Player Discussion Drake Batherson (RW)

[Upgrayedd]

The Ottawa Senators are heading towards a good decade of being absolutely terrible.

Were already 2 years in with a seemingly assured bottom finish next season as well...looking at 3 consecutive seasons of bottom 3 finishes followed by a lockout...hard to imagine where what's left of the fan base will be at with 2 more years of daily, weekly and monthly lies and worst case scenarios.

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

Kid has 18 points in last 9 AHL game.

Can someone explain to me why he is not being called up right now?

He went pointless in the 9 games before that, which was basically right after he was sent down last time. Why would you disturb his chemistry with brown right now?

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Kid has 18 points in last 9 AHL game.

Can someone explain to me why he is not being called up right now?

Meaningful vs Meaningless games

 

[OD99]

Development is always taking place - they get more practice in Belleville and he is getting probably close to double the minutes in the A as opposed to Ottawa while being the go to guy with Brown.

If anything the worst place for his development is in Ottawa at the moment.

If they have a big week in Belleville and creep closer to the playoffs then no question he, Brown and Wolanin (when healthy) need to remain there and get them in to the post season.

From there perhaps they get a few games in Ottawa but I would hope we send some of our AHL eligible youngsters down to compete in play-offs.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

 

[JungleBeat]

Him Brady and Brown had big summers.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Him Brady and Brown had big summers.

Haven't seen anything on Brady's physical gains yet.

 

[InTkachukWeTrust]

All that training with Crosby, Nate and Marchy paying off I see.

 

[OgieO]

I saw him around town this summer - he's jacked. Noticeably bigger in the shoulders. Hard working kid.

 

[aragorn]

IMO Batherson is NHL ready now & keeping him in Belleville serves no purpose. Belleville has plenty of players that need to develop. I think they should place Batherson with Tkachuk & White to form a very good NHL line & let him learn the ropes beside those guys as those guys learned the ropes along side Mark Stone who plays the game the right way.

NHL coaches now seem to like pairings or tandems that work well together such as Tkachuk & White & Brown & Batherson & Ottawa has a few guys who could fill the third player role for those tandems. Since not much is expected from this team next season, watching Batherson full time might be a spark of hope for the future of this team. Let him learn in a year of diversity to see if he has what it takes to carry his team out of it like Mark Stone did, it didn't hurt Stone's development but instead propelled him into NHL stardom. I would like to see Batherson do the same, fight through the diversity which could be all of next season & come out stronger & a better all around hockey player because of it. Having said that though, I would like to see Batherson back with L.Brown when he is in the NHL permanently & add a LWer who can compliment them creating another very good line.

 

[Senscore]

Definitely taking a late round flyer on him in my pool draft. He'll get every opportunity to succeed.

 

[BondraTime]

Yeah Batherson looks massive, he’s noticeably bigger seeing him in Halifax

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

 

[Samsquanch]

Hes even got then size now, Drizzy does it all..

Drake is going to be Mark Stone v2.0. I bet he becomes our undisputed 2nd best forward over the course of next season. Maybe even #1 over Chucky.

Maybe he never reaches the same peak as Stone, that's totally possible. But theres a small chance that he could end up being even better imo. Hes got the toolset and skill, it's just a matter of can he put it all together.

Love the way he plays the game.

 

[Sensinitis]

He has better offensive skills than Stone, imo.

 

[JungleBeat]

Plays more like Wheeler than Stone.

 

[Boud]

He has better offensive skills than Stone, imo.

He really might, lets hope he's as smart

 

[Sweatred]

Plays more like Wheeler than Stone.

Is he anywhere near as physically strong as Wheeler/Stone ?

 

[Larionov]

Is he anywhere near as physically strong as Wheeler/Stone ?

Oh absolutely. If you ever see Stone in person, he is a tall dude (taller than you may have thought) but not big or jacked at all. Then again, few of these guys are - the game today demands speed and quickness first, so the players have to stay incredibly lean. That's the first thing you notice when you see these guys in Street clothes - they generally aren't as jacked as you might think they would be, but they are incredibly lean and fit. This is why a guy like Buff in Winnipeg sticks out like a sore thumb because he's such an outlier.

 

[DJB]

To me Batherson isnt ready. He lacks that killer drive , passion or hunger to be a full time NHL er.

Logan Brown is more deserving (not to sidetrack thread)

I think Drake would benefit from more time in the A

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

High expectations (we're not the only ones) well most of us.

 

[coladin]

High expectations (we're not the only ones) well most of us.

Does Sabourin not qualify?

Hope Drake doesn’t see that!

 

[bert]

High expectations (we're not the only ones) well most of us.

I find this shocking. I wish it were true but i dont see it.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

High expectations (we're not the only ones) well most of us.

This is completely ridiculous. Batherson is not getting anywhere near the Calder.

 

[Micklebot]

This is completely ridiculous. Batherson is not getting anywhere near the Calder.

He is going to get lots of opportunity to prove you wrong though. Should be in the top 6 right away which is a big leg up. Hope he can adapt quick and find his game at this level.