Record - 33-42-7 (73 points), 7th in the Atlantic Division
Goals For: 227 (26th in the NHL), Goals Against: 266 (22nd in the NHL)
Leading Goal Scorer - Josh Norris (35)
Leading Point Scorer - Brady Tkachuk (67)
The Ottawa Senators are completely different team than they were when they lost to Pittsburgh in the Conference Finals in 2017. Literally. Not a single player from that 2017 team is currently on their roster. It has been a complete overhaul in the Canadian capital, and up until the past few months, it hasn't seemed as though they were particularly close to becoming a playoff team again. But they had a strong end to the 2022 season and an even stronger offseason that leaves me to believe that they aren't too far away from making it back to the playoffs for the first time since that tremendous 2017 run.
From a record standpoint, the Sens had plenty of ups and downs last year with more downs than ups. Their core four, however, in Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, Tim Stutzle, and Drake Batherson, each came into their own having the best individual seasons of their young careers. Tkachuk, who was named captain of the team last November, scored 30 goals and was a near point per game player despite also reaching a new career high in penalty minutes. He's the definition of a human wrecking ball that hits everything in sight, always sticks up for his teammates, and can score from all areas of the ice. Josh Norris broke through last season as a future perennial goal scorer in Ottawa for many years to come. Not only did Norris double the amount of goals he scored in his rookie season, he also almost matched that amount on the powerplay alone, scoring 16 of his 35 tucks on the man advantage. The puck just seems to find this guy as he's always in the spot. When the puck does find him, he wastes no time burying it in the back of the net. The "oldest" of the bunch (still only 24), Drake Batherson, was playing at a point per game pace in the games he did appear in. He dealt with injuries throughout tthe course of the season, but he still had a career high in points with 44. But in my opinion, the best offensive player in this group with the highest ceiling, is the 3rd overall pick from 2020 draft. Tim Stutzle out of Germany, saw a huge jump in production last year and was the true quarterback of the Sens powerplay leading the team with 26 points on the man advantage. He has limitless talent, and seems to only get better game after game. All four of these young studs will be in Ottawa for the long haul, each signing long term extensions with the team within the past 12 months.
Though this core four took huge steps forward in their careers, they carried way too much weight for the team to succeed. With the amount of production they contributed, which in today's NHL isn't by any means earth shattering, they still accounted for nearly half of the team's goals in 2022. They needed more scoring support, and GM Pierre Dorion recognized that. On the night of the draft, he traded for Blackhawks superstar Alex DeBrincat, a player with four 25 goal seasons and two 40 goal seasons in his first five years as pro. He also went out and signed former Flyers captain Claude Giroux to a three year contract. Though Giroux is on the back nine of his career, he is still a tremendous playmaker, and will he finally gets the chance to play close to home. With over 1000 games played, he is by far the most experienced player on this roster, so there's no doubt he will have a major role as a leader on this team. Adding these two to their lineup will massively improve their powerplay and will give them one of the more dangerous top 6 forward lineups in the NHL.
The Sens also made some changes in net. Pierre Dorion decided it was time to move on from the Matt Murray experiment, and shipped him off to Toronto in exchange for a 3rd round pick, a 7th round pick, as well future considerations (whatever that means). Although they will retain a quarter of his salary next year, it's worth it for them as he wasn't the same caliber goalie for them as he was when he was winning Cups in Pittsburgh. Dorian then dealt away Filip Gustavsson to the Minnesota Wild for their goalie Cam Talbot in a 1 for 1 deal. Personally, I think they could've gotten more in return for the 24 year old netminder, but Talbot is definitely an upgrade at the position.
The biggest concern I have for this Senators team is their defenseman. Thomas Chabot hasn't played at the same level as when he had his breakout year in 2019 scoring 14 goals and 55 points. Can he get back to that elite level offensively now that they have more talent around him up front? Outside of Chabot, who is going to log top line minutes and be a for them on the backend? They have some solid veterans, as well as young up and comers, but none of them are true game-breaking defenseman. Where does their 5th overall pick from the 2020 draft Jake Sanderson fit in their defensive scheme? Where will the slot him in the lineup? I'm just not sold yet on this team's defense yet to believe that can win tough, low-scoring games down the stretch.
From defense, I then look at their bottom 6 forwards. They have a great top two lines, but after that I'm not too sure what to expect from a standpoint of secondary scoring. They brought in Mathieu Joseph at the trade deadline who was terrific for them, putting up 12 points in the 11 games he played in. Will that production carry over with a lesser role? I'm also looking at a guy like Alex Formenton, who unexpectedly put up a solid 18 goals last season. Can he also carry that over into this season? Do we see Shane Pinto play a full season or will he be plagued by injuries once again? What role will HC D.J Craig have these guys, along with newly acquired winger Tyler Motte, play? These are all questions that will remain unanswered until we get a little bit into the season.
I think, like the Devils, the Senators take a step forward this year. But at the same, like the Devils, there are just too many teams in front of them in win now mode that will end up keeping them outside of the picture. That said this is no doubt the beginning of their come up. They'll score plenty of goals, but they'll also give up plenty as well. If you're a betting man or woman, always look to take the over in total goals in games the Senators play in.
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