Lets give some credit to the Ottawa Senators

[alg363636]

It's surprising but also not surprising. The team has a lot of guys who might not get a shot in the NHL otherwise, youth and veterans who might be a little past their prime. Plus a coach who knows he needs to prove himself to stay coaching at that level. There isn't a lot of talent there so won't be a good team but they are going to work their butts off every night since they want to show they deserve to be there. Makes it fun and exciting.

Plus their goaltending has been great.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Well, it's not a coincidence that a lot of players play their best hockey in a contract year.

Pageau is in a bit of a unique situation because last season was supposed to be his opportunity to step up but he missed half the season due to that injury in camp.

That's true but I thought Pageau earned the benefit of the doubt in the 2017 playoffs where he single handily won us a game and was shutting down Bergeron and Crosby? To me he proved his worth a long time ago. We might have to overpay him (I seriously doubt he finishes with the 49 goals he's on pace for) a bit but in my opinion he was going to be underpaid anyway, as defensive players usually are.

 

[SpezDispenser]

27th in the league, and even that entirely on the back of one player's insanely lucky stretch, is "smelling like roses"?

Goodness...which player? Nilsson? Pageau? Duclair? Brown?

The whole team?

 

[bert]

To be fair, he’s looking towards 40ish points. His peak was 44.

He is on pace for 33 goals he has 17 in 42 games since joining the team and is a threat every night. He looks like he has figured it out. Him and Chabot are best friends i think he has found a long term home.

They are working hard but are riding unsustainable save and shooting percentages. They commited to the tank without their first and traded two of the best players in franchise history plus 2 other stars. Would be a cruel joke to not commit to the rebuild when they actually have their first. However the organization is being run by a certified lunatic and a pushover GM that is not qualified for the job. I am fully expecting these idiots to screw this up.

If the organization was run properly Pageau, Namestinikov, Ennis, Demelo, Borowiecki, Hainsey and Anderson are all on expiring contracts. The sens should be trading them for maximum return prior to the trade deadline no matter what it is they should take it. Tierney should also be a trade chip he has one more RFA year but likely doesnt fit into the ling term plans. I only expect solid returns for Pageau, Tierney and Demelo the rest will be spare parts like 3rd to 7th rounders. However overall the sens should get a bunch of assets for these players and actually commit to the tank.

Post trade deadline this is what i want the roster to look like.

Tkachuk L. Brown Duclair
Paul White C Brown
Balcers Anisimov Ryan (hopefully he is ok)
Boedker Chlapik Sabourin
Beaudin

Chabot Zaitsev
Wolanin Jaros
Brannstrom Goloubef

Nilsson
Hogberg

(I know that Boedker Anisimov and Ryan are unmovable but they help them get to the cap floor)

 

[Kuz]

They are tied for 26th/27th in the league with a point percentage of 0.477.

That's not how NHL rank the teams officially. Just go to NHL.com and check. If you want the ranking by point% you should switch to NBA. Most likely will the Lightnings, Rangers and Blue Jackets pass them, but that's hypothetical. Just like Ottawa may very well pass Flames and Leafs with their extra game/games. Still Ottawa beats Toronto so far if you want to use point %. That gives Toronto 78,43 points rounded down to 78 and Ottawa 78,27 rounded down to 78. Tiebreaker ROW which favours Ottawa. So they are pretty much 25th as they also beats the Sharks in ROW if you want to use point % and accumulate.

 

[Curufinwe]

They dummied the Flyers last week.

It didn't help that Muppet Man is persisting with the idiotic idea of playing Giroux on the right side of the PP.

 

[ToDavid]

It's pretty sad that you couldn't talk about your own team without bringing up the Leafs.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Goodness...which player?

Probably the 27 year old with a career high 19 goals who is scoring at a 50 goal pace and has scored at least 1 goal in 80% of their wins.

 

[Kale Hulls]

LOL, I like it.

Senators fans need to claim this before it gets copycat threads.

