- Polling Day on SensChirp

Well actually, the real season starts tomorrow night but glancing at NHL.com this morning, I noticed that a handful of the other less relevant teams will be playing games later this evening. So, there’s that.

I have spent the last three months (or three minutes) coming up with a detailed (half-assed) schedule for the much-anticipated (mostly accepted) prediction series. On day one, I used my advanced stats model (glancing at last year’s standings) to come up with a scientific projection (random guess) for the standings at the end of the year. I took that a step further yesterday, by meticulously preparing (franticly throwing together) point projections for every player on the Sens roster.

This is the kind of content The Athletic would charge you $9.99 a month for folks.

But today, on the last day of prediction week (which I guess was technically only three days), I turn it over to you.

No team in the National Hockey League enters the new year with more unanswered questions than the Ottawa Senators. Sure the Maple Leafs failed to address their blueline needs and one of their best players isn’t in the lineup and yea, the Canadiens have Carey Price locked up for an eternity and a newly-named Captain scheduled to miss half the year but in the Nation’s Capital, we got real issues. We got uncertainty. We got rock-bottom expectations and the only way we’ll figure these things out is with a wild amount of fan polls.

Have an idea for a poll question? Leave it in the comment section below and if it isn’t terrible, I can add it to the list.

-The Senators have added a familiar face to the scouting staff. Rob Murphy has rejoined the organization after a stint with the Buffalo Sabres. You may recall that Murphy was previously in the organization but followed former Assistant GM Tim Murray to Buffalo back in 2014. Sounds like Murphy’s focus will be on the pro scouting side of things. Pierre Dorion has been quietly building up the organization’s capacity on the scouting side as Murray joins the three other scouts that were brought in earlier this summer. Wonder if Murphy has his eyes on that other Assistant GM spot?

-Guy Boucher had his team on the ice for practice yesterday and for a second straight day, they were without Brady Tkachuk. Tkachuk is dealing with a nagging injury of some sort and at this point, is considered doubtful for the home opener tomorrow night against the Blackhawks. The Senators are back on the ice for practice at 10:30 AM this morning.