Sens Off-Season Continues to go off the Rails

Fans in Ottawa live in a myopic bubble where everything is positive until you can’t ignore reality anymore. Thankfully, outside this space you can get a reality check and we have one from The Athletic‘s Dom Luszczyszyn: “Everything else [besides the Ullmark trade] the Senators have done has only hurt their playoff chances. The Jakob Chychrun trade was a disaster. Not qualifying Erik Brannstrom probably wasn’t wise. And signing Michael Amadio at the expense of Mathieu Joseph didn’t make a whole lot of sense given the latter is probably cheaper and better.” He gives the Perron deal a pass (which I don’t) and this was written before the deals discussed below. The Chychrun trade in particular is one of those that, in future, will be in the hall of fame of the org’s bad deals.

What’s irritating about all this as a fan is that this counternarrative is ignored locally. Why the silence? Clicks? Access? The latter appears to be the case for Nicholls, as he’s landed work at The Hockey News, but the days of he, Ary, and others actively challenging the org seems passe except after the fact.

Speaking of dumb moves, they continue. The Sens jettisoned one of their only remaining talented prospects by sending Roby Jarventie to Edmonton for spare parts (and to be clear: most prospects don’t pan out, but in terms of talent this trade is a joke). Let’s look at what came back.

Xavier Bourgault, 10/02, 6’0, CR/RW, 1-21/21 Edm
23-24 55-8-12-20 0.36
23-22 62-13-21-34 0.55
Career 117-21-33-54 0.46

The former first-round pick is on the decline, having shown nothing in his first two seasons as a pro (Jarventie‘s career AHL numbers aren’t massively higher, 0.63, but if you eliminate his rookie season, he’s 0.81, close to double Bourgault). There’s not much room on the BSens roster for the new addition, so the point in acquiring him seems to be getting rid of Jarventie. The justification for the trade is that Jarventie is injured too much (I guess Chabot and Tyler Boucher are also on their way out) and “Bourgault is a fairly one-dimensional, offensive player, and he wasn’t being put in a position to succeed with the Condors, and he wasn’t the only one. There is a lot more talent with Bourgault than was shown over his last two seasons. His final season in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League was his best and he posted 75 points in 43 games.” We’re basing everything on part of a season in the Q? Why? There’s no sign of this in the AHL and unlike Jarventie his performance is dropping. There’s no reason to imagine a turnaround.

Jake Chaisson, 05/03, 6’2, RW, 4-116/21 Edm
23-24 ECHL 68-9-11-20 0.29
22-23 WHL 70-20-38-58 0.83

This part of the deal reminds me a great deal of the org acquiring Graham McPhee (an Oiler castoff with no apparent talent). His ECHL numbers are abysmal, so I don’t expect him in Belleville unless there are injury problems. Undoubtedly he was someone the Oilers wanted to get rid of and Staios can’t turn down a bad player when offered one.

In a more minor deal, the Sens sent qualified third-stringer RFA Kevin Mandolese to Colorado along with a 7th round pick for a 6th. That’s not much value for the asset, but at least it’s something back as opposed nothing. With Sogaard re-signed it means he and Merilainen will carry the load for Belleville (which is fine).

The BSens signed blueliner Wyatte Wylie to an AHL-contract. Let’s take a look:

Wyatte Wylie, 11/99, 6’0, DR, 5-127/18 Phi
23-24 45-2-11-13 0.29
22-23 45-3-7-10 0.22
21-22 65-5-13-18 0.0.28
Career 176-11-37-48 0.27

An offensively gifted player when drafted from the WHL, he’s had an unremarkable career in the Philadelphia and LA systems. The BSens, with the loss of Thomson to the SEL, are short on the right side, so he arrives to help shore that up. He’s essentially a more talented version of part-time blueliner Ryan MacKinnon, who has departed to play in the Slovakian league.

