Is Ottawa better than any of the bottom 4 teams in the West division?

[Brobust]

Just wondering.

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[Brobust]

I personally see them as the best team in that group, but with the worst goaltending.

 

[RealisticLeaf55]

There are other cores I trust more. We have seen what Vancouver is capable of when they have goaltending. Just think they need a couple of pieces. I need more time to see who the sens are. I don't fully trust stutzle or Norris yet. Chabot needs a partner and their goaltending needs a huge bounce back.

 

[TheKrebsCycle]

Better than Ducks and Kings , Sharks seem on the same level. Phoenix a tick ahead probably. Ottawa has a few high end players and should be very good very soon, w more coming . Maybe next year once they have help on D. Ottawa is currently a tough out if they play w structure.

 

[majormajor]

Based on how they've played lately Ottawa is the best. Their speed is plainly too much for many teams to handle.

AZ is in a tailspin now with Garland out but I would have said they were better prior to that. So I voted second best.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

If Ottawa hadn’t had that HORRID start to the year, they’d be fighting for a playoff spot right now, if not in a playoff spot.

Since the TDL in particular, they’ve been one of the NHL’s best teams.

 

[McVespa99]

I personally see them as the best team in that group, but with the worst goaltending.

THIS

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I personally see them as the best team in that group, but with the worst goaltending.

Technically speaking, Ottawa's goaltending after their horrendous first 11 games isn't so bad. Their team save percentage over the past 40 games is .903, with Ducks, Sharks and Coyotes all having worse goaltending over that span.

 

[ricky0034]

don't really see any argument that they aren''t considering they have more points and a notably better goal differential than Anaheim in a worse division

 

[Del Preston]

I voted best. Take away the nine losses against the Oilers, and they are 19-18-4. That sounds dumb to take away that many games, but they couldn't beat the Oilers for whatever reason. They could have won three or four of those games, or at least deserved to push them to OT.

 

[AvroArrow]

Easily better than all 4, the bottom of the West is just embarrassing.

 

[The Moose is Loose]

They’re the best team probably. The yotes should be better but they’re botching it right now. The 3 California teams are all awful

 

[seancolorado]

I put them 2nd best after Arizona, but above the 3 California teams.

The West is the worst division in hockey (solely because of the bottom 4 teams), so I can understand those who think AZ is not as good and I won't argue that

 

[Regal]

I think they're probably better than the California teams but worse than Arizona overall, though playing the best recently. The thing with teams like Ottawa is that it's easy to look at their record and suggest they had a horrible start, then they moved in some younger pieces and some of them found their games they've been a much better team, and it makes sense. But at the same time, we see a lot of teams do this over the years and then they're projected to do so much better the following year and that play doesn't carry over. So were they actually that good, or were teams taking them lightly or is it easier to play well when you know there's nothing on the line because you're eliminated? It's hard to say. I tend to think it's somewhere in the middle and the Sens are probably closer to their overall record.

 

[DaveG]

I'd take them over any of the 3 California teams right now. Between Ottawa and Arizona, Ottawa has the better forwards for sure but Arizona has the better D and goaltending, so I'd go with the Yotes.

 

[Xspyrit]

Technically speaking, Ottawa's goaltending after their horrendous first 11 games isn't so bad. Their team save percentage over the past 40 games is .903, with Ducks, Sharks and Coyotes all having worse goaltending over that span.

Despite what stats can say, goaltending hasn't been a problem at all, particularly after the 10 first games like you say (when they were "rusty" like everyone else). For people understanding goaltending (very few, almost have to be a goalie for that) and looking deeper, there's many reasons that can explain what happened but the problem was pretty much just ROAD GAMES. Their overall SV% at home for the season is 0.915 (9th in NHL)

It took a while to figure out how to defend at a NHL level on the road, there could have been many reasons/factors to explain that.

- poor personnel choices by GM/coach early that have been progressively fixed.
- No real training camp, many players not having played in 10+ months
- lot of roster turnover once again, took time to instill "hockey systems"
- team defense improved as the team got faster, much faster and young players also gained experience

So they have vastly improved defensively on the road (since April) to the point that it's not a problem anymore.

To summarize, the problem was team defense, not goaltending. Watching the games makes it obvious, how many glorious chances they were given up off bad turnovers or blown defensive coverage, and way too much time and space. Most NHLers with time and space will end up scoring often.