Ottawa's Center Depth - How Does is Compare to the Rest of the NHL?

[Sensinitis]

Cute little article on Turret.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=726121&navid=DL|NHL|home

I definitely think I've learned a lot over the past two years from those experiences, from being put into that role when [Spezza] was hurt, and seeing how hard the matchup is, Turris told the Ottawa Sun on Friday. I just tried to take that mentality and put it into the role I had this past year. … This upcoming year, if I'm put into that role again, I think the experience I have now will work in my favor, to know what to expect and how better to prepare for it.

I think we're going to have everybody in our lineup playing the same way, coming hard back and back checking extremely hard, to put pressure on their guys coming down and eliminating the odd-man rushes, Turris said. And at the same time as coming hard back defensively, we're going to be exploding offensively at the turnovers and getting out of our zone as quick as we can.

 

[Lenny the Lynx]

Best in the league = hilarious

 

[Micklebot]

Cute little article on Turret.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=726121&navid=DL|NHL|home

"And at the same time as coming hard back defensively, we're going to be exploding offensively at the turnovers and getting out of our zone as quick as we can. "

That last part is what got our green D into trouble so often last year, and why guys like Spezza were accused of not playing a 200 ft game. When we got possesion of the puck, and everyone "torpedoed" out of the zone, it left the D vulnerable and often had poor results. Turris' line was better at staying in a good position to support the D while still gaining speed to transition to offense.

I think this confirms that the system had a lot to do with guys hanging at the blue line, and leaving the zone early; though I'm sure it wasn't being executed as planned.

 

[Sensinitis]

Also due to a lack of execution by the D, which should improve next season.

 

[topshelf15]

You say "not even kidding" but one can only assume that you're kidding about not kidding.

Kyle Turris is our #1 C. I love the guy and I think he'll be a staple on this team for years to come, but there are probably 15-20 other teams with better options on their 1st line.

Legwand is an average #2/#3 hybrid at his age.

Zibanejad hasn't proved to be a legitimate #2 C (yet).

Zack Smith is a decent bottom 6 C who had a rough season last season.

Can I ask why you believe we have the best center group in the league?

In the east,i see boston and pittburgh being better for sure the rest meh

 

[Lehnsanity]

Solid depth, lacks top end talent.

Too end talent like, let's say, Jason Spezza?

 

[topshelf15]

Also due to a lack of execution by the D, which should improve next season.

Having faster forwards coming back to help the defense is key,it allows for our big guys to step up Cowen Gryba etc.And make plays at our blueline instead of in our crease

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Too end talent like, let's say, Jason Spezza?

Pretty much. As opposed to a team like Dallas that has 2 top line centers

 

[bert]

It's not bad, good depth, but just for what it's worth, I do not think Detroit should be in the same tier as CBJ, MIN, and STL.. minus Datsyuk their depth is ****, I guess Helm is decent but Weiss is trash and Sheahan has only played 44 NHL games

I thought the opposite, Weiss had one bad year and Helm is not a 4th liner he would be second line in Ottawa. Not to mention that Zetteberg plays center too.

I don't mind the sens depth at center, I don't think its great its pretty on par with the entire group compared to the rest of the league.

 

[HSF]

average to below avg

lots of uncertainty

 

[bornNraised Sens]

Light on the top end for talent but for 2-3-4 its pretty good i think.
Turris has shown he is very committed to improving and making the team better, I think he might have some difficulty this season, but he can push for the first line centre role and run with it.
Zbad can push for the second line centre spot, and Legwand will only help whether he is 2 or 3 centre.

Lots of unproven talent for where the guys will be next season, but i think they can make it work.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Either way it's what we've got, so I'm preprogrammed to look forward to seeing what they can do.

My mind tells me that we're on the low side talent wise, but stable on the two-way play. I would never advocate for this approach, but it's what we've got so I'm gonna support 'em.

 

[Magix]

Love the centre depth. Having 2 guys who can play shut down mins will do wonders for us. And if zibanejad takes another step forward, this group could be top 10 at season's end.

I'm not worried about the forward core, its the defence along with coaching that will make or break the upcoming season.

 

[Sun God Nika]

Our center depth could be booming if Zibby and Turris keep progressing to their high draft potentials, it could be horrible if Turris repeats the 12-13 season, and Zibby slumps (which he shouldn't) Smith is a perfect 3rd/4th line centre sadly he plays with wingers that should not be in the NHL anymore. Legwand will likely score 40 points 50 if he has a good year. Heres my point predictions for nex season

Turris - 28G 36A - 64 POINTS
Zibanejad - 25G 33A - 58 POINTS
Legwand - 13G 27A - 40 POINTS
Smith - 15G 15A - 30 POINTS

As long as we have two centres that can chip 50 points each we should be able to compete in the NHL, we have 3 so im not worried about it.

 

[Micklebot]

Also due to a lack of execution by the D, which should improve next season.

That's the thing though; we should have known the D would have trouble playing that style, and adjusted. It would have sacrificed a bit of offence, but probably saved our skin more often than not. Not only that, but we could have maybe hung back depending on the personnel on the ice. I don't mind if Spezza fly's the zone when Karlsson retrieves the puck, but if he does that when Phillips or Cowen get the puck, that's a different story.

 

[bacon25]

I counted 8 meaning we are ranked 22.

