The team was on a 99 point pace at the time of the trade. And that's with Karlsson missing training camp and the first half dozen games. Upgrading Turris for Duchene should have improved the team.
Whining about the playoff run being not sustainable or depleted opponents doesn't turn the Senators from a fringe playoff team to a bottom dweller. While you can question whether or not the team would make the playoffs, no one except the most ardent Senators hater would have predicted them ending up 30th.
From what I remember, most predictions in the off season had them as a bubble team.
The start of the season was fools gold for people who weren’t paying attention because they were playing poorly but doing just well enough to get a boost from loser points.
It’s not whining, it’s a fact. Boston was missing several key players and Ottawa was a fringe playoff team in 2016-2017 who went on a special run.
A fringe team that went on a special/lucky/hot run, and then lost a top four defenseman and was going to get diminishing returns from their best player and best defenseman without adding anything of value certainly doesn’t look like a good bet to go all in.
Duchene was an on-ice upgrade over Turris, no question, but that was an all in move. A first and a recent first on top of your best Center. You have to be right on your evaluation or you will be judged accordingly.
Again, IIRC, Turris was considered a glue guy and the team wasn’t happy he was moved. They went on a few massive losing streaks right after the trade.
Being a fringe/bubble team, your first is very valuable. Maybe second last wasn’t predictable but it’s certainly not a good gamble.
99 point pace at the time of the trade is a sorely lacking evaluation of the state of the team at the time of the trade.
First off, 14 game sample. Not exactly predictive enough to be banking on pace.
6 wins in those 14 games, and frankly the team looked bad in many of those games. The wheels were falling off.
I do agree that Duchene should have improved the team, but i don't think it was the area the team was most in need of improvement, nor was the timing particularly good. Like you said, karlsson missed camp and looked off, maybe hold off to see how he recovers before going all in? Maybe find him a better partner then Oduya?
Lots of people predicted Ottawa would miss the playoff. Not many were predicting them to be dead last, but many foresaw them struggling that year.
Spot on.