The team also signed Keean Washkurak:

Keean Washkurakm, 08/01, 5’10, CL, 5-155/19 Stl
23-24 63-4-6-10 0.16
22-23 45-10-3-13 0.29
Career 175-27-19-46 0.26

The undersized forward has had an unremarkable career in the AHL after a similarly unremarkable career in the OHL. Clearly signed for depth, I’m not sure what he’s supposed to bring to the table besides a pulse.

I got what might be an indirect shoutout from NKB (as the org is still on the Titanic post-Dorion).

This article was written by Peter Levi

July 16, 2024
Categories: Belleville Senators, Ottawa Senators, Ottawa trades . Tags: , , , , . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

‘The Plan’, Sokolov traded, and Coach Travis Green

It’s surprising to see genuine criticism of the org’s chaos coming from The Silver Seven, as Ross attempts to decipher the team plan and comes away baffled (Trevor tries to find positives, but you can feel him fumbling in the effort; only Nichols, who seems to have given up on serious coverage, believes fans should shut up because management is hard–sunk costs, landed some veterans, good in the corners, etc). Ross is rightly terrified by Dave Poulin’s quoted idiotic comments, which echoes the out of touch commentary you get from many older ex-players. It’s a muddled mess (Ian Mendes embarrassed himself giving the team a B+ for their off-season so far).

How does what we have compare to last season? Let’s go over changes to the roster (the red and green don’t necessarily reflect my opinion, just the raw information):
2022-23 vs 2023-24
Taraesenko (31; 57-17-24-41 0.72; 5.0/1 yr; 1 Cup) -> Perron (36; 76-17-30-47 0.62; 4.0/2 yrs; 1 Cup)
Joseph (26; 72-11-24-35 0.48; 2.95/4 yrs—2 remaining; 1 Cup) -> Amadio (28; 73-14-13-27 0.37; 2.6/4 yrs; 1 Cup)
Kelly (24; 80-8-10-18 0.22; 0.762/2 yrs) -> Gregor (26; 63-6-6-12 0.19; 0.85/1 yr)
Kubalik (28; 74-11-4-15 0.20; 2.5/1 yr) -> nothing
Kastelic (24; 63-5-5-10 0.16; 0.835/2 yrs–1 remaining) -> nothing
Chychrun (25; 82-14-27-41 0.50; 4.6/6 yrs—1 remaining) -> Jensen (33; 78-1-13-14 0.18; 4.05/3yrs–2 remaining; 1 Cup)
Brannstrom (24; 76-3-17-20 0.26; 2.0/1 yr) -> nothing
Korpisalo (30; 0.890 3.27; 4.0/5 yrs) -> Ullmark (31; 0.915 2.58; 5.0/4 yrs—1 remaining)

Other facts to note: the team has replaced 8 roster players with 5 (so minus 3); the team is older (+18 years); in terms of size the team is slightly smaller (Joseph/Amadio, Kelly/Gregor are the same size, but Perron and Jensen are smaller); the team is net 1 Cup more in terms of experience (losing 2, adding 3), something I find irrelevant, but people tend to bring it up; other than goaltending, all the added players performed worse statistically. The Sens are now older, less dynamic, statistically worse (other than in the crease), and have less established depth. Alarm bells are ringing! Let’s take a look at the system:

2022-23 vs 2023-24
Jenik (23; 55-16-20-36 0.65) -> Sokolov (23; 71-21-25-46 0.65) Utah
nothing -> Currie (31; 62-12-17-29 0.47) unsigned
nothing -> Smejkal (26; 47-9-13-22 0.47) Czech league
Gaudette (28; 67-44-27-71 1.05) -> Chartier (27; 19-7-6-13 0.68) unsigned
Hodgson (28; 49-6-10-16 0.32) -> Imama (27; 53-3-7-10 0.19) unsigned
Davies (27; 66-12-23-35 0.53) -> Larsson (26; 61-7-26-33 0.54) NLA
nothing -> Thomson (23; 67-6-15-21 0.31) SEL
Roos (25; 59-2-14-16 0.27) -> Heatherington (28; 60-3-7-10 0.17) unsigned

