Line Combos: Opening night roster is set

[DaveMatthew]

I don't think that is going to be achieved, so why set yourself up for disappointment? This is still a very young team with 4 centers averaging 22 years old. People's expectations are completely unrealistic

Really?

If you cede the Atlantic spots to Tampa, Florida and Toronto, then the Metro to Carolina, NYR and Pittsburgh, it means we're competing with these teams for 2 wildcard spots:

- Boston: new coach, no Marchand or McAvoy for a significant portion of the season
- Washington: aging core, no Backstrom or Wilson for a significant portion of the season (Backstrom might not return at all)
- NYI: no more Trotz

Then it's Detroit, Buffalo, NJ and Columbus, who are in similar spots as us.

A wildcard spot is fully realistic and should absolutely be the goal. And if they don't make it, they should be within 4-6 points, at the worst.

 

[Micklebot]

Really?

If you cede the Atlantic spots to Tampa, Florida and Toronto, then the Metro to Carolina, NYR and Pittsburgh, it means we're competing with these teams for 2 wildcard spots:

- Boston: new coach, no Marchand or McAvoy for a significant portion of the season
- Washington: aging core, no Backstrom or Wilson for a significant portion of the season (Backstrom might not return at all)
- NYI: no more Trotz

Then it's Detroit, Buffalo, NJ and Columbus, who are in similar spots as us.

A wildcard spot is fully realistic and should absolutely be the goal. And if they don't make it, they should be within 4-6 points, at the worst.

I think the expectations have pretty clearly been set at competing for one of those wild card spots, at least from the team. Fans might be setting higher expectations and I'd caution against that.

 

[DrEasy]

I don't think that is going to be achieved, so why set yourself up for disappointment? This is still a very young team with 4 centers averaging 22 years old. People's expectations are completely unrealistic

With Zub and D-Cat possibly only with the team in the short term, and with Giroux possibly declining soon, our window of contention seems very small. If the team doesn't take advantage of this window, it would indeed be a disappointment. It is reasonable to expect maing the playoffs this year IMO.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

See, that's the problem though, the attributes that you've pointed out make him a perfect 4th liner just seemed absent this preseason, at least to me. Bert mentioned he had some injury issue which might explain it or maybe he just didn't want to get hurt in meaningless preseason games, but to me he needs to be the player you're describing and not the one I saw in preseason if he wants a spot in the lineup.

I'm not against him being in the lineup, I just think he didn't do enough to write off exploring other options for opening night, particularly if Kastelic is playing who imo did provide that much needed physical play.

Hopefully he'll play like he did last year as I'd agree that a Kelly-Kastelic-Watson line has potential that exceeds the sum of the parts.

That's all fair, I just don't put that much stock into preseason, especially given rumours of a nagging injury, how he performed last year, and the relative security he came into camp with. I also think he was still totally fine in preseason & I have the utmost confidence in his ability to turn a switch when the real games start.

 

[swiftwin]

With Zub and D-Cat possibly only with the team in the short term, and with Giroux possibly declining soon, our window of contention seems very small. If the team doesn't take advantage of this window, it would indeed be a disappointment. It is reasonable to expect maing the playoffs this year IMO.

Nah. Look at any team with a cup window, they always lose key players, or have key players decline, throughout their window. But they are always replaceable from within, through trade or through UFA. For example, Tampa lost or saw a decline in Tyler Johnson, Callahan, Stralman, etc.

You're joking if you think losing Zub closes our window. There's always ways around this. The important thing is that we have a strong young core and we have a very healthy pipeline of young players in our system (Grieg, Boucher, JBD, Thomson, plus more potential late bloomers) . The only time you need to worry about our window closing is when most of the core is on the wrong side of 30, and the pipeline is dried up (see: Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington, etc.)

I'm also not worried about DeBrincat. Sounds like he wants to sign long term. And even IF we somehow lose him, that just means we have more cap space to use.

 

[Larionov]

I'll say this about Kelly - either he plays like the Ball of Hate he needs to be, or he'll be sitting. No one gets their spot handed to them this year. They wouldn't want to waive him, though, as he stands a decent chance of being claimed.

