Ottawa Senators Roster (22 players)

[Sensinitis]

People slotting Zibanejad as a center angers me just a bit less than Spezza's injury issues.

I don't like the way our bottom six is looking. It's obviously a hundred times better than last year, but I feel like there's a problem.

Pageau, Zibanejad(let's not kid ourselves), Greening are fine. Neil is starting to anger me, we'll see how he does this season. It will also be interesting to see how Smith fits on the team now. Also Condra. I have no problem with him, but what happens when Stone gets called up?

I would really, really like to see this:

Smith-Zibanejad-Stone
Greening-Pageau-Condra

Alas, Neil isn't going anywhere.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Vancouver
Alberts, Weber, Santorelli, Schroeder, Richardson, Sestito, Dalpe, Weise, Richardson - awful

San Jose
Nieto, Burish, Sheppard, Kennedy, Hannan, Braun, Demers - awful

Pittsburgh
Fleury, Bortuzzo, Engelland, Glass, Connor, D'Agostini, Adams - awful

Chicago
Bollig, Nordstrom, Smith, Brookbank, Hayes - dreadful

Ottawa
Kassian, possibly Corvo - awful



Yeah I think we're good

Hayes, Smith and Nordstrom have been far from awful for the Hawks.
Not to mention CHI top end talent is much better up front and on D.

 

[Sensinitis]

That's not the point though

 

[Lehner]

Was Lazar sent down?

 

[BonkTastic]

Hayes, Smith and Nordstrom have been far from awful for the Hawks.
Not to mention CHI top end talent is much better up front and on D.

Yeah, not to mention that San Jose probably doesn't deserve to be in this category either.

Kennedy had a bad year, but there's no evidence to say that it was anything but an outlier, and he's looked good in San Jose's camp so far. Nieto's had one hell of a camp from what I've been told. Hannan & Braun aren't "awful"... not great, but not awful.

Also: Sharks are starting the season without Havlat, Torres, or Stuart, so there are guys who will line up on opening night who wouldn't otherwise be on the team.

 

[saskriders]

Hope Da Costa can generate some good value, would like to see Zib back soon

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Demers and Braun are far from awful.

 

[Hutz]

Was Lazar sent down?

Sent down to WHL, yeah.

 

[WhiteLight*]

Hayes, Smith and Nordstrom have been far from awful for the Hawks.
Not to mention CHI top end talent is much better up front and on D.

OK maybe I pushed it with Hayes and Smith

I'm not saying the Sens are better than Chicago

Yeah, not to mention that San Jose probably doesn't deserve to be in this category either.

Kennedy had a bad year, but there's no evidence to say that it was anything but an outlier, and he's looked good in San Jose's camp so far. Nieto's had one hell of a camp from what I've been told. Hannan & Braun aren't "awful"... not great, but not awful.

Also: Sharks are starting the season without Havlat, Torres, or Stuart, so there are guys who will line up on opening night who wouldn't otherwise be on the team.

Thornton, Couture, Pavelski, Marleau, Burns, Havlat, Torres, Kennedy, Wingels. That's only 9 legit forwards (including Havlat who is likely to be hurt most of the year) and the rest are scrubs. Nieto having a good camp means nothing til he produces for real.

Hannan is awful. Really bad. You can't even imagine. Braun... meh. Not a fan.

Demers and Braun are far from awful.

Demers had some good seasons but has been pure trash the last 2.

 

[Derivation]

Can't wait. Got tix for the home opener against Jersey.

 

[BonkTastic]

Thornton, Couture, Pavelski, Marleau, Burns, Havlat, Torres, Kennedy, Wingels. That's only 9 legit forwards (including Havlat who is likely to be hurt most of the year) and the rest are scrubs. Nieto having a good camp means nothing til he produces for real.

You're forgetting:
1) Hertl, who is going to be a Calder favorite this year, playing on the 1st line with Thornton & Burns
2) Nieto isn't proven, but he's been very good in camp, and you can't call him bad (or "awful") until he proves that he's bad. He's earned the benefit of the doubt, at the very least.
3) Burish is a nice 4th line player who just had a bad year last year. He had two real nice years on bad Dallas teams before the shortened lockout season. He should rebound. Not great, but a good soldier for your 4th line.
4) Hamilton is a complete question mark.
5) Sheppard and Desjardins are, admittedly, scrubs. Desjardins at least had a pretty ok 2011-12 season, so I can understand the Sharks hoping for a rebound year. Sheppard though, I have no idea. Guy is just an infuriating player to watch. A waiver claim like Emmerton would have been an upgrade, IMO.