The Sens qualified Thomson, but he’s in the SEL for this upcoming season (undoubtedly his issues with coach Bell in Belleville made the decision easy–given Staios’ track record, I look forward to his rights being traded away for nothing and let me preempt Nichols by saying ‘sunk costs/fans need to move on‘). Just like the NHL above, that’s five bodies in for eight going out (late season acquisitions Rees and Bongiovanni are not included above, with both retained). This is statistically an upgrade and a slightly older group, although I don’t know what Shawn Simpson is smoking saying there’s more highly paid veterans now when that’s not true (the BSens had so many vets last season they often had to sit one out).

What the BSens do have are players who can fill out the bottom of the lineup (besides who they’ve signed, it’s also what they’ve drafted for), particularly among the forwards, with Highmore and Gaudette being the most obvious candidates. The blueline, on the other hand, has less obvious capacity–besides Kleven, it’s not clear anyone can meaningfully fill-in. A major Chabot injury, which you have to expect, will crush the team’s ability to move the puck.

The Sens traded Igor Sokolov to Utah in return for another restricted free agents, Jan Jenik. It’s not a surprising move from Staios, as Sokolov is coming off a down year. Did he given up on the big Russian too soon? It’s hard to say. Sokolov needs to score to be an effective pro and being one-dimensional is likely what pulled the trigger for the org. As for what’s coming back, let’s look:

Jan Jenik, DOB 2000, CL, 6’1, 3-65/18
2023-24 AHL 55-16-20-36 0.65
2022-23 AHL 30-7-16-23 0.76
Career AHL 165-46-74-100 0.73

The two Europeans are roughly the same age and have similar career AHL production numbers (Sokolov is slightly higher at 0.75), and both are coming off down years. One of the things that’s been clear with Sokolov is that most of his struggles are mental (confidence) and you get the sense that if he could solve that he would take a step forward. I know virtually nothing about Jenik besides his numbers. Significantly he’s a center, not a winger, but the BSens don’t need a center (on paper they have seven in the AHL). While I can live with moving on from Sokolov (you can argue after four years maybe a change is needed), but I don’t see the vision with Jenik. Even if he shifts to the wing, he’s one of six on the left side. Where are you going to play him? It’s a baffling move as things sit.

Travis Green was hired as the coach back in May and as I haven’t commented on it yet, let’s take care of that. What are my first impressions? I’m not happy with it. Let’s go through why.

Travis Green
2023-24 New Jersey 21-8-21-1
2021-22 Vancouver 25-8-15-2
2020-21 Vancouver 56-23-29-4
2019-20 Vancouver 69-36-27-6 (lost 2nd round)
2018-19 Vancouver 82-35-36-11
2017-18 Vancouver 82-31-40-11
Career 335-141-159-35

Green was a good WHL coach (winning the Memorial Cup) and a good AHL coach (reaching and losing the Calder Cup finals with Utica), but his NHL resume is terrible. In five seasons with the Canucks he made the playoffs once and couldn’t translate that success in the seasons that followed. The only argument that can be made given his past is that he’s good with young players, but the Sens are supposed to be beyond that stage and Green (including his time in New Jersey) has shown no ability to get the best out of his team at this level. Presumably he was picked due to some comfort level Staios has with him, but I’ve seen this movie before, as the Sens have a long track record of taking risks on coaches who crash and burn in Ottawa (D. J. Smith, Dave Cameron, Cory Clouston, Craig Hartsburg, etc–no ex-Sens coach has gone on to great success). I hope I’m wrong, but this seems like a bad fit to me.

Byron Bader, who works for The Athletic, released his latest NHL prospect chart and the Sens have not changed positions (remaining 30th, although their goaltending pool is considered above average). When you continually draft for the fourth-line and bottom-six, this is the result.

