Does Anyone Else Think Ottawa Might Have a Good Season?

[bert]

I know you didnt personally mean this, but there is a ton wrong with the standings watchers comparing Ottawa to the "Colorado did" argument.

Did Ottawa get rid of aging veterans who were literally slowing their team down? The Avs did with Iginla, Beauchamin, Bourque, Gelinas, Martinson, McLeod, Mitchell, and Tyutin.
Did Ottawa bring in young players who the league has never heard of, but real fans knew would be an immense replacement to the above slow players? The Avs did in Compher, Jost, Kerfoot, Rantanen, and even Yakupov at times.
The Avs quite literally had a complete roster overhaul, where what the Sens did is comparable to losing MacKinnon and Rantanen only.

Did Ottawa trade any of their star grumpy players with permanent tampons in for an insane haul, one of which being a now top 4 dman which was previously their biggest weakness? The Avs did with Duchene/Girard.
Does Ottawa have that one holy crap player that has the potential to have an MVP caliber season? Yes, they have Erik Ka....o wait, the Avs always knew they had that potential in MacKinnon.
Does Ottawa have an above average goalie with an equal above average goalie on the bench ready to do? The Avs did with Varlamov and Bernier. Im not going to try to claim either is top 10 anymore, but the potential to play at that level is there for both of them and they did play that way last season.
Does Ottawa have the lineup or system to house the best PK in the league?
And finally does Ottawa have a team of young players who truly want to play and win for the team they play for or are they all looking forward to leaving asap?

The Senators are nowhere near the Avalanche and even not even comparable to the Knights. They are a straight dumpster fire.

Claiming to understand the motivations of the young players is quite the statement nostradamus.

 

[Peat]

A) Because they're professionals.
B) They're gonna get paid next summer, why would they tank their value?
C) Last year the circus act was in the dressing room. This year it's in the front office. It's ridiculous to think they won't try hard because they don't like the owner. Morale was low last year because of insane drama, but why would it be low this year?

Never said they'd completely phone it in. I said they wouldn't kill themselves night after night - or to put it in a less hyperbolic manner, they won't give 100% all the time. That's what Ottawa need if they're gonna overperform people's expectations.

And morale's gonna be low because they're on a team that does crazy things like waive veterans to prove a point and is also more interested in stripping salary than being competitive. And because neither man wants to be there.

 

[bert]

I'm thinking there will be losses where they concede double digit numbers this season.

Multiple double digit loss games. Wow i bet i know who you think thats going to be against too. Curious, how many double digit loses did the hometown blue and white sustain when they finished dead last?

 

[bert]

Forwards - two guys you can reasonably project 45+ points from (Duchene/Stone), and no legitimate 80+ point threats.

Defence - no defenceman on the team has ever hit 30+ points in the NHL, and they don't have any defencemen considered legitimate top pairing guys from a defensive standpoint.

Goaltending - they had the second worst team save % in the league last season, and are bringing back the same two guys. Anderson at 37 years old very likely has his best days behind him. I could see their goaltending rebounding slightly compared to last season, but it's not like they're going to have a top 10 tandem or anything.

Internal growth - Chabot has the potential and is at the right age where he could break out. But really he's the only young guy on the roster that I think has a chance to become a legit top line / top pairing talent this season. Tkachuk/White are generally seen as safer two-way players rather than guys with dynamic franchise player potential (+ Tkachuk was just drafted and is unlikely to hit the ground running).

There's really no strong point to their roster. The top-end talent is relatively weak (if you look at their top C/W/G/D, Stone is really the only guy that is in the conversation for being top 10-15 at his position), and the depth after that isn't astounding either, nor is the team loaded with youth that you can reasonably project to being able to carry an NHL team at this stage.

Stone just scored at a ppg last year. No one thinks this team is going to be good but if you're gonna have a negative take please do some research.

 

[greasysnapper]

I think there's so much parity, and with a good system, and strong goaltending from Anderson, it's very possible. They're not going to score a lot, but I think they can grind out wins.

 

[MXD]

Non. Okay season? They might. Good? Non.

 

[bert]

Lol good one.

The leafs are scoring 100 powerplay goals and wont conceed a single point to he sens this season. Didnt you hear?

The most hilarious part in this thread is all these new hockey/leaf fans takes. Literally 3 years ago they went with a worse roster than the sens are going into the season. No double digit loses or an inibility to get points in games. Just shows how many of these 'leaf' fans are either brand new or just bandwagoners.

 

[613Leafer]

Stone just scored at a ppg last year. No one thinks this team is going to be good but if you're gonna have a negative take please do some research.

Feel free to bump it at the end of the season if he gets 80+ points. His career high is 64 points, and PPG over 58 games doesn't mean he's automatically an 80+ point player. When he can actually sustain that for a full season, I'll believe it.

Duchene for example had a PPG season over 71 games in 2013-2014, and yet he's never hit 80+ points, or even 70+ points again since then. I'm sure the fans calling him a "PPG player" and a legitimate 80+ point threat after that season are still sitting there telling other fans to do some research.

