys in the pipeline that will provide some scoring depth. I'm very excited to see Puempel and Prince this upcoming season.

As mentioned, our issues are on D.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

Toews is 0.89 PPG in the playoffs vs 0.9 PPG in the regular season. He's an elite scorer.

Alot of that is off the back off incomplete seasons though. We could call anderson an elite goalie if thats the case.

He consistently has 65-70 points with one 76 point season

Of course he brings more then scoring though

 

[BigBush*]

I don't think this squad will ever go all the way tbh. Murray just seems like an insanely stubborn gm who refuses to accept the game. He also offers generous contracts to players he is attached to regardless of the fact that they aren't even NHL calibre anymore (Phillips, Neil) Greening to a lesser extent. I think this team maximizes at a conf finals loss at best. Gotta remember Murray had to be convinced to draft Karlsson, and trade for Turris.

These types of posts make me think that this fan base is the worst.

Ottawa is a cap floor team. How can you complain about 2 life long Sens salaries? They don't get paid that much...

And then you slight Murray for the best trade and draft pick this team has made under his reign. Too bad he drafted Perry/Getzlaf for Anaheim and not Ottawa...

 

[pm88]

Alot of that is off the back off incomplete seasons though. We could call anderson an elite goalie if thats the case.

He consistently has 65-70 points with one 76 point season

Of course he brings more then scoring though

he may not be an elite point producer but his intangibles are off the chart good. Any time they need a big goal or a big play in high pressure situations, he's as good a bet as any to come through

 

[BigBush*]

Teams that have recently won the Stanley Cup:

LA Kings
Elite C: Anze Kopitar
Elite D: Drew Doughty
Elite G: Jonathan Quick

Chicago Blackhawks
Elite C: Jonathan Toews
Elite D: Duncan Keith
Elite G: Corey Crawford

Boston Bruins
Elite C: Patrice Bergeron
Elite D: Zdeno Chara
Elite G: Tim Thomas

*These teams also have significant pieces that fill around the Elite core

Ottawa Senators
Elite C: Kyle Turris / Mika Zibanejad
Elite D: Erik Karlsson
Elite G: Craig Anderson (right now) / Robin Lehner (in the future)

I don't think we're too far away from contending. Wait for our younger players to develop. Hopefully Zibby takes big strides in his development and becomes a dominant Centre in this league. We'll be fine I think.

You can't evaluate teams this way.

A more complete team is just as important as star power

 

[Six Assets]

I think Zibanejad will be a really good centre but not elite. If Zibanejad ends up being a 2 way 65 point centre, we should be fine.

As mentioned previously, our D needs an upgrade, specifically a #3 Dman.

 

[mcnorth]

If we can roll three lines that can score, and on any given night two of them chip in, and run a fourth line that doesn't hurt us... and have a very good top four and a third pairing that doesn't hurt us... and have excellent goaltending... and incredibly good health...and a little puck luck along the way....

YES! We can win a Stanley Cup without an elite center!

If we can get the current roster where MacArthur is on the third line, Pageau's line is legit the fourth line, and Ceci and/or Weircioch is on the bottom pairing, and we still have Andy in net... we might just have something there.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Not worried at all. It would be nice to have an elite talent up front somewhere though.

Not having a legit top 4 LD is my concern going forward.