This article was written by Peter Levi

July 6, 2024
Categories: Belleville Senators, Ottawa Senators . Tags: , , . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

Belleville’s 2023-24 Regular Season

With the BSens in the midst of the playoffs, let’s take a look at the season that was. The team finished 38-28-6, with 209 GF and 211 GA. This is a 7-win, 10-point improvement over the season before, with the team scoring 24 less goals and allowing 47 less. The year closely mimics 21-22 (both in terms of winning percentage and the low goals for/against), where the BSens qualified for the playoffs and then were swept 2-0 by Rochester.

Belleville’s top scorer (Pilon) was 66th in the AHL, but if you go by points-per-game and cut players who played less than 20, things improve a little as Crookshank was 33rd. Sogaard finished tied for 10th in the AHL for save percentage and GAA. Let’s look at the basic stats before a further breakdown (rookies are in italics; ECHL fill-ins who played significant time are in blue; any significant change in performance is noted in green (positive) or red (negative)).

Stats

Forwards
Angus Crookshank 50-24-22-46 0.92 (+0.26) NHL 13-2-1-3
Roby Jarventie 22-9-11-20 0.91 (+0.16) NHL 7-0-1-1
Garrett Pilon 62-18-29-47 0.76 (+0.16 AHL career average)
Matthew Highmore 43-9-22-31 0.72 NHL 7-0-2-2
Wyatt Bongiovanni (t-Win)14-8-2-10 0.71
Rourke Chartier 19-7-6-13 0.68 NHL 37-2-1-3
Egor Sokolov 71-21-25-46 0.65 (-0.19)
Stephen Halliday (NCAA) 10-0-5-5 0.50
Josh Currie 62-12-17-29 0.47 (-0.19 AHL career average)
Jiri Smejkal 47-9-13-22 0.47 20-1-1-2
Matthew Boucher 17-2-6-8 0.47 (+0.15)
Zack Ostapchuk 69-17-11-28 0.41 NHL 7-0-0-0
Cole Reinhardt 56-8-15-23 0.41 (-0.11)
Jamieson Rees (t-Car) 14-0-4-4 0.29
Oskar Pettersson (SEL) 29-3-4-7 0.24
Tyler Boucher 21-2-3-5 0.24
Bokondji Imama 53-3-7-10 0.19 NHL 6-0-0-0
Brennan Saulnier 36-3-4-7 0.19 (-0.31)
Graham McPhee 33-4-2-6 0.18 (+0.11)
Tarun Fizer 30-2-3-5 0.17
Kyle Betts 56-5-4-9 0.16 (+0.08)
Jarid Lukosevicius 19-2-1-3 0.16 (-0.09)
(Philippe Daoust only played 4 games before injury ended his season—again!)

Defense
Maxence Guenette 58-7-27-34 0.59 NHL 7-0-0-0
Jacob Larsson 61-7-26-33 0.54 (+0.23)
Tyler Kleven 53-5-16-21 0.40 NHL 9-0-1-1
Lassi Thomson 67-6-15-21 0.31 (-0.28)
Nikolas Matinpalo 67-4-10-14 0.21 NHL 4-0-0-0
Donovan Sebrango 35-0-7-7 0.20
Dillon Heatherington 60-3-7-10 0.17 (-0.08)
Ryan MacKinnon 29-0-3-3 0.10

Goalies
Mads Sogaard 18-9-3 2.45 .916 (+0.23) NHL 6-1-3-0 .859 4.05
Leevi Merilainen 10-9-1 2.87 .906 (Liiga)
Kevin Mandolese 10-9-2 3.07 .901 (+0.11)

Powerplay Production
Sokolov 10-10-20
Crookshank 6-9-15
Guenette 3-12-15
Larsson 1-14-15
Pilon 6-7-13
Highmore 2-10-12
Currie 3-6-9
Ostapchuk 7-1-8
Jarventie 2-4-6
Thomson 0-6-6
Smejkal 3-1-4

The injury woes for the org are hitting the point where you wonder if there’s a problem with how they’ve been managed. Jarventie and Daoust suffered significant injuries again, not to mention Tyler Boucher (although his problems pre-existed).

