Will the Ottawa Senators make the playoffs? Poll added.

[Holdurbreathe]

well that is the minimum they will have to do if they are serious about the next 2 years.

we'll see how much bs they have been talking soon enough. actions not words please

unfortunately actions are as easy as words.

BM wants to improve the team but not at the cost of giving up the youth on the roster or futures like Lazar.

IMO its not going to be easy considering so many teams are still in the wild card hunt, thus lots of buyers but few sellers.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

A solid maybe.

I think the real weakness with this roster is between the ears. These guys don't have anywhere near the mental toughness they had last season. And the frustrating part is we have no idea why. Where the heck did it go?

 

[DylanSensFan]

A solid maybe.

I think the real weakness with this roster is between the ears. These guys don't have anywhere near the mental toughness they had last season. And the frustrating part is we have no idea why. Where the heck did it go?

probably not

 

[BigBush*]

For sure this team is. I'd say they are better then most teams in the east and the top teams (Pitt, Bos, and Tampa) would not want to play Ottawa first round in the playoffs. They had a stinker of a game yesterday, but are still trending upwards and will continue to do so I believe

 

[Holdurbreathe]

He's been injured three times already this season and his team is 1 point ahead of us. He isn't fit for a full season anymore.

Doubt he finishes the season without missing more games and hurting Detroit's chances further.

Groin problem early and back spasms recently, hard to suggest these things are chronic.

While the Wings surely missed Alfie in the 10 games he sat out. The games missed by Datysuk, Zetterburg , Fransen, Ericsson and Weiss, all of whom have missed more games than Alfie, are likely the reason the Wings are in tough for a playoff spot.

 

[Senafan]

If the best players are actually allowed to play...yes.

 

[aragorn]

If the best players are actually allowed to play...yes.

Isn't that what the coaches are paid to determine who the best players are? I'm quite sure it's not up to the fans to decide who the best players are, it's up to the experts behind the bench regardless if we agree with them or not. I imagine experience & contracts may play into that as well.

 

[Senafan]

The lines and minutes played have made sense all season?

 

[aragorn]

The lines and minutes played have made sense all season?

A lot of things they have done this yr doesn't make any sense to me but that's what they get paid the big bucks to do & I doubt they got stupid after last yr when everything seemed to be going right for them. This team has also performed very well in some games, I'm sure the coaches are as baffled as we are as to why this team is so inconsistent but then again this has been a problem with Sens teams for yrs.

 

[StefanW]

I think the team has generally been good since early Dec, so we have a chance. We sure did dig a huge hole at the start of the year though.

The biggest danger is the amount of teams we are fighting for a wildcard spot. With this number of teams every slip along the way has huge consequences. We need to be getting at least a loser point or better in 7 or even 8 out of every 10 games left. This bunch can play well enough to squeak in if we can avoid significant injuries.

The issue of whether we can realistically contend is a separate issue. The big price for winning a wildcard spot is getting to play against a Boston or a Pitts in the first round. This team is absolutely, positively, not up to that type of challenge. Without adding one or even two significant pieces to the D plus a skill guy to play with Spezza and Stone this team will go nowhere fast in the playoffs. I'm sure our owner would be ecstatic with some extra playoff revenue, but I am meh about the idea of getting crushed in 4 or 5 games in the first round.

 

[Back in Black]

1st round Maybe, 2nd round NO!

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

We need a game breaker like gaborik. Someone who can create offense on his own even when the team is asleep. Also a legit shutdown dman we can put out there in the last minutes of the game would be nice.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

Losing to any team if they play well is not a concern IMO.

Teams are going to lose games they should win and vice versa, but the way they played Saturday reminded me of the first week or two of the season, just scary bad.

This is how I feel too. As emotional as the loss to MTL was, we had a great effort. But yesterday's game... it was just so..

Before yesterday's game I would have said yes, we'll make it. But now I'm saying 'maybe', because the inconsistency on this team is crazy. Afternoon game or not, the motivation to jump into a playoff spot should have been enough for these guys to come out with some fire. As soon as we met some adversity with penalties, we just fell apart.

A number of things contribute to my decision. Coaching decisions that consistently baffle me, Andy's uber inconsistent play (ie we have no idea which Andy is going to show up for any given game, regardless of importance, and it looks like we're going to go with Andy for the rest of the season regardless of what Lehner does) and just having a number of players playing sub-par this year all factor in.

In every game I have watched this year, Ottawa has seriously weak games from at least 2 players, whether it be one of the goalies, a D man or two, or a forward. Elite teams might get away with this, but Ottawa lacks the plethora of elite talent that most of the true contenders in the league possess. Because of this, in order to be a contender, we need most of the team performing consistently well. And I just don't see that happening this year.

 

[83DIZ65]

Id like to just say yes, because the players are good enough to get there...but the sum of the parts has very seldom looked as good as it should. We need to add a top 6 winger and IMO a solid defensive defensemen to make it. With the present roster id say its 50/50 at best. with a good addition or two id say our chances would greatly improve.

 

[jaygodard]

If we add a piece or 2 to the puzzle we could have a shot, leaving team the way it is, I have my doubts

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

Gonna say no on this one at the moment. While it appears we are only one point back of a wild card spot, that's really not where we want to be for a playoff seed. We'd ideally want to be top 3 in the conference (probably not happening) or in the first wild card spot. So the Leafs are there with 55 points, we have 51. So we need two wins +X, where X is the amount of points needed to reach the first wild card spot. That would give the team a bit of seperation from chasing teams.

Sadly, it looks like the team's atrocious start in October/November may bite it in the ass.
Good news is if we do meet the playoffs then MacLean will have no choice but to get these guys in gear starting at game one next season.

 

[cage]

I voted maybe. But tbh getting the 8th seed doesn't excite me because it just means a 4 game sweep to the pens. The 7th and 6th seeds should be the goal for this team

 

[83DIZ65]

I voted maybe. But tbh getting the 8th seed doesn't excite me because it just means a 4 game sweep to the pens. The 7th and 6th seeds should be the goal for this team

Agreed I like our chances against either boston or montreal alot better then pitss.

 

[tony d]

Option 2, it'll be as a wild card but I think we make the playoffs.