There are a few things to go over so let’s start with the Rookie tournament disaster (you can see the lineup discussed here). The Sens’ system is short on talent and their invitees added none of that which showed in the results. Wins and losses don’t really matter, but the Sens showed an inability to generate offense (or stop it), losing 9-1 to New Jersey, 4-2 to Pittsburgh, and 4-1 to Columbus (this mirrors what happened in Edmonton, but the circumstances of each org are very different). The only standouts were expected: Halliday and Yakemchuk. None of the prospect invitees made it into Belleville’s camp, which is the ultimate gauge of success in that regard (even if it is considered a bonus result).
The pre-season, other than a couple of scary moments, was ‘successful’, with the team finishing 5-1-1. The results mean nothing (New Jersey finished 1-6-0 and went on to win both their first real NHL games). The teams PTO’s were dropped (as expected). What the pre-season established was who would fill out the bottom of Ottawa’s lineup, particularly among those with two-way contracts. We now have our answers, at least to start the season: Adam Gaudette (the ghost of 21-22) and Tyler Kleven. Matthew Highmore is also listed, but he’s injured so there’s no guarantee he will actually stay once cleared (I doubt it, albeit I’m sure the Sens appreciate the minor cap relief).
I remain baffled by the org’s overall approach. The team is older, smaller, and filled with agitators. We saw one of the problems with that in the pre-season against Montreal–you agitate, but your only fighter (MacEwen) is small, loses, and will get hurt, so who fights? Tkachuk? You can’t have him constantly standing up for people. Driving the other team crazy is fine on paper, but if the other team targets your stars and you are short on talent, what happens when they get hurt? It’s a baffling approach. Typically teams built like this (the Crosby Penguins in their heyday, or Anaheim under Bryan Murray) are big and filled with options to deal with retaliation, but not the Sens.
I was curious what the org would do with Carter Yakemchuk, who is clearly better than some of the blueliners on the team. If Staios really wanted to push for the playoffs, then keeping him would increase the odds, but instead he was returned to junior. I’d like to think this is a sign that they realize their lack of depth means they can’t limp into contention, but it’s hard to tell given some of the moves made thus far (cf). Would I send him back to the WHL? Yes, so I agree with the move, even if I’m not sure it was made for the same reasons.
As for prospects, let’s consider who was sent down early versus late:
Early: Bongiovanni (no surprise), Bourgault (no surprise to me and yes, I appreciate that Jarventie is injured with Edmonton), Chiasson (no surprise), Daoust (no surprise, but at least he’s not hurt), Petersson (no surprise), Rees (no surprise to me), Washkurak (no surprise), Davies (all the marginal D were sent down early with one exception, in part because of PTO Addison), Donovan (ibid), Guenette (perhaps a surprise to some fans), Hamara, Matinpalo, Roos, Toure, Merilainen (due in part to PTO Tokarski), and Simpson.
Late: Boucher, Crookshank, Halliday, Hodgson (lasted this long due to the pre-season acrimony with Montreal), Jenik, Ostapchuk, Pilon, Reinhardt, Sebrango (surprising he lasted this long, but deserved), and Sogaard.
As for the BSens themselves, none of their free agent invitees have survived, which isn’t unusual. One of my predictions has come true: Toure has been sent down to the ECHL. The BSens start their season this week missing two high end vets at the forward position (Gaudette and the injured Highmore). Who gets their ice time remains to be seen, but camp performance probably matters most since there are no high octane forward prospects beyond the obvious (Halliday)–last year both Fizer (an FA invitee) and Smejkal had excellent pre-seasons (neither of which translated into the season). Chiasson, who I also thought was likely to be sent to the ECHL, benefits from those absences.
This article was written by Peter Levi
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