Ottawa Senators possess deep and talented group at AHL level

[HF Article]

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A little more than halfway through the 2013-14 NHL season, the Ottawa Senators are crowded at most positions. A number of forwards and defensemen are being evaluated as Ottawa tries to solidify its roster and push up the Eastern Conference standings.



The only position written in stone is between the pipes, as the one-two punch of goaltenders Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner will be relied upon for the foreseeable future.

Among the skaters on the cusp are centers Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Derek Grant, who have both played well at the NHL level. Mika Zibanejad has earned his roster spot, while Mike Hoffman is still looking to establish his game at the top level.… read more



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[DrunkUncleDenis]

Let's be real. We don't have any blue chippers at the AHL level. Lehner, Zib and Ceci have all graduated. We may have one in Lazar, who is currently in the CHL.

I see the rest of the hopefuls in Bingo as possible bottom 6 NHL'ers or bottom pair D. Jury is still out on Puempul and Pageau.

 

[BigZKingK]

Let's be real. We don't have any blue chippers at the AHL level. Lehner, Zib and Ceci have all graduated. We may have one in Lazar, who is currently in the CHL.

I see the rest of the hopefuls in Bingo as possible bottom 6 NHL'ers or bottom pair D. Jury is still out on Puempul and Pageau.

I would include Prince in the last group but i agree

 

[aragorn]

Schneider seems to be a bit of a dark horse & Robinson is a project that hopefully bares fruit one day.

 

[jbeck5]

The bulk of this info for the article could have been gotten before ceci and stones callups. They are almost blue chippers.

 

[Samsquanch]

Let's be real. We don't have any blue chippers at the AHL level. Lehner, Zib and Ceci have all graduated. We may have one in Lazar, who is currently in the CHL.

I see the rest of the hopefuls in Bingo as possible bottom 6 NHL'ers or bottom pair D. Jury is still out on Puempul and Pageau.

We have Stone who I see as a blue chipper, but he's also graduated I guess.. That guy is going to be a NHLer for sure. How good of one is still TBD.

Lazar is most certainly a blue chipper, his stock has only risen since being drafted. As you say tho he's CHL.

Then we have Prince, Puemple, Pageau, leading the way in the second tier. All three have some question marks around them, but all three have a pretty intriguing upside. I'll start doubting them when I see their development stall, which hasn't happened yet.

And just below that we have Hoffman, DaCosta, Schnieder, Petterson, Robinson, ect ect.. I'd say we're still fairly stacked with capable prospects, even if the rest are long shots at best. They are as good or better group than most other teams long shot prospects, and we have more of them on average.

 

[Larionov]

Here's a good indication of how much our depth has improved - Dizzy, who played a fair whack of games here last year, is now a healthy scratch in Bingo. Now, we were badly banged up here last year, but it's still a pretty impressive upgrade in depth in a short period of time. Dizzy was never going to be more than a spare part here, but now it's hard to see how he ever gets back to the NHL in this organization...

 

[Xspyrit]

lol how many teams have several blue chippers in the AHL?

 

[Tampacuseforever]

lol how many teams have several blue chippers in the AHL?

You mean we don't ? What next you going to tell me there is no Easter bunny ?

 

[The Fuhr*]

Outside of Karlsson and potentially Lehner our rebuild really brought us no game breakers... Every contending team has a few game breaking offensive forwards.

I really hope Ryan and Spezza re-sign... If they walk guys like Turris and Zibanejad have to carry the offense... And as good as they are/will be, they should be a teams 4-5 best offensive option.

Look at a team like Tampa who we have to compete against... Their forwards:
Stamkos, Killorn, Johnson, Palet, Kuchenov, Namestnikov, Drouin, Pacquette, Connolly

That's Tampa Bay's collection of forward talent 23 or younger... Coming out of our rebuild, our collection of young forwards look nothing like that.

 

[Mercurial]

Basically lots of trade pieces in the A, that can be used to compliment a deal.

 

[Yokai]

Outside of Karlsson and potentially Lehner our rebuild really brought us no game breakers... Every contending team has a few game breaking offensive forwards.

I really hope Ryan and Spezza re-sign... If they walk guys like Turris and Zibanejad have to carry the offense... And as good as they are/will be, they should be a teams 4-5 best offensive option.

Look at a team like Tampa who we have to compete against... Their forwards:
Stamkos, Killorn, Johnson, Palet, Kuchenov, Namestnikov, Drouin, Pacquette, Connolly

That's Tampa Bay's collection of forward talent 23 or younger... Coming out of our rebuild, our collection of young forwards look nothing like that.

Probably doesn't help that Ottawa never rebuilt. They picked top 6 in one year and then made the playoffs the next two years straight. Ottawa gave some younger guys a shot, but they never truely stripped the team down.

 

[Ismellofhockey]

Outside of Karlsson and potentially Lehner our rebuild really brought us no game breakers... Every contending team has a few game breaking offensive forwards.

I really hope Ryan and Spezza re-sign... If they walk guys like Turris and Zibanejad have to carry the offense... And as good as they are/will be, they should be a teams 4-5 best offensive option.

