Disclaimer: This is just a quick reference guide of the players on the Sens for those not as familiar with them as the hardcore fans. Additionally, it can be a good resource in case we trade away some players at the trade deadline, so that the scouting reports fans of other teams ask for aren't colored by bad feelings or rose-colored glasses.
Disclaimer: As this is the first year under the new site, this scouting report may look different than usual as I experiment with and learn about the new forum features and deal with the loss of old forum features. You are welcome to suggest changes on what you like or dislike about the choices I made.
The following is a general outline of the players on your 2016-2017 Ottawa Senators hockey team, or at least the ones that are starting the season on the roster.
Feel free to make comments, highlight errors, and help make this list as comprehensive a guide as possible. If you disagree with any of this, it's perfectly fine for you to give your own comments and opinions.
Each player is enclosed in a spoiler tag to make it easier to find the player you are looking for. Just click on the player you want to see to open up the tag to see the scouting report enclosed within.
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Forwards:
Strengths
Great shot
Great puck-handling skills
Underrated playmaking abilties
Weaknesses
Inconsistent
Has been accused of being indifferent in the defensive zone
Average one-timer for such a good goal scorer
General Comments:The most highly paid player on the Senators is being paid a premium for his goal scoring abilities, but his long goal droughts along with his relative ineffectiveness to provide anything else when he isn't scoring is frustrating for fans. However, Bobby is one of the few true offensive gamebreakers on the Senators roster. Can he carry his playoff performance from last season into this season?
Strengths
Top-tier wrist shot
Good offensive vision
Underrated defensive awareness and decision making
Weaknesses
Not overly physical, can be pushed off the puck too easily by the opposition
Needs time and space to get off a good shot
It remains to be seen how he adapts to the new faceoff rules, as he relies quite heavily late last season on winning faceoffs with his feet
General Comments:While Turris has shown he is quite capable as a first line center in the NHL, there is enough data and evidence that he probably will only be at best a 1A guy instead of top-tier elite #1 center.
Strengths
Good vision in the offensive zone
Good slapshot
Uncanny ability to pass the puck through the defender to the open man
Has a repuation of being a great post-season player
Weaknesses
Relatively average at the faceoff dot
Not particularly good at puck battles down low
Inconsistent point production throughout the regular season
General Comments:He's not Mika Zibanejad, which some Sens fans will hold against him for the rest of his time in Ottawa. That being said, he's perfectly adequate as a 2nd line center, and the team seems to think the underlying advanced stats showed him to be one of the best forwards on the team.
Strengths
Great hands, playmaking skills
One of the best players in the league at stealing the puck
Elite hockey sense
Weaknesses
Not particularly quick around the ice
Hasn't been great in the post-season throughout his career
May be starting to have a history of concussions
General Comments:Stone is the Senators best overall forward. Whichever line he plays on instantly becomes the first line.
Strengths
Very fast skater
Great shot - in all facets, slap, wrist, one-timer
Good puckhandling ability
Weaknesses
Not great at winning puck-battles
Inconsistent effort
General Comments:I'm still not convinced in his hockey sense, both in the defensive zone, and making the right decision in the offensive zone, but Hoffman has shown an ability to dominate offensively, even against top checking lines and top-pairing defensemen. The main thing holding him back is his sometimes lackadaisical effort defensively, which leads to coaches benching him, even when the team needs his offensive ability on the ice.
Strengths
Decent defensively
Can be a difference maker physically
Decent mid-weight fighter
Above average at faceoffs
Weaknesses
Not great offensively
Ridiculously inconsistent (both in production and physical play)
Takes a lot of dumb, stupid and lazy penalties
General Comments:When at the top of his game, Smith can be a great energy line player that dominates with physical play, scoreing big goals and winning defensive zone faceoffs. When he's off his game, he looks like he hardly belongs in the NHL. However, unlike most inconsistent players, this doesn't vary from game to game, but instead for 30 game stretches at a time. Is probably a better LW'er than centre at this point in his career.