 

[Dekes For Days]

That's not how NHL rank the teams officially.

Where teams are placed on their horrible website mid-season with varying GP is irrelevant. Ottawa is the 26th/27th best team at the moment.

Still Ottawa beats Toronto so far if you want to use point %.

They do not, and I'm not sure what Toronto has to do with anything anyway.

 

[General Disarray]

This thread already exists.

 

[Sens72]

They are tied for 26th/27th in the league with a point percentage of 0.477.

Wow it’s almost like the standings don’t work like that. We have more wins than 10 teams. Most teams just in front of us have a lot of OTLs and that’s the only reason they have more points than us.

 

[tgo0]

That's not how NHL rank the teams officially. Just go to NHL.com and check. If you want the ranking by point% you should switch to NBA. Most likely will the Lightnings, Rangers and Blue Jackets pass them, but that's hypothetical. Just like Ottawa may very well pass Flames and Leafs with their extra game/games. Still Ottawa beats Toronto so far if you want to use point %. That gives Toronto 78,43 points rounded down to 78 and Ottawa 78,27 rounded down to 78. Tiebreaker ROW which favours Ottawa. So they are pretty much 25th as they also beats the Sharks in ROW if you want to use point % and accumulate.

Tiebreaker isn’t ROW, it’s just RW. Not sure it matters in this scenario.

 

[SpezDispenser]

Probably the 27 year old with a career high 19 goals who is scoring at a 50 goal pace and has scored at least 1 goal in 80% of their wins.

Or the 29 year old goalie with a .924 who previously had had little success (with the exception of a stint with Buffalo) or Connor Brown who is on pace for over 50 points (ditto Duclair). Lots of guys having career years. Coincidence? Maybe. Which was my point, who knows.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Wow it’s almost like the standings don’t work like that. We have more wins than 10 teams. Most teams just in front of us have a lot of OTLs and that’s the only reason they have more points than us.

Actually, the standings do work like that. Teams get a point for not losing in regulation.

 

[SpezDispenser]

It's pretty sad that you couldn't talk about your own team without bringing up the Leafs.

Hey, come on...give us a break. We weren't supposed to win 20 games all year and we have half that in November, while the Leafs were supposed to be Cup contenders and the only other team in Ontario. You're going to get mentioned.

But worry not, the Senators are going to get the crap beaten out of them for a good stretch coming up (or most of us feel) and the Leafs are bound the rebound now that Dubas has fixed your defence (?), so you'll get your moment as well.

 

[bert]

Or the 29 year old goalie with a .924 who previously had had little success (with the exception of a stint with Buffalo) or Connor Brown who is on pace for over 50 points (ditto Duclair). Lots of guys having career years. Coincidence? Maybe. Which was my point, who knows.

Someones gotta score. Duclair looks like the real deal, he has since he got here last season 42 games with the organization. Brown is a good grinder but his shot is not NHL level so he will likely never score 50 points. Good third liner to have. The sens third line is one of the best in the NHL except on the sens its their first line. Paul Pageau Brown would be an amazing third line on a contender they are one of the best forchecking and defensive lines in hockey.

Nilsson has always had the talent he struggles with consistency. The sens are playing with no pressure whatsoever thats going to help any player produce. Easy to make saves when no one cares if you make them. Lots of goalies do figure it out around this age I am hoping thats the case for Nilsson. He looks good, he is big, moves well tracks the puck etc. Just has to get rid of those stinkers he lets in that he cant seem to shrug off like other elite goalies.

 

[SpezDispenser]

Someones gotta score. Duclair looks like the real deal, he has since he got here last season 42 games with the organization. Brown is a good grinder but his shot is not NHL level so he will likely never score 50 points. Good third liner to have. The sens third line is one of the best in the NHL except on the sens its their first line. Paul Pageau Brown would be an amazing third line on a contender they are one of the best forchecking and defensive lines in hockey.