The collective veteran shrapnel Pierre Dorion signed in the off-season had mixed results, but overall it’s a pass–no homeruns, but no utter failures either. Jason York’s favourite player (possibly one of the greatest to ever play in any league), Chartier, had average numbers when with the BSens (and abysmal ones in the NHL).

Crookshank‘s strong year echoes his debut (20-21) so I see it largely as a sign of his full recovery over the injury that cost him the 21-22 season. The strangest year is from Larsson, who with first PP time hit career numbers after nearly 400-games as a pro. It’s an anomaly and not something to get too excited over. As for the European free agent experiments, Smejkal‘s offensive numbers are slightly disappointing and I suspect not good to be retained (he’s a UFA). As for Matinpalo, he wasn’t brought in to score, and I think he did what was expected of him. I don’t know if he’ll be retained (he’s an RFA), but I see no harm in doing so. Coach Bell was not a fan of Thomson, who was on the second PP unit most of the season (he’s been scratched twice in the playoffs as well), which is a significant reason for why his numbers are down. I have to assume the disconnect with his coach is his defensively play (something I haven’t noticed, but I haven’t watched all 72-games).

Of the prospects signed the one to make an impact is Stephen Halliday, who is the only significant offensive depth pick the Sens have made in years and he’s continued to perform well in the playoffs. It’s early to judge, but at least at the AHL-level he’s a steal (and a slap in the face to Troy Mann’s stated philosophy of no longer drafting for skill in later rounds).

As for the goaltending, with better defense in front all the goaltenders’ numbers improved. Mandolese, however, remained incredibly erratic. Merilainen was also erratic, but as a rookie that’s less of an issue. Sogaard had issues early in the season, but slowly settled down (I have yet to see the kind of consistent play needed for the NHL, however).

Overall I’d call the season average. My expectations for Bell were low and it’s not clear he made any significant impact on younger players, all of whom performed about as expected. Older prospects generally did worse (Sokolov, Thomson, Reinhardt), so where Bell shined was with veterans (as much as he did shine). Defensively the team was better, but I think that’s unrelated to Bell and more about not suffering through the parade of goaltenders due to injury from last year. I think for the season to truly be a success they need to win another playoff round, otherwise it is, as I said, average. If the org keeps Bell going forward I can live with it, but I think there are better voices out there to help prospects.

This article was written by Peter Levi

May 8, 2024
Categories: Uncategorized . Tags: , , , , , . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

Sens Acquire Two Minor Leaguers and Sign Halliday

Under the radar Sens GM Staios made a couple of minor league deals about a week ago (March 15th), acquiring failed Winnipeg asset Wyatt Bongiovanni for nothing (future considerations) and sending their 6th round pick for failed Carolina asset Jamieson Rees. The former deal I greet with a shrug of the shoulders–it costs nothing and the BSens are short on useful forwards, so why not try? I’m less enamored with the second deal, since dumping picks for questionable assets is a poor use of draft capital. Let’s look at both players.

Wyatt Bongiovanni, DOB 99, CL, 6’0, undrafted
2021-22 NCAA 42-16-18-34 0.81 (2nd)
2022-23 AHL 56-13-5-18 0.32 (11th)
2022-24 AHL 34-8-7-15 0.44 (10th)

A relatively unremarkable USHL player who moved on to Quinnipiac where he was much better; he finished his final NCAA season second in scoring to the undrafted, undersized defenseman Zach Metsa (who is having a decent season with Rochester as a rookie). Was he unproductive on the Moose or was he not given the opportunity? Given that the Jets gave him away I’m leaning towards the former.