Strengths
Quick
Wins a surprising number of puck battles along the boards
Effective in a shutdown role
Has a knack for scoring against the Habs
Weaknesses
Not particularly big
Inconsistent point producer
General Comments:One of the better playoff performers on the team, Pageau still needs show that he can play an entire regular season at the same level of his play. He has never let his diminutive size prevent him from winning puck battles he should lose, but needs to more consistent from the beginning of the season to the end in offensive production.
Strengths
Quick
Reliable defensively
Wins a surprising amount of board battles
Weaknesses
Won't produce many points
On the smallish side
General Comments:One of those guys that the coaches love, as he gives a consistent effort, and is reliable defensively, but he'll never do any more than that, since he can't.
Strengths
Surprisingly physical
Reliable defensively
Reputation of raising his game in the post-season
Above average faceoff abilities
Weaknesses
Injury-prone
Not a great offensive producer
General Comments:Anaheim fans seem to love this guy as a 4th line energy center is is capable of scoring the odd goal when needed. However, considering he's played less than 82 games in the last two seasons combined, it's probably a fair bet he'll spend at least some of the season on the injury list.
Strengths
Very fast, gets a lot of breakways
Ball of energy, always buzzing around the ice
Weaknesses
Has never had great point production, at any level of hockey
Not a good finisher, doesn't bury many of the chances he creates
On the smallish size for an NHL bottom six forward
General Comments:One of those guys that the scouts praise for his speed, skill, vision and ability to always be noticable on the ice. However, even with all the tools, he never seems to produce the points that you would expect from the simple eye test. He's shown enough at both the NHL and AHL level to prove he'll probably have a home on an NHL roster for some time, but if he wants to be a top-6 guy, he'll have to discover a point producing ability he hasn't yet found in his hockey career. Of course, for a 7th round pick, he's already doing quite well for himself.
Strengths
Underrated finishing abilities
Reliable defensively
Good locker room guy
Weaknesses
Not a point producer at this point in his career
General Comments:At this point in his career, he's probably nothing more than a reliable 4th line guy that can stand in front of the net on the PP if he needs to. He's score the occasional clutch goal, but won't be an impact player.
Strengths
Big
Soft hands
Good offensive vision and playmaking abilties
Underrated shot
Weaknesses
Inconsistent effort
Does not take advantage of his size and engage physically
Unsettled in the defensive zone
General Comments:Brown has all the tools and potential to be a great number center in the NHL. However, there is still a lot of development that needs to be done before that becomes a reality. As with more young offensive players, he's great in the offensive zone, but looks lost at times when asked to defend.
Strengths
Very fast
Postionally very sound
Weaknesses
Undersized, needs to put on more weight on beanpole frame
General Comments:One of the youngest players to ever make an NHL roster out of camp, Formenton still has to do a lot of developing physically to be ready for the NHL grind. However, his play in training camp both offensively and more critically, defensively earned him a spot to start the season.
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Defensemen:
Strengths
Elite ability to get point shot on net through shot blockers and create scoring chances
Great passer, both with breakout passes from his own zone, and cross ice passes in the offensive zone
Very good offensive instincts
Great at using his stick defensively
Extremely quick, both in acceleration and top end speed
Weaknesses
Sometimes too casual with the puck
Sometimes too risky in his decision making
Can get outmuscled in front of own net
Struggles pivoting to the right, when going backwards
General Comments:Erik Karlsson doesn't play the defensive position like anyone in the league. Instead of standing opposition forwards up at the blueline, he turns and angles them down the boards with his speed and stick position, then steals the puck. Instead of staying in the shooting lane and blocking the shot, he picks off the pass and goes the other way. Creates offense from the blueline better than anybody in the league. Is the best defenseman in the NHL, and it's not close. The only concern is how he recovers from his offseason foot surgery, as last reports indicate he can't turn to the left yet, which would be a big problem if it continues when he gets back in the lineup.