Nilsson has always had the talent he struggles with consistency. The sens are playing with no pressure whatsoever thats going to help any player produce. Easy to make saves when no one cares if you make them. Lots of goalies do figure it out around this age I am hoping thats the case for Nilsson. He looks good, he is big, moves well tracks the puck etc. Just has to get rid of those stinkers he lets in that he cant seem to shrug off like other elite goalies.

Yep, 2 or 3 stunning games, then he gets pulled. It's basically guaranteed.

Duclair looks great. The thing about us right now is we have 3 3rd lines that grind it out, and can score occasionally, so if you take a shift off, you're dead. Conversely, if you catch any of them on an off night, we'll get destroyed, especially if it's Nilsson's 'turn' to blow chunks.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

I don't really have a clue at this point. He's making a formerly obvious decision a lot more complicated.

Heart says keep as a leader and role model to a young team (Captain?) and brain says trade while his value is high.

They could ship him out and re-sign him in July.

 

[Black Kevin]

If I ever see Pierre Dorion again, I'll buy him a cold one... he's such a great man. At first, I thought he was a complete moron! "They had us at the first half, not going to lie". Turns out, this man is a top-10 GM. Respect to my Real G Pierre Dorion of the Ottawa Senators organisation, he aint a fool after all...

 

[SpezDispenser]

If I ever see Pierre Dorion again, I'll buy him a cold one... he's such a great man. At first, I thought he was a complete moron! "They had us at the first half, not going to lie". Turns out, this man is a top-10 GM. Respect to my Real G Pierre Dorion of the Ottawa Senators organisation, he aint a fool after all...

I swear...I don't know if you're kidding or not.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

If I ever see Pierre Dorion again, I'll buy him a cold one... he's such a great man. At first, I thought he was a complete moron! "They had us at the first half, not going to lie". Turns out, this man is a top-10 GM. Respect to my Real G Pierre Dorion of the Ottawa Senators organisation, he aint a fool after all...

Well he said say "Were a team" and we all laughed at him. When it truth we should be ashamed because they infact have proven to be a team.

 

[Black Kevin]

I swear...I don't know if you're kidding or not.

Kidding obviously, but to be honest, he aint as bad as they say he is. Given the circumstances he's done pretty good. I'm sure some of the GM's would've been better, but he have to remember this guy had no experience and was thrown to the wolves in his very first day. His primary objective is to save money, not to win the Stanley Cup. This is not ideal in any way, but like I said, he's done it and the team is still going relatively strong.

 

[SPLBRUIN]

Team is playing with zero pressure, if they continue to play well expectations will be greatly raised for next year. Lately, when expectations have been raised the Sens have crumbled under the added pressure.

 

[KevinRedkey]

Don't know why people thought they were 4-5 years away, only issue is whether they should be trading Pageau and others right now to tank a little more or use this as a transition year to find/build some chemistry while promoting their young core to bigger roles to get used to the extra work load.

Should be aiming for a WC spot in 1-2 years time. They have so many 2nd round picks this year and next (two 1sts this year as well) and good enough short term/UFA trade-able depth assets in Namestnikov, Pageau, Tierney, Ennis and Hainsey to get another 1st or two.

They can use these picks to draft more future or trade some of it for an impact player now and sign a decent free agent and chip a year off the build hopefully. Sens fans just need to ask Santa for new ownership, hoping Melnyk is at least somewhat truthful when he talked about being a cap team in 2021.

From Feb 23 2018 to Feb 25 2019 (Basically 1 full year), they traded away Karlsson, Stone, Hoffman, Duchene, Brassard and Dzingle, which were literally their top 6 scorers from 2017-18. All they got back in terms of immediate impact roster players was Tierney (obviously futures was their focus). I don't think any team in the history of the NHL has traded that much talent away in that short of a time.

Take the top 6 scorers off any team, and I'm pretty sure anyone would think they are 4+ years away from competing again. I'm also not convinced they aren't far away from being great. Pageau is having a career year, inflating his worth - but he's not this player any other year.