Look at a team like Tampa who we have to compete against... Their forwards:
Stamkos, Killorn, Johnson, Palet, Kuchenov, Namestnikov, Drouin, Pacquette, Connolly

That's Tampa Bay's collection of forward talent 23 or younger... Coming out of our rebuild, our collection of young forwards look nothing like that.

In the past 6 years, Tampa has missed the playoffs 5 times. They drafted 1st overall, 2nd overall, 3rd overall and twice in the top 10.

That makes a big difference in the comparison, don't you think?
Also, Killorn, Palat, Johnson, Pacquette and Connolly are not gamebreakers.

 

[The Fuhr*]

In the past 6 years, Tampa has missed the playoffs 5 times. They drafted 1st overall, 2nd overall, 3rd overall and twice in the top 10.

That makes a big difference in the comparison, don't you think?
Also, Killorn, Palat, Johnson, Pacquette and Connolly are not gamebreakers.

Killorn and Johnson are probably there 7-8 best young forward and they could put up 40-50 points this year... It's nuts... Even Palat is on pace for 37Pts

Pacquette as a 20 year in the AHL is doing better then Stone did

 

[Ismellofhockey]

Killorn and Johnson are probably there 7-8 best young forward and they could put up 40-50 points this year... It's nuts... Even Palat is on pace for 37Pts

Pacquette as a 20 year in the AHL is doing better then Stone did

Regardless, they are not gamebreakers and Ottawa has plenty of similar players. Who are the 7-8 better young forwards?

Da Costa and Hoffman are ripping up the AHL. That doesn't always translate to the NHL, no matter how young Pacquette is.

We only need be jealous of Stamkos and Drouin, drafted 1st and 3rd overall.


Turris, Zibanejad, Conacher, Stone, Pageau, Puempel, Lazar are good enough.

 

[masterandy]

Only game-breakers on that list are Stamkos and Drouin. The other guys are not yet proven. You could say the same with those guys as guys like Zibanejad, Turris, Ceci, Stone, Lazar, Lehner.

Hell our young guys are more proven then Tampa's and younger as well

 

[masterandy]

Mark Stone is in the NHL.. So Pacquette better make the NHL next year and put up similar numbers..jeez do you underrate our prospects. It's quite sickening

If you haven't noticed, our prospects have already cracked the NHL lineup at such an early age. You can only dress 18 players and 2 goalies for hockey games. You need to also surround them with veteran leadership. Which Tampa has and we've lost this year..hence where we are in the standings.

 

[Officer Fred]

Outside of Karlsson and potentially Lehner our rebuild really brought us no game breakers... Every contending team has a few game breaking offensive forwards.

I really hope Ryan and Spezza re-sign... If they walk guys like Turris and Zibanejad have to carry the offense... And as good as they are/will be, they should be a teams 4-5 best offensive option.

Look at a team like Tampa who we have to compete against... Their forwards:
Stamkos, Killorn, Johnson, Palet, Kuchenov, Namestnikov, Drouin, Pacquette, Connolly

That's Tampa Bay's collection of forward talent 23 or younger... Coming out of our rebuild, our collection of young forwards look nothing like that.

Strongly disagree with the bolded. Imo, you're selling both of them short. I don't think we've seen the best either of these guys has to offer and both have the potential to be top 3 contributors for this team.
You think we should have tanked for multiple years? I thought you wanted Murray to turn the '07 team into a cup winner. You can't have it both ways.

 

[Tampacuseforever]

Killorn and Johnson are probably there 7-8 best young forward and they could put up 40-50 points this year... It's nuts... Even Palat is on pace for 37Pts

Pacquette as a 20 year in the AHL is doing better then Stone did

There is a big difference in opportunity in Tampa for young players. Zibanejad and Conacher TOI is not near what the Tampa young guys get. Here the big ice time goes to Greening, Michalek, and Smith. Johnson has been in the 18 to 19 minute range with Stamkos out and plenty of PP time. That said Tampa has a group of young forwards that are second to none.

PS Palat has played on the top line with St Louis in Stamkos absence.

 

[MainDotC]

OP - there is already a section at the bottom of the article for viewers to add comments. Starting a thread on this is duplicating efforts. Please direct traffic to the comment section. Thanks.

 

[We Want the Cup 2010]

After watching the world juniors I'd rather have Lazar than Drouin. Obviously Drouin has more skill, but he showed me that he is a me first, selfish player. He has some growing up to do, and does not look like he has the make-up of a player you win with.

 

[DrakeAndJosh]

After watching the world juniors I'd rather have Lazar than Drouin. Obviously Drouin has more skill, but he showed me that he is a me first, selfish player. He has some growing up to do, and does not look like he has the make-up of a player you win with.

Lazar impressed me too, but come on, Drouin is a special talent; he'll learn how to play in the NHL.

 

[HSF]

After watching the world juniors I'd rather have Lazar than Drouin. Obviously Drouin has more skill, but he showed me that he is a me first, selfish player. He has some growing up to do, and does not look like he has the make-up of a player you win with.

lol no


Drouin >> Lazar

 

[Topside]

After seeing the headline I knew I'd find some people in here ******** all over the crux of the article because it doesn't fit their narrative.

 

[mat_sens]

OP - there is already a section at the bottom of the article for viewers to add comments. Starting a thread on this is duplicating efforts. Please direct traffic to the comment section. Thanks.

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