My list and reasonings:

WPG (Little-Scheifele-Perrault-Slater) === we have better overall depth
TOR (Bozak-Kadri-Santiorelli-Kontiola) === better depth and number one center
ARZ (Vermette-Gagner-Hanzal-Vitale) === better depth up top and at the 4 spot
EDM (NugentHopkins-Draisatl-Gordon-Arcobello) === more experienced players with better defensive awareness
CGY (Backlund-Monahan-Stajan-Colborne) === likewise as edmonton
FLA (Barkov-Bjugstad-Bolland-Mackenzie) === likewise aside from Bolland
NSH(Jokinen-Fisher-Jarnkrok-Cullen-Gaustad) === slight edge to ottawa since we have a number one guy
BUF (Ennis-Girgensons-Reinhart-McCormick) === better depth all around

I don't see Vancouver being that strong on center depth, I would put them after Ottawa.

 

[Sensinitis]

VAN's center depth sucks. Sedin isn't getting any younger and they lost Kesler.

 

[insomniac]

In what world is a center that is solid defensively and put up 51 pts a 4th line center?

The guy signed with us to be a top 6 player, I imagine that he'll be given the chance, and Zibanejad will have to beat him out rather than just be handed the role.

In the same world where he puts up only 8 even-strength goals through 83 games, while mustering well under 2 shots per game. 49 hits and 38 blocked shots doesn't really scream solid defense either..

 

[Sensinitis]

Right, because hits and blocked shots are what determine good defensive play.

 

[Micklebot]

In the same world where he puts up only 8 even-strength goals through 83 games, while mustering well under 2 shots per game. 49 hits and 38 blocked shots doesn't really scream solid defense either..

Yes, because any center with under 10 ES goals can't possible be a top 6 forward...

I'm looking at you Sedin and Thornton! Backstrom, you made the cut with 11, but you're on probation. Dubinsky, you better get more than 10 next year if you don't want your new contract bought out.

I guess Toews doesn't scream solid defense with his 29 hits and 20 blocks, O'Reilly sucks too with 22 hits and 43 blocks, not to mention Stepan and his 30 hits, 46 blocks.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

I'm comforted by the fact that more than half our division has some pretty brutal C's as well (TOR, FLA, BUF, MTL).

MTL has some pretty bad C's for a team that won two playoff rounds.

 

[HSF]

Sedin + Bonino is definitely better than Turris +Zibby/legwand....

 

[insomniac]

Yes, because any center with under 10 ES goals can't possible be a top 6 forward...

I'm looking at you Sedin and Thornton! Backstrom, you made the cut with 11, but you're on probation. Dubinsky, you better get more than 10 next year if you don't want your new contract bought out.

I guess Toews doesn't scream solid defense with his 29 hits and 20 blocks, O'Reilly sucks too with 22 hits and 43 blocks, not to mention Stepan and his 30 hits, 46 blocks.

Look, for Legwand to be better than a C4, he has to be in the top-90 at the position (30 teams * 3 centers = 90). Here's 100 centers who are better than Legwand. Even if you could argue 10 of them, it still puts Legwand outside the top-90:

Ryan Getzlaf
Steven Stamkos
Sidney Crosby
Tyler Seguin
Matt Duchene
David Backes
Logan Couture
Evgeni Malkin
Anders Lee
John Tavares
Patrice Bergeron
Ryan Johansen
Claude Giroux
Tomas Hertl
Joe Pavelski
Jeff Carter
Mike Fisher
Paul Stastny
Brandon Dubinsky
Eric Staal
Martin Hanzal
Nathan MacKinnon
Tyler Bozak
Anze Kopitar
Pavel Datsyuk
Mike Cammalleri
David Krejci
Jonathan Toews
Ryan Kesler
Jason Spezza
Tommy Wingels
Craig Smith
Ryan O'Reilly
Kyle Turris
Brayden Schenn
Bryan Little
Mike Santorelli
Nick Bjugstad
Colton Sceviour
Joe Thornton
Brad Richards
Olli Jokinen
Mikko Koivu
Darren Helm
Nicklas Backstrom
Tyler Ennis
Andrew Cogliano
Valtteri Filppula
Mika Zibanejad
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Nazem Kadri
Frans Nielsen
Boone Jenner
Mark Scheifele
Dave Bolland
Derek Stepan
Mathieu Perreault
Jordan Staal
Andrew Shaw
Antoine Vermette
Charlie Coyle
Tyler Johnson
Tomas Plekanec
Nick Bonino
Alex Killorn
Jiri Hudler
Sam Gagner
Artem Anisimov
Matt Stajan
Travis Zajac
Cody Eakin
Mikael Backlund
Carl Soderberg
Cody Hodgson
Mikael Granlund
Tyler Toffoli
Sean Couturier
Adam Henrique
Sean Monahan
Jarret Stoll
Zemgus Girgensons
Rich Peverley
Patrik Berglund
John Mitchell
Vincent Lecavalier
Derick Brassard
Jesse Winchester
Lars Eller
Riley Sheahan
Marcel Goc
Mikhail Grabovski
Brandon Pirri
David Desharnais
Henrik Sedin
Mike Ribeiro
Shawn Matthias
Ryan Strome
Brock Nelson
Maxime Talbot
Alex Galchenyuk
Daniel Winnik
Matt Cullen
Mike Richards
Saku Koivu
Steve Ott
Paul Gaustad
Chris Kelly
Colin Wilson
Aleksander Barkov

 

[JessicaN]

Turris is a super legit first line center.

Who the hell else was +22 on a team that missed the playoffs?

 

[Sensinitis]

There's at least 15 wingers there, and at least 10 players who suck/are very young/are definitely worse than Legwand. So there goes your argument. Koivu isn't even in the league anymore LOL.