Jamieson Rees, DOB 01, CL, 5’10, 2-44/19
2021-22 61-7-17-24 0.39 (8th)
2022-23 65-14-28-42 0.64 (3rd)
2023-24 37-0-4-4 0.11 (sub-12th)

The OHL grad’s career has derailed after a solid third AHL-season last year. He’s never been dominant in the minors and I don’t see the NHL upside, so I’m lost on why the Sens want to take a flier on him (as in, what’s the hope for him with the org?). Barring a late season surge this looks like a fail off the hop. For those with good memories (or a nose for trivia), Rees has an Ottawa connection, as the pick used to draft him was part of the Erik Karlsson deal, subsequently traded away to draft Mads Sogaard (cf).

We had one other transaction that I’ve expected for some time: signing Stephen Halliday to his ELC (cf for projection thoughts).

Stephen Halliday, DOB 02, CL, 6’3, 4-104/22
2021-22 62-35-60-95 (1st)
2022-23 40-9-32-41 (1st)
2023-24 38-10-26-36 (1st)

For once the Sens drafted for talent in the later rounds and he’s proceeded to lead his team in production every season. The BSens are desperate for scoring (something neither of the two players above can solve) and the org in general needs a talent-injection. Here’s hoping he can provide that (certainly his size gives him the option of being more than just a scorer as well). If his description sounds a little bit like failed picks Todd Burgess (4-103/16) and Jakov Novak (7-188/18) it’s worth noting that Halliday was much more productive than both as a college player. He was, incidentally, playing with Sens prospect Theo Wallberg who has turned poor USHL production into solid NCAA production as a rookie, which is encouraging.

This article was written by Peter Levi

March 23, 2024
Categories: Belleville Senators, Ottawa Senators, Ottawa trades . Tags: , , , . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

Goaltending, Tarasenko, Prospects, and Formenton

As feared going into this season (cf), goaltending has been abysmal. Forsberg has been slightly better, but neither he nor Korpisalo have been able to help the team and while Sogaard has finally found consistency at the AHL-level (.920 in 21 games), we haven’t seen signs he’s ready to do that in the NHL. With the Sens against the cap, there’s no simple solution to this problem until the offseason. My guess is they will move Korpisalo either via trade or buyout–there’s no other option given the term left on his deal (buyout seems most likely, as a trade would require packaging other assets as well as retaining salary). Forsberg they can afford to keep as a backup (one more year at 2.75).

With the Sens firmly as a seller going into the trade deadline, Tarasenko is on the market and that’s ably gone through by The Athletic (Shayna Goldman & Ian Mendes). They propose a number of teams:
Edmonton – I don’t think he’d agree to go, although it would be a good fit (a player would likely come back for salary reasons, even if Ottawa agrees to eat some of Tarasenko’s, along with picks)–I don’t see this happening
Carolina – Salary isn’t an issue for them (picks coming back)–probability of him accepting this is low but not impossible
Rangers – I’m positive he’d be happy to return, with a salary & pick coming back–if New York wants him I think this is his most likely destination
Dallas – Salary might be an issue, with a player/pick coming back–the odds are the same as Carolina
Minnesota – They need him more than the rest of these teams & I’d expect picks coming back, but I don’t think he’d agree to the move
Boston – Certainly a player/pick coming back and I think he’d agree, but I’m not sure how interested they’d be

My guess is Tarasenko wants to go back to the Rangers and if they want him back, that’s his destination. Barring that it’s Boston with an outside chance of Dallas or Carolina. I imagine a 2nd-round pick is the highest the Sens will get for him, along with either a disappointing asset (ala Sebrango) or a bottom-six player on an expiring contract (someone along the lines of Gauthier–see below).