So yeah. Hertl will be awesome, Nieto could be good (and it's worth seeing how he does in real games before making a call on him), Burish will rebound to be a pretty good 4th liner (albeit overpaid), and the Sharks probably should have made one waiver claim for depth/ replace Sheppard.

Hannan is awful. Really bad. You can't even imagine. Braun... meh. Not a fan.

Hannan is a #7 guy, getting paid the "token veteran $1mil" contract. For what he is (a good "locker room" vet who can teach kids how to play D, and be a part-time guy), he's fine.

Braun is the #6 guy. Not great, but again, not the worst #6 guy in the league.

Demers had some good seasons but has been pure trash the last 2.

It's make-or-break for Demers this year.

 

[WhiteLight*]

You're forgetting:
1) Hertl, who is going to be a Calder favorite this year, playing on the 1st line with Thornton & Burns
2) Nieto isn't proven, but he's been very good in camp, and you can't call him bad (or "awful") until he proves that he's bad. He's earned the benefit of the doubt, at the very least.
3) Burish is a nice 4th line player who just had a bad year last year. He had two real nice years on bad Dallas teams before the shortened lockout season. He should rebound. Not great, but a good soldier for your 4th line.
4) Hamilton is a complete question mark.
5) Sheppard and Desjardins are, admittedly, scrubs. Desjardins at least had a pretty ok 2011-12 season, so I can understand the Sharks hoping for a rebound year. Sheppard though, I have no idea. Guy is just an infuriating player to watch. A waiver claim like Emmerton would have been an upgrade, IMO.

So yeah. Hertl will be awesome, Nieto could be good (and it's worth seeing how he does in real games before making a call on him), Burish will rebound to be a pretty good 4th liner (albeit overpaid), and the Sharks probably should have made one waiver claim for depth/ replace Sheppard.

1) I doubt that lines sticks, and even if it does I seriously doubt Hertl gets a Calder nomination. Hertl would be in the AHL if he was on the Sens.

2) Nieto is a first year pro who scored over ppg in college once. He may be a good player, but chances are if that happens it will be bottom 6 player. And chances are he won't be an ''elite'' bottom 6er in his first year. Again, the type of player Ottawa has in Bingo.

3) Adam Burish just happened to play RW on the 2nd and 3rd line in Dallas, spending considerable time with Jamie Benn. That speaks to how bad Dallas was, not how good Burish is. He put up what looks like decent numbers (aren't even good and can be matched by every single Sens player save Kassian) but in reality is awful. Ask Sharks fans

4) Freddie Hamilton would be on Bingo's 3rd or 4th line.

5) Yeah, they do suck


My point is, Ottawa's defense, bottom 6, and depth everywhere blow SJ's completely out of the water. SJ is a pretty good team, so the worries about Ottawa are looking to be unfounded.

 

[WhiteLight*]

Hannan is a #7 guy, getting paid the "token veteran $1mil" contract. For what he is (a good "locker room" vet who can teach kids how to play D, and be a part-time guy), he's fine.

I don't even think he's fit to be a part-time guy. 1 injury and they're screwed.

Braun is the #6 guy. Not great, but again, not the worst #6 guy in the league.

That means Demers, Braun and Hannan are the 5, 6 and 7. Yeah that's right up there with the worst in the league, can't really think of anyone worse.

Irwin, Boyle, Vlasic and Stuart is not exactly a terrific top 4 either.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

I just imagine there being a big write up like that about the Sens on the Sharks forum talking about how we are soft as a babies bottom down the middle and have a player who couldn't make Columbus playing first pairing.

 

[source]

We have way too many small or smallish forwards.

Jean Gabriel Pageau 5'9 163 lbs
Stephane Da Costa 5'11 185 lbs
Cory Conacher 5'8 179 lbs
Erik Condra 6' 189 lbs
Kyle Turris 6'1 193 lbs
Clark MacArthur 6' 191 lbs

What is the ideal # of small players?

 

[WhiteLight*]

I just imagine there being a big write up like that about the Sens on the Sharks forum talking about how we are soft as a babies bottom down the middle and have a player who couldn't make Columbus playing first pairing.

Lol I did say they were a good team. Couture and Pavelski are beasts, love those two.

 

[operasen]

Ryan - Spezza - Michalek
MacArthur - Turris - Conacher
Greening - Pageau - Condra
Smith - Da Costa - Neil

When Kassian rotates into the lineup Da Costa comes out and Smith rotates to center.

