Blog World

261.  That’s the number of times the Ottawa Senators bulged the twine last year.  That’s good for 2nd in the league, one less than Montreal and four more than the Detroit Red Wings who went on to win it all.  So in theory it couldn’t be our offense that let us down last year...could it?

The answer is in two parts.  First the obvious: of course the offense didn’t let us down, it was the defense and the lack of clutch goaltending.  And the coach...and the coach’s system.  Many would buy into that.  But...the second part is: the offense did let the team down last year.  How many games down the stretch did you curse the Sens for not being able to score a damn goal?  For me it was constant.  The fact that Gerber couldn’t stop a beachball in some of those games didn’t really matter.  No matter what happened the Sens couldn’t put the puck in the net to get back in a game or take an early lead.   Remember when the Sens always seemed to score first?

So, that being said, we have two different directions that we could go here.  We could get pretty nervous knowing that effective players such as Cory Stillman and Patrick Eaves are gone, or we could be pretty optimistic knowing that Randy Robitaille, Martin Lapointe and Brian McGrattan no longer take up roster spaces.

We could also put it this way: the Sens are losing 28 goals from their offense when you include Redden, Commodore and Richardson.  So that means 16 of those goals came from forwards who have since departed.  16 goals is not a big number, obviously every little bit helps, but it’s not a mountain that the Senators can’t climb this season.  Coming into the 2008/2009 season,  roles will expand for Nick Foligno, Cody Bass and potentially one of Ilya Zubov, Alexander Nikulin, Jesse Winchester and Shawn Weller. 

So let’s take a look at what we’re left with.  Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley are monsters.  There are few - if any - better lines in hockey.  The only thing Sens fans continue to yearn for is a little more backcheck from Spezza and sometimes Heatley.  A little less fanciness...but then you start to limit their creativity and no one wants that.  With Mike Fisher you get that enigma...is he a power forward who can bury 30 goals or more?   Or is he simply a huge, monster of a guy who pounds opponents into submission and unleashes a very inaccurate shot that happens to go in 22ish times a year?  We might never actually find out either, because Fisher never gives up and he always gets injured.  So, to get a fair assessment of him, we have to keep projecting.

Trying to look at it from the outside looking in (which is quite hard to do), I would see Vermette being Fisher’s left winger with Foligno on his right.  Or Vermette - Fisher - Alfredsson, with Zubov or Foligno on the top line.  If Zubov can come in and score 15 goals, we’re in decent shape, if he comes in and scores 20+, we’re in real good shape, but imagine if this kid’s work ethic this off-season propels him onto the top line with Spezza and Heatley.  It’s a dream come true.  I can’t shake the feeling that Foligno and Kelly would make a killer duo, but first we’ll need to see what shakes out in training camp - or maybe a last second deal...

As it stands, if Nick Foligno ends up forming a 2nd line unit with Fisher and Vermette, I’d say we have a little more grit than most 2nd lines, but our offense will undoubtedly suffer.  This is a minus for this hockey club, just as it was last season at this time.  Not a huge minus, but a minus none the less.

If Hartsburg decides to go with a third line of McAmmond - Kelly - Donovan, he’ll likely be rewarded with a beautiful checking line.  As individuals they’re all very capable, competent and smart hockey players.  As a unit, they could be an insufferable blanket for the opponent’s top lines.

Now...the interesting part starts.  Assuming Ilya Zubov does what I think he’s going to do in training camp - lights it up - and assuming that he nabs a top six position, what happens to the remaining Sens under contract?

The ‘dream line’ of Ruutu - Bass - Neil has me really excited.  This is a line that can absolutely wreak havoc.  Or it can cost you a power play goal.  But rest assured, this is a pain-in-the-butt line to play against.  Will they score?  Not often, but their willingness to grind opponents into the boards - particularly defensemen - is a very attractive thought.  Then there’s Jess Winchester, someone who Brian Murray seems pretty confident will play a part on the Sens this upcoming season.  And if that’s true, then where do you possibly put him?  Can he play wing well enough?  All of a sudden someone like McAmmond looks like a million bucks (off the books), although I don’t fully support that idea.

Looking at the roster when all this is said and done, what does it still yell out?  It yells out, where the heck is the 2nd line sniper!?  Are we pinning our hopes on Nick Foligno or Ilya Zubov a little too much?  I think we are personally, but then again we have some interesting characters that can be inserted there if the need arises.

Is it good enough though?  Funnily enough, the forward ranks are pretty much exactly where they were at this time last year.  The only real difference is last year we were wondering if Patrick Eaves would break out, this year we’re wondering if Nick Foligno will break out.  We lacked that 2nd line sniper last year as well - right up until February.  And we ended up scoring 261 goals. 

Some people say our offense let us down last year, some people would say it was the defense, some would say it was the goaltender.  It doesn’t change the fact that we scored a ton of goals with virtually the same forward core.

Final grade:

B+


504Heater