Sportsnet: Senators begin to shed basement brand with transformative off-season

[Cosmix]

You're right, it hasn't worked out yet

But your post got me thinking....what's the definition of "worked out" ???

I think we'll see a wide variety of opinions on what that term means

I'm not sure what it means to me but it's definitely not cup or bust. So much has to go right to win.

On thinking it over, I think “worked out” means to me that the team has been rebuilt and has become a consistent playoff team. That would be a reasonable expectation of “success”. Expecting more than that would be a rather lofty expectation for a rebuild.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I thought we shook the basement brand last year.. I guess if we do it 2 years in a row ...

 

[salomonster]

The most important thing for this team is to sign Chucky long term. The franchise needs to prioritize this. This is what is required to get fans back on board.

And aside from Chabot the D corp is no better than last year IMO. And that's not saying much...

I don't see this team anything but bottom 5 again this year.

You can't expect all the kids to all make massive steps forward. All the "character" they signed this uber long offeseason are good for the room but what will they produce on the ice?

This is another lottery team in my books.

 

[jhutter]

The most important thing for this team is to sign Chucky long term. The franchise needs to prioritize this. This is what is required to get fans back on board.

And aside from Chabot the D corp is no better than last year IMO. And that's not saying much...

I don't see this team anything but bottom 5 again this year.

You can't expect all the kids to all make massive steps forward. All the "character" they signed this uber long offeseason are good for the room but what will they produce on the ice?

This is another lottery team in my books.

I think the team is improved, but not nearly enough to make a playoff push. In a normal 82 game season with the normal divisions and conferences, I think they're a bottom 8 team.

 

[jhutter]

What if the forward lines were to have 4 or 5, 50 pt players? Would that make a difference? IMO Stuetzle, Batherson, L. Brown, Norris, Jarventie, Tkachuk & Chabot on defence all have 50 pt potential (maybe even Sokolov too). It probably helps the team if they spread the scoring around & opposing teams can't target just one line.

Scoring by committee seems to be a realistic alternative to me. I think this team has a pile of potential, likely, and surefire 50pt players.

Don't see it in Sokolov, unfortunately. He's a 20 year old that was ranked in the third round of the draft. He's quirky and likeable, but I think him just making the NHL is an accomplishment. Jarventie is a wildcard. His stats are terrific, but he's also the 6th in team scoring on the best team in the league.

 

[Cosmix]

I thought we shook the basement brand last year.. I guess if we do it 2 years in a row ...

“Shakers” but not “Movers” apparently.

 

[Xspyrit]

I think talents like Evgeni Dadonov, Matt Murray and Tim Stuetzle are a bit sold short on this board but agree that the Sens won't be able to do much in terms of standings if stuck in a Canadian division.

Also, a few young guys like Norris, Batherson, Formenton, Brannstrom, etc are close to "breakout" as NHL players and could be making an impact sooner than we'd think (sort of like Hoffman, Stone, Pageau, Hammond, Lazar, Ceci in 2014-15)

Saying they will be lottery team again is understandably conservative, but I wouldn't be surprised if they would do better than expected in a "full normal season". I wouldn't bet on them making the playoffs but they could show some nice progression (and they were already decently competitive in many games last year as a bottom team)

But anyway moot point as it's going to be a Canadian division if there's NHL hockey.

Scoring by committee seems to be a realistic alternative to me. I think this team has a pile of potential, likely, and surefire 50pt players.

Don't see it in Sokolov, unfortunately. He's a 20 year old that was ranked in the third round of the draft. He's quirky and likeable, but I think him just making the NHL is an accomplishment. Jarventie is a wildcard. His stats are terrific, but he's also the 6th in team scoring on the best team in the league.

3 quick notes here

I think there's a few guys that will regularly score more than 50 pts though. Notably Stuetzle, Tkachuk and Batherson. Maybe also guys like Norris and Brown. For Brown it depends how much % of his potential he reaches. Heck, I think he has the skillset to be a PPG player. But "putting it all together" sounds a lot easier to say than do in reality. Ask Mika Zibanejad.