It also shouldn't be too much of a surprise that a guy who basically had his spot penciled in didn't sell out in pre-season like it was game seven of the Cup finals. Most veterans don't. They aren't trying to dog it, but subconsciously you know that your chance is going to come in a game that matters, and that this one is just for getting your timing down. A week from now, no one will remember a thing about any of those eight games, unless you're a kid in Newfoundland who was given a stick. ;-)

 

[JD1]

I don't think that is going to be achieved, so why set yourself up for disappointment? This is still a very young team with 4 centers averaging 22 years old. People's expectations are completely unrealistic

Is it an age thing? Both Norris and Stuetzle are entering their 3rd years which is typically when offensive players bust out.

Yes, those two are young. We also have Giroux and Brassard. Almost 2000 games between them, almost all of that at C.

And Pinto who appears mature beyond his years.

Personally, I'd prefer to have big expectations and feel the disappointment of them not being met than having no expectations at all. We need things to go right for us, no question about that, but things go right for teams every year. And wrong. The hockey gods were horrible to us last year. We're owed a healthy season

 

[Xspyrit]

IMO, this is the optimal lineup sans Formenton/Greig/JBD/etc

Tkachuk - Stützle - DeBrincat
Giroux - Norris - Batherson
Brassard - Pinto - Joseph
Kelly - Kastelic - Motte

Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - Holden
Brannstrom - Hamonic

 

[Union2017]

IMO, this is the optimal lineup sans Formenton/Greig/JBD/etc

Tkachuk - Stützle - DeBrincat
Giroux - Norris - Batherson
Brassard - Pinto - Joseph
Kelly - Kastelic - Motte

Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - Holden
Brannstrom - Hamonic

I would switch Motte and Brass. Motte is better defensively than Brass and has a great chemistry with Pinto.

 

[Answer]

IMO, this is the optimal lineup sans Formenton/Greig/JBD/etc

Tkachuk - Stützle - DeBrincat
Giroux - Norris - Batherson
Brassard - Pinto - Joseph
Kelly - Kastelic - Motte

Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - Holden
Brannstrom - Hamonic

Yes, lets switch a premier 40 goal scorers position.

 

[Cosmix]

With this lineup the pressure is on DJ to get results. Excuses will fall on deaf ears at this stage!
Time to perform at a playoff level!

There are still two major weaknesses: defensemen and goal tenders. So it will not be DJ’s entire fault if this team does not contend for a playoff spot. Some responsibility falls on the GM.

 

[DylanSensFan]

I don't think that is going to be achieved, so why set yourself up for disappointment? This is still a very young team with 4 centers averaging 22 years old. People's expectations are completely unrealistic

I don't think a playoff position is out of the question. We at least have to be within reach this years.

 

[aragorn]

The goal this yr should be to reduce the goals against, everything else will take care of itself.

 

[Cosmix]

The goal this yr should be to reduce the goals against, everything else will take care of itself.

Last regular season (2021-22), the Senators scored 2.73 goals per game and allowed 3.22 goals per game. If we can score 3 G/GP and allow 3G/GP we should be much better and possibly in contention for a playoff spot at the TDL. I think those would be reasonable objectives for this 2022-23 season. Then in 2023-24 we would aim to improve on both goals and thus reach the playoffs. We will need to improve the D and goaltending to get there.

 

[Xspyrit]

I would switch Motte and Brass. Motte is better defensively than Brass and has a great chemistry with Pinto.

Yeah but Pinto is already a beast defensively and Joseph can hold his own too. We were supposed to have Formenton on that LW... I like Motte but he's 27 y/o and never scored more than 16 pts in a season so not sure what to expect, even if he produced in the pre-season

Plus, I really like the prospect of a Kelly-Kastelic-Motte 4th line!

And I don't think there's really a big difference defensively between the 2 players. These player cards say the same.

Yes, lets switch a premier 40 goal scorers position.

DeBrincat can play both wings. Do you have any evidence that he's not good there?

Anyway, it's probably going to be DeBrincat-Stutzle-Giroux so Chuck Norris bath can exist