The Sens nearly won the award for the worst prospect pool in the NHL, finishing just above the floor at 31st on Scott Wheeler’s list. I do sometimes quibble with prospect lists like this, but the Sens’ obvious lack of top-end talent (not just in the AHL, but those drafted and not signed) makes it a deserved listing. Here’s Wheeler’s list (those who are signed are in bold):
1. Tyler Kleven – Envisions him as a bottom-pair PKer; his AHL numbers are fine (35-3-12-15) and leaving him in Belleville was the right call–his ceiling might be a touch higher, but it’s a fair assessment
2. Mads Sogaard – Sees NHL potential and I agree (he’s far too young to give up on given his relatively limited issues)
3. Tyler Boucher – Wheeler is very uncertain about him (other than he was picked far too high); his AHL numbers are horrendous (21-2-3-5) but he is (again!) coming off injury so at 21 we can’t call him a fail just yet
4. Zack Ostapchuk – Sees him with potential as a grinder who can contribute; his AHL numbers are low (47-11-6-17), but given his age & his role in Belleville not concerning–I agree with the ceiling
5. Roby Jarventie – Wheeler is high on him and so am I; there’s lot’s of refinement needed, but he’s a natural goal scorer which the Sens lack; injuries are his biggest issues (AHL numbers are good: 22-9-11-20)
6. Leevi Merilainen – Wheeler is coming around to my feelings when he was picked (because I like the pick); at his age I expect inconsistency and he’s had that in the AHL (.898) while being excellent in the ECHL (.926; playing the same number of games in each)
7. Stephen Halliday – Another prospect he’s changed his mind on thinking there might be a road to him being a bottom-sixer, but more probably following the road of Jack Dugan (5-148/17 Vgk): a good minor league player
8. Maxence Guenette – Yet another prospect he’s changed his mind about, but he doesn’t make the connection I did that he’s essentially Max Lajoie 2.0 (similar career path)–excellent in the AHL and can do spot duty in the NHL
9. Oskar Pettersson – Sees him as a hard-nosed fourth-liner (the type of player the Sens prioritized under Trent Mann), which is what he’s looked like in the AHL thus far (7-1-1-2)
10. Jorian Donovan – Wheeler didn’t like him when drafted but his performance has forced an upgrade to someone who gets NHL call-ups; this is a bit lower than where I’d peg him, but we do need to see him at the AHL-level to properly judge
11. Hoyt Stanley – He’s fond of him, but it’s all projection rather than production at this point
12. Theo Wallberg – Sees NHL upside without going into why (vaguely his defensive play, which it has to be given his numbers)
13. Kevin Reidler – The Sens have good success picking goaltenders (not necessarily starters, but ones who can play in the NHL) and this is another with a good shot at being that
14. Tomas Hamara – Liked him when picked, but is more cautious now & feels the issues are largely mental
15. Filip Nordberg – Is unsure if he can be anything more than a capable AHL-player and there’s a lot about him that reminds me of Andreas Englund in 2014 (cf; Englund is a funny case of when a coach believes in you, you can play in the NHL–after being a unremarkable AHLer for six seasons, Todd McLellan inserted him into LA’s lineup, but I doubt he’s going to stay in the league long term)

I don’t have too many disagreements with Wheeler, but it ought to be clear that there’s very little high end talent and most of what there is comes in the form of goaltenders.

We’ve followed along for quite some time the story of the 2018 WJC in terms of their impact on the Sens vise vie Formenton and something legal has finally occurred as he (along with four other players: Carter Hart (Phi), Dillon Dube (Cgy), Michael McLeod (NJ), and Cal Foote (NJ)) have been arrested. Arrests don’t equate to guilt (ask Jian Ghomeshi, or the case that was just dismissed against Milan Lucic), but it does mean unless he’s acquitted he’s a lost asset for the Sens. Even if he’s found innocent the probability remains the organization won’t keep him. No one from the outside knows what happened, so we will simply have to wait and see what happens at trial. What’s interesting to me is that, at least in Ottawa, there seems to be a general presumption of guilt and I’m curious to see if the public in the other markets reacts the same way. Dube and Foote had already gone on personal leave prior to this announcement, clearly in anticipation of it.

As a nice footnote to dumb Pierre Dorion trades, last year’s acquisition Julien Gauthier has been waived by the Islanders after continuing his unremarkable play with them (27-5-4-9).

This article was written by Peter Levi

February 19, 2024
Categories: Belleville Senators, Ottawa Draft, Ottawa Senators, Ottawa trades . Tags: , , . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

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