Speculation: Murray's Priority List

[Cosmix]

So basically Murray has done a good job of handling a daunting list of things to do. Condra, Gryba, Legwand, Lehner, Zibanejad, Stone, Pageau, pending Chiasson & Hoffman, Schneider, Draft, Coaches, Prospects (O'Connor, etc), Binghamton roster signings - very powerful results in a short time.

But is it enough (is even more needed)? Are we considered now to be a Play Off team, or are we still in a dog-fight for a Wild Card?

Buffalo has improved exponentially and has to be factored into the Play Off equation now. That's very impressive. Columbus is better and will not face the rash of injuries it did last year. Washington has re-loaded by changing parts. The Islanders and Rangers are still very strong, as is Montreal. Kessel makes Pittsburgh's Top 6 deeper and more lethal. Detroit and Tampa are still factors and have added prospects/UFAs. That makes 9 already for 8 spots. Who of those do we have to beat out to make it? (I know - all of them, eventually)

Devils, Carolina, Toronto are the projected weak sisters. Who knows where Boston and Philadelphia are. Florida didn't lose anything and will also add from their deep prospect pool.

I think there is at still more to be done from our point of view to make us contenders, starting with continuing to move out a few more contracts (Greening, Smith, Neil, Phillips) to allow the best players to play (as Cameron wants). Has to be done. Top 6F and Top 4D remain out there, but will cost something. They are the risk/reward pieces that will decide if we are contending or fighting next season.

Agreed that there is more work to be done to make this a playoff bound team. Right now, I think this team is on the bubble for making the playoffs, and not good enough to "compete" in the playoffs. And yes, something should be done to address the 4 players you identified: Greening, Neil, Phillips and Smith, in that order. If the GM can remove those 4 players and bring younger prospects onto the roster, then there will be some hope for improvement. I do not think trading those 4 will result in any major net gain or improvement.

 

[Cosmix]

I really wish I knew what Sens problem with Hoffman is.

I do not know what the coach and GM think about him; however, my view is that he makes too many high risk plays when carrying the puck and does not make good plays with his line mates. I think he is trying to do too much by himself.

Who did he play with in Bingo? Perhaps they may be the "right" line mates for him to play with (i.e., have already developed some cohesion together).

 

[guyzeur]

I really wish I knew what Sens problem with Hoffman is.

I do not know what the coach and GM think about him; however, my view is that he makes too many high risk plays when carrying the puck and does not make good plays with his line mates. I think he is trying to do too much by himself.

Who did he play with in Bingo? Perhaps they may be the "right" line mates for him to play with (i.e., have already developed some cohesion together).

Sometimes are the risky plays and other time is his lack of commitment to play defensively..

 

[IranCondraAffair]

Hoffman does a really great job of anticipating the play offensively. He knows where he needs to be to accept a pass and get free space, but when it comes to anticipating a defensive play, he struggles. From what I've seen, this results in Hoffman having a tendency to watch the play unfold rather than get in there himself. Maybe it was the same in the AHL where I didn't see him, and maybe he could get away with it when he was the best player on the ice, but at the NHL level it is not good enough. I agree that the team probably wants to see Hoffman skating back faster and generating more pressure individually to help him round out better.

For some players, like Stone and Lazar, who can anticipate the defensive play very, very well, they can generate turnovers by watching what happens intercepting passes or driving people to the boards. Hoffman only seems to do 1/2 of that.

I don't think Hoffman recognizes the tendency either, I think that he's just been so good offensively him whole career that he's gotten away with it too long.

That's one thing the old Senators teams did really well on the right side. Alfredsson, Hossa, and Havlat were all geniuses offensively, but they all worked their butt off getting back down ice when the puck was turned over even when they weren't nearby.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Lol, do people realize Hoffman is such a game-breaker offensively that he possess the puck often and keeps it hemmed in offensive zone which makes it difficult and allows other team to have much in our zone much less? That's why his +/- so damn high. He was leading rookies in +/- before demoted to 4th line with killers in Legwand and Chiasson or whoever.

All this talk about Hoffman being weak defensively is useless cause he's just a rookie and not even important because he's a game-breaking winger who influences the game much more positively on offensive zone than defensive zone.

Funny since Hoffman's best performances were against western teams where him and Zibanejad dominated offensive top lines and threats. Ya'll overblowing this way too much lol.