Strengths
Good skater
Good heavy shot
Good offensive and defensive awareness
Weaknesses
Isn't particularly quick as getting his shot off, which leads to it getting blocked a lot
Sometimes makes dumb passes in the defensive zone when under pressure
Doesn't produce as many points as his offensive tools suggest he could
General Comments:Was used on the shutdown pairing last season, with mixed success depending on who you ask. Still needs to work on cleaning up his mistakes, which when they happen, are disastrous (he may not make a ton of mistakes, but when he does, they seem to be the kind that end with him picking the puck out of his own net). His tools and skill set suggest there is more offense there than has been created so far in his career, but that could be a product of Ceci being thrown into situations he wasn't really ready for throughout his NHL career.
Strengths
Hard Slapshot
Physical presence in his own zone
Teammates past and present have praised his leadership in the lockerroom
Weaknesses
Slow as a rock
Sometimes takes stupid penalties by being overly physical
Can sometimes be caught punishing the player standing in front of the net, instead of clearing the puck from the slot
General Comments:While he isn't the world class defenseman he was back in his prime, he has shown he can still be a solid piece in a top-4 defensive core. He just isn't capable of being "the guy" anymore.
Strengths
Underrated shot
Sound positionally
Makes good decisions
Weaknesses
Remains to be seen if his skating has recovered from his ankle injury last season
Not particularly physical
General Comments:He's certainly not the skater he was in his prime, but he has shown flashes in the preseason of both being a good skater and not. It remains to be seen if he can still be a serviceable top-4 defenseman in the NHL, like has been penciled in as to start the season.
Strengths
Good offensive defenseman at every level below the NHL
Great point shot
Makes good decisions with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone
Weaknesses
Undersized
For an offensive defenseman, he hasn't produced many points at the NHl level
General Comments:He's a solid 6-7 NHL defenseman, but the Sens have a lot of those. The fact that he shoots right will probably help his stay on NHL rosters, but he hasn't shown anything more than that.
Strengths
Great hard point shot
Weaknesses
Can get scrambly in the defensive zone
Sometimes gets caught reaching with his stick and not moving his feet when defending the rush
General Comments:Claesson confuses me when I try to evaluate him. For 85% of the game, he's a good solid defenseman that doesn't make major mistakes and contributes good plays in the offensive zone to help produce offense. Then for the other 15%, he looks lost and out of his depth in the NHL and makes silly mistakes. One positive: every single time he's paired with Erik Karlsson, both players always look great.
Strengths
A physical menace; hits anything that moves in an opposing sweater
Hard worker
Seems to bounce back from injury scares that would leave other players out for multiple games, in a shift or two
Weaknesses
No offensive instincts whatsoever
Sucks with the puck on his stick
Bad skater
General Comments:If there's one thing you can't criticize about Boro, it's his work ethic. The guy will be the hardest working player on the ice every single game he's playing. Unfortunately, that's about the only nice thing I can say about him. It actually makes me angry that I still have to write a blurb on this guy.
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Goaltenders:
Strengths
Has shown the ability to steal games.
Able to make saves on pucks he has no business getting to
Good with the puck on his stick, making breakout passes from behind the net <- Those he can sometimes make stupid decisions while handling the puck
Weaknesses
Can sometimes overcommit leaving himself open to pass
Can be guilty of flopping in his crease at times after the first save
Has shown a continued inability to stop wraparound attempts from going into the net
General Comments:Has all the tools and ability to be a top goaltender in the league, has shown he can win games by himself. Is getting up there in age, which for goalies can be scary, as they seem to drop off a cliff at a moment's notice.
Strengths
Sound fundamentals
Has the ability to make big saves
Can be a solid backup in that he can go without playing for long stretches of time and not look bad and rusty when put into the net
Weaknesses
Needs to work on his rebound control
Has an tendency to give up the odd bad goal, espeically after making a ton of great saves
General Comments:Hasn't shown the ability to be more than a solid 1B goaltender. However, as a 1B he's everything you ask for.
General Comments:One of those guys that the coaches and fans alike love, as he gives a consistent effort, is reliable defensively and is needed to win the cup.
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