The attempt to cap clean to sign Shane Pinto seems to have boiled down to just Mathieu Joseph (according to Bruce Garrioch), as there’s limited interest in Brannstrom (something not helped by Columbus desperately trying to move a defenseman). If that’s true, his play early on this season helps making that move easier (even if the rest of the NHL know they have Dorion over a barrel–only eight teams can currently afford to take him). This entire mess, including Joseph‘s contract, is of Dorion’s own making, so they are once again paying for his inability to properly assess talent.
As for the team itself, it’s an unremarkable 3-3-0. It’s too early to say much of anything other than the early returns on Tarasenko have been good (leads the team in points), Kubalik has been awful (no points), and without their top-four the Sens struggle (both games without Zub have been disasters–giving up 11 goals–collectively Brannstrom, Hamonic, and JBD can’t fill the void). The only surprise for me is Kubalik, but it’s too soon to be worried. November has been the breaking point for D. J. Smith’s seasons, so we have to wait and see.
Waiving MacEwen, whose three-year deal makes him immune to being claimed, only clears out 775k for the Sens in their effort to sign Pinto (he and JBD just aren’t enough combined: 1.58). MacEwen, who scored twice in his debut for the BSens, means Imama sits (since they have the same role but MacEwen is both a better fighter and player). The veteran clog in Belleville remains a problem Dorion created for himself and barring an early, major injury, the team will have to make a deal to get out of it. For now the team has rotated the scratches between Imama, Pilon, and Currie, but that’s not tenable for the whole season.
I’ve watched parts of the BSens last two games (their 5-2 loss to Lehigh Valley and their 5-4 win over Laval), but the entirety of their first game (3-0 over Hershey). I made a few notes/observations and we’ll start broadly: the team had terrible breakouts and structure and were getting killed on faceoffs; the second PP unit looked better than the first (which struggled badly). The team played with seven defensemen and initially JBD got the nod over Thomson, but it was a rough night for JBD so that switched after a bad penalty. Sogaard was excellent. Other specifics:
-Ostapchuk got run over by McIlrath
-Fizer was stopped on a breakaway (he has great speed)
-Reinhardt scored a very nice goal
-Guenette struggled being the top D on the pp
-Matinpalo had a nice one-timer via Thomson
-Great pass by Jarventie to Matinpalo (although he didn’t score)
-Pilon breakaway via a Guenette pass (he was stopped)
-Sokolov hit a post
The first line of Smejkal–Highmore–Sokolov has not worked (no apparent chemistry), so I expect it to change. I feel like coach Bell has a good sense of the bottom of his roster, but doesn’t know what to do with the top. It’s incredibly early in the season so too soon to judge player or coach performance and I expect juggling to continue for awhile.
This article was written by Peter Levi
eyeonthesens 