I prefer that to aragon's thought. Issue is when Spezza is down, who steps in there. I'd leave Turris and promote Pageau, based on the preseason he's had anyway.

 

[SilverRed]

People slotting Zibanejad as a center angers me just a bit less than Spezza's injury issues.

I don't like the way our bottom six is looking. It's obviously a hundred times better than last year, but I feel like there's a problem.

Pageau, Zibanejad(let's not kid ourselves), Greening are fine. Neil is starting to anger me, we'll see how he does this season. It will also be interesting to see how Smith fits on the team now. Also Condra. I have no problem with him, but what happens when Stone gets called up?

I would really, really like to see this:

Smith-Zibanejad-Stone
Greening-Pageau-Condra

Alas, Neil isn't going anywhere.

No problem sir. Who will protect the kids?

 

[BonkTastic]

That means Demers, Braun and Hannan are the 5, 6 and 7. Yeah that's right up there with the worst in the league, can't really think of anyone worse.

In alphabetical order:

CALGARY: Shane O'brien, Chris Butler, Derek Smith
CAROLINA: Jay Harrison, Mike Komisarek, Brett Bellemore (Harrison is pretty ok, Komi & Bellmore are so bad they go all the way around, come back to good, and then keep going to bad again.)
COLORADO: Ryan Wilson, Cory Sarich, Nick Holden <-- Worst defence in the league by the way, bar none
DALLAS: Brenden Dillon, Aaron Rome, Jordie Benn
EDMONTON: Anton Belov, Nick Schultz, Denis Grebeshkov
FLORIDA: Ryan Whitney, Ed Jovanovski, Mike Weaver (aka the "Over The Hill Gang")
ISLANDERS: Hickey, Brian Strait, Matt Donovan

There might be a few other 5-6-7's that are either equally bad, or are almost there. Anaheim comes to mind. Buffalo is going with Pysyk/McBain/Ristolainen... and while Pysyk & Risto might be nice players down the line, rookie defencemen often take a while to settle into the NHL, and the Sabres back-end could very well be a poop-show this year (though a good developmental year nonetheless). Tampa might be in trouble, but Brewer as a #5 is good, despite Aulie & Mark Barberio being a rough 6 & 7. Vancouver are rolling with Tanev, Weber (not the good one) and Alberts: yikes (*EDIT* I forgot Vancouver just picked up Ryan Stanton off waivers. I have no idea if this is an upgrade at all)

I'm not saying San Jose has a great 5-6-7 here either... I just dislike hyperbole.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Dillon is pretty decent. Belov has looked fine when I've seen him play. Just nitpicking though.

 

[BonkTastic]

Dillon is pretty decent. Belov has looked fine when I've seen him play. Just nitpicking though.

No problem. Rating a team's 5-6-7 is a pretty subjective exercise. Some people think the same of Demers, which is kind of the point, I guess.

 

[YNWA14]

If Conacher gets enough time this year I wouldn't be surprised at all if he outscored Ryan. He is flying out there, and he's got a ton of talent.

 

[Answer]

Here is the thing..

You can either have Zibanejad or Da Costa in the team, and either you can have Conechar or Stone.

What would you prefer..

Michalek - Spezza - Ryan

McArthur - Turris - Da costa / Zibanejad

Greening - Pageau - Conechar / Stone

Condra - Smith - Neil


I would personally take Zibanejad over Da Costa any day. He(Zibby) is miles ahead.

Conechar and Stone are a toss up. I would wait and see how Conechar does this year. He should produce points or he is useless. How ever, I think Shane Prince will leap over both Conechar and Stone as soon as next year.

 

[BonkTastic]

Here is the thing..

You can either have Zibanejad or Da Costa in the team, and either you can have Conechar or Stone.

What would you prefer..

Michalek - Spezza - Ryan

McArthur - Turris - Da costa / Zibanejad

Greening - Pageau - Conechar / Stone

Condra - Smith - Neil


I would personally take Zibanejad over Da Costa any day. He(Zibby) is miles ahead.

Conechar and Stone are a toss up. I would wait and see how Conechar does this year. He should produce points or he is useless. How ever, I think Shane Prince will leap over both Conechar and Stone as soon as next year.

I think most people would, too. It's an asset management move to send him back, IMO.

 

[YNWA14]

I think most people would, too. It's an asset management move to send him back, IMO.

Aside from Da Costa looking like the better player in pre-season and in the AHL, and management speaking to this.

Anyway, SDC won't be playing on the wing. He's a centre and they'll keep him there.