 

[bert]

Feel free to bump it at the end of the season if he gets 80+ points. His career high is 64 points, and PPG over 58 games doesn't mean he's automatically an 80+ point player. When he can actually sustain that for a full season, I'll believe it.

Duchene for example had a PPG season over 71 games in 2013-2014, and yet he's never hit 80+ points, or even 70+ points again since then. I'm sure the fans calling him a "PPG player" and a legitimate 80+ point threat after that season are still sitting there telling other fans to do some research.

You said no real ppg threat. If a player just scored at a ppg pace just one season ago how is that not a threat? Do you think Matthews is a threat to score at a ppg pace? Id imagine you do. However if you apply this exacy logic then no Matthews is not a ppg threat.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

Every single player would have to have a career plus year.. and then some.

Is it possible? Sure. Likely? Not a chance.

 

[613Leafer]

You said no real ppg threat. If a player just scored at a ppg pace just one season ago how is that not a threat? Do you think Matthews is a threat to score at a ppg pace? Id imagine you do. However if you apply this exacy logic then no Matthews is not a ppg threat.

No, I said no legitimate 80+ point threats. You quoted me in your initial response, so you should know that. And I can easily say I'm not confident a single PPG season over 58 games but with a career high of 64 points at age 25 doesn't automatically make me assume they're an 80+ point player. I literally just provided you the example of Duchene having a PPG season under his belt, and yet never hitting 80+ points in his entire career, so it very very clearly does happen.

As for Matthews, he just turned 21. His career resume is a rookie season of 69 points (higher than Stone's career high), followed up by a PPG season at age 20. Which while yes, that PPG season was over 62 games, I'm going to trust based on his age/trajectory, that he's much more likely to hit 80+ points than Stone is.

Feel free to disagree, but based on career-to-date, I think Stone's much more likely to put up ~65-70 points this year, than he is to put up 80+ points. Again, feel free to bump 8 months from now if he actually does manage to hit 80+. Either way, I don't really care. Enjoy the season.

 

[bert]

No, I said no legitimate 80+ point threats. You quoted me in your initial response, so you should know that. And I can easily say I'm not confident a single PPG season over 58 games but with a career high of 64 points at age 25 doesn't automatically make me assume they're an 80+ point player. I literally just provided you the example of Duchene having a PPG season under his belt, and yet never hitting 80+ points in his entire career, so it very very clearly does happen.

As for Matthews, he just turned 21. His career resume is a rookie season of 69 points (higher than Stone's career high), followed up by a PPG season at age 20. Which while yes, that PPG season was over 62 games, I'm going to trust based on his age/trajectory, that he's much more likely to hit 80+ points than Stone is.

Feel free to disagree, but based on career-to-date, I think Stone's much more likely to put up ~65-70 points this year, than he is to put up 80+ points. Again, feel free to bump 8 months from now if he actually does manage to hit 80+. Either way, I don't really care. Enjoy the season.

Incredible double standard. Thats ok your entire group has been consistent throughout this thread.

 

[Captain Controversy]

IF Ottawa makes the playoffs or even pushes for the playoffs, I will pull for them. Just for the fans of Ottawa that have had to endure this terrible off season.

 

[Tuggy]

I don't see how they aren't a bottom 10 team.

Maybe Anderson pulls off some magic but at 37 years old...heavy load to carry.

 

[Grigowski]

Just miss playoffs but Tkachuk will have a massive year playing alongside Stone and their future will actually look exciting

WHAT?

 

[Romkey]

Pageau 40 goal season incoming

40 goals in the 20 games he plays this season

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

WHAT?

its TRUE!!!! haha

 

[mmalady]

well if anderson follows his pattern of good year bad year then he's going to be good this year so that alone should help the sens have a better season than most think

 

[Grigowski]

With respect to all Sens-Fans (as mentioned before: No one deserves this management group), but i think our own 48-point-campaign in 2016-2017 is in real danger.

 

[48g90a138pts]

Probably comes down to what the morale is like on the team. Seems pretty dark there at the moment. Would be tough to get up and compete day in and day out with the situation as it's been.

 

[Stealth JD]

Sens won't be bad, and could probably contend for a Wild Card if Anderson isn't abysmal. They've got more talent than they're given credit for, and the defense will be sound even if less talented.

 

[stepdad gaary]

its fun to be a contrarian but this is god damn ridiculous

 

[Byron Bitz]

Is it possible? Yes. Ottawa fans should watch some games this year and see if everyone plays above expectations and the team surprises. But most likely it won’t happen and I wouldn’t recommend torturing yourself by watching every game this season expecting them to turn it around.

 

[tucker3434]

I did until they traded EK. Without him, there’s just nobody to carry the team. I don’t think they’re a stone cold lock to be dead last, but it’ll take a miracle for them to clear 80 points.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

nah, I think they're going to be so deep in the basement that not even King Arthur can pull them out.