With training camp now just a couple weeks away, the eyes of the hockey world are beginning to turn toward the 2015/2016 season.
And after a quiet summer in the Nation’s Capital, Sens fans are hoping the team can pick up right where they left off five months ago.
The forward group looks strong. There are plenty of scoring threats in a top six and the bottom six includes a good mix of skill and role players. Goaltending looks solid too. They have a legitimate number one and a backup that took the league by storm down the stretch.
And that brings us to the defence.
The Senators quietly looked for defensive help during the off season but instead decided to go with a pretty similar group to the one they used last season. Looking at Ottawa’s depth chart on defence, it’s clear the team is expecting big things from both Patrick Wiercioch and Cody Ceci this season.
A quick Twitter poll earlier today showed that most Sens fans expect the same.
The question is- are Wiercioch and Ceci ready?
Wiercioch was painfully close to being dealt at last year’s deadline and since then has seemingly solidified himself as a key member of this team’s defence core. The advanced stats crowd absolutely loves the guy and with good reason. Few players on this team, with the exception of maybe Erik Karlsson, have been able to drive possession with the level of consistency Wiercioch has over the last couple seasons.
And while there are obviously still issues with foot speed and his ability to win puck battles in his own end, his possessions numbers clearly demonstrate there is more good to his game than bad.
Getting the invite to participate in the World Championships had to be a huge ego boost for Wiercioch and should help him heading into training camp. Also important to note that Wiercioch is a restricted free agent at the end of the season and will be looking to cash in on his next contract.
Same thing with Cody Ceci, who’s entry level deal expires at the end of the upcoming season. RFAs don’t have a ton of leverage as we saw this summer but you know both guys want to perform well in a contract year.
Like Wiercioch, Ceci was a player that always seemed to be at the centre of fan debate. At 21 years of age, there were nights where Ceci looked like a ten year veteran and then others where you could tell this was a guy playing his second season of pro hockey. In some games, the speed of the NHL just looked a little bit too fast for him but then there were those nights where he had the confidence to hang on to the puck an extra second to make a play. Pretty normal for a young defenceman and I think most would agree that with Ceci, the good definitely outweighed the bad.
If his game can continue to develop the way it has the past couple seasons, there’s no reason to believe Ceci can’t handle the increased responsibility.
We’ll see what Dave Cameron has in mind when camp opens up in a couple weeks but right now anyway, it seems like there’s a good chance Cody Ceci and Patrick Wiercioch could start the season as the team’s second defence pairing. Both players should see significant time on the power play too.
Obviously that’s asking a lot of a pairing with less than 300 games of NHL experience between them. While both players seemed to be trending in the right direction at the end of last year, they’ll both be expected to find another level in 2015/2016.
Karlsson and Methot can play their 22-25 minutes a night. Some combination of Cowen, Borowiecki and Wideman can play sheltered minutes on the third pairing. But the reality is, both Patrick Wiercioch and Cody Ceci are going to have to eat up crucial minutes and in all situations.
If not, the Ottawa Senators may have to look to the trade market for defensive help mid-season.