Sokolov is a "late bloomer". He has developped his skills over the years but his skating was lacking to be considered a NHL prospect (and then drafted). He has been working on it like crazy and also lost a lot of weight. He could be a transformed player. He still has some work to do to reach the NHL but I could see him being a good AHL player right away. He has a great skillset. If his speed is just NHL average, he'll be an interesting prospect to keep an eye on. Doesn't matter if he was drafted as an overager

Jarventie might not be a leading scorer on his team but he doesn't get prime minutes at ES and even PP. It would be actually quite interesting to see what he could do as a main offensive player on his team. Unfortunately we won't see that this year as he is just 18 y/o. Young guys like that are usually burried in the line up and have trouble scoring. Jarventie release and hockey sense are the main reasons why he has good numbers

 

[jhutter]

I think talents like Evgeni Dadonov, Matt Murray and Tim Stuetzle are a bit sold short on this board but agree that the Sens won't be able to do much in terms of standings if stuck in a Canadian division.

Also, a few young guys like Norris, Batherson, Formenton, Brannstrom, etc are close to "breakout" as NHL players and could be making an impact sooner than we'd think (sort of like Hoffman, Stone, Pageau, Hammond, Lazar, Ceci in 2014-15)

Saying they will be lottery team again is understandably conservative, but I wouldn't be surprised if they would do better than expected in a "full normal season". I wouldn't bet on them making the playoffs but they could show some nice progression (and they were already decently competitive in many games last year as a bottom team)

But anyway moot point as it's going to be a Canadian division if there's NHL hockey.



3 quick notes here

I think there's a few guys that will regularly score more than 50 pts though. Notably Stuetzle, Tkachuk and Batherson. Maybe also guys like Norris and Brown. For Brown it depends how much % of his potential he reaches. Heck, I think he has the skillset to be a PPG player. But "putting it all together" sounds a lot easier to say than do in reality. Ask Mika Zibanejad.

Sokolov is a "late bloomer". He has developped his skills over the years but his skating was lacking to be considered a NHL prospect (and then drafted). He has been working on it like crazy and also lost a lot of weight. He could be a transformed player. He still has some work to do to reach the NHL but I could see be a good AHL player right away. He has a great skillset. If his speed is just NHL average, he'll be an interesting prospect to keep an eye on. Doesn't matter if he was drafted as an overager

Jarventie might not be a leading scorer on his team but he doesn't get prime minutes at ES and even PP. It would be actually quite interesting to see what he could do as a main offensive player on his team. Unfortunately we won't see that this year as he is just 18 y/o. Young guys like that are usually burried in the line up and have trouble scoring. Jarventie shot and hockey sense is the only reason why he has good numbers

For sure. I think that Stuetzle, Norris, Brown (x2), Tkachuk, Batherson, Formenton, Dadonov, and maybe White and Tierney all have the ability to put up 50 point seasons, and about five of those guys on a consistent basis. Of course not all of them are going to do it at the same time, but I believe that all have the potential. Some are at their ceiling at 50, some are just scratching the surface at 50.

Regarding Sokolov and Jarventie, I'm not down on them or belittling their accomplishments. I'm excited about both of them and believe them to both be legitimate prospects, especially Jarventie. When there are posters saying that Sokolov is going to make the team out of camp, a flight back down to Earth might be necessary.

 

[Crosside]

I read yesterday the playoff format would be for sure 20 teams and maybe 24. So probably battle for a spot

 

[Beech]

I read yesterday the playoff format would be for sure 20 teams and maybe 24. So probably battle for a spot

they have yet to play a game..and it will be almost 10 months between the end of last season for them and the start of this one.

At 20 teams, I doubt it. At 24, maybe. but a 48 game season could work in their favor. A hot start, could bag them enough points to get in.