FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-As convenient as it would be for the Ottawa Senators to just roll over and lose the remaining 19 games in the regular season, it doesn’t seem like that have that in them. Every time you think this group is just going to roll over and die, they don’t. The roster the Senators iced last night was as thin as you’ll likely ever see in an NHL hockey game. Not only were they two forwards short to start the game, but they have shipped out four regulars in the last week. Talented young players are being sheltered in Belleville and waiver wire picks up and castoffs from other teams are playing meaningful minutes. To the credit of the coaching staff, they seem to have instilled this sort of “next man up” mentality in the group. And even though they should be getting blown out on a regular basis, it just doesn’t happen. They are always in the game. Always fighting till the end. That’s the “culture” thing you hope carries over to the young players that step into the line up next year. Add a little talent to that mentality and you’re in business.
-It cannot be understated how important DJ Smith, Jack Capuano and Davis Payne are going to be over the next couple months. This is going to be a rough stretch for the Senators on the ice and it will be up to those guys to find ways to ensure the players are still having a fun coming to the rink and maintaining that work ethic that has become a hall mark of the Sens this season. This is especially important for the young players like Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk and Colin White, that are all considered to be key pieces of the future moving forward. As an organization, they need to make sure those guys in particular, don’t get too low during the hard times and that they understand that there are better days ahead. And that they are a big part of the future here. That they understand that this is all building towards something.
-If there is one player that desperately needs a strong finish to the season, it’s Colin White. There is no sugar-coating it- he has been bad this year. Honestly, I think his hip flexor/groin injury is a big part of that and I would not be surprised to see him have some sort of off-season surgery. Confidence is one thing but watching him, you can clearly see physical limitations. He is just a way better skater than what we’ve seen recently. With Jean-Gabriel Pageau gone, White is going to take on an increased role down the stretch. It would be great for his confidence and the organization’s in general if he can finish the year strong. Nice to see him get on the board last night.
-Fans of the Ottawa Senators spend a healthy amount of time critiquing or simply shitting upon the performance of the General Manager. It’s normal for sports fans. Everyone thinks they can do better yet rarely is anyone capable of presenting real alternatives. Reality is, it’s a tough gig. The GM role is hard enough but in Ottawa, where there is a penny-pinching Owner breathing down your neck, it’s that much more difficult. The pressure is cranked up higher and mistakes are magnified. Which is why, as the dust settles on a tear-down for the ages, it’s time we all take a moment and acknowledge the job Pierre Dorion has done here in Ottawa. And particularly in the last couple years. For a guy as emotionally invested as Dorion is, it can’t have been easy to execute a scorched earth rebuild. Where other General Managers have armies supporting them in every decision, Dorion is doing a lot of this on his own or with the help of just a couple people. And this year, he had a lot of different priorities to juggle simultaneously. You can nitpick over the return on Dylan DeMelo or agonize over the 10 to 15 spots we dropped in the fourth round because of the Vladislav Namestnikov deal but when you step back and take a big picture look at the job he has done overall, it’s not bad at all. Kudos Pierre.
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A Final Thought on “The Plan”
Now that the dust has settled, and all the high-priced UFAs are gone, and the prospect cupboards are restocked and the picks are piled high, it’s now that I finally feel like I understand, “The Plan”. When looking at it move by move and soundbite by soundbite, it didn’t always add up. They may not have always been honest about the motivations behind it ($$$) and there were a couple communications missteps along the way but the long-term vision that Eugene Melnyk and Pierre Dorion set out for this team a couple years ago somewhere in Barbados, is finally in focus. Everything except the final step that is. As Dorion said at every opportunity over the last couple years, they wanted to have veteran guys around. Not all of the pending UFA but it could have been Erik Karlsson, it could have been Mark Stone or Matt Duchene, and they were prepared for it to be Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Only, it had to be on Ottawa’s terms.
The Owner made…some money available to sign these guys but in each instance, they entered the negotiation with a clear maximum. Knowing what I know about Melnyk, I bet it was mapped out to the dollar. With a clear direction on signing bonuses too. Not out spite on Melnyk’s part but necessity. The money just isn’t there. And if that maximum they set for each player wasn’t enough, and I suspect both GM and Owner knew it wouldn’t be in three out of four of those instances, they would move on. It’s ruthless and they lost some great players (and a lot of fans) along the way but for a franchise in their precarious position, it had to be done.
Ownership required these lean years, either just to hang on or hopefully to regroup for future years. The hockey side of the operation needed it too. There was a ton of talent on the roster but signing all those guys to big money deals, after back to back disappointing years, would have been a mistake. We hated to see those guys go but looking back, there is just no arguing that the Ottawa Senators are in a better spot now than they were a couple years ago.
So now we enter the final phase of “The Plan”.
Nine picks in the first three rounds of the 2020 draft and 13 in total. Another nine in place the following year. The prospect pool is literally bursting at the seams and is already considered to be one of the best in hockey.
From a cap flexibility, prospect pool and draft capital perspective, the Ottawa Senators are the envy of the National Hockey League. Let that sink in for a moment. We’ve been laughed at for the last three seasons and we’ve joined in that laughter. But now, if you just look at the hockey side of things, it’s hard to pick a single team that we would willingly trade places with.
Now, comes the tricky part. Tearing it down is easy, rebuilding it back up requires two things- shrewd management and financial investment. Pierre Dorion has shown himself to be capable of the first part. He could probably use a little help but he’s done an admirable job to date.
There are legitimate unanswered questions about the financial investment part. Two of them actually and they are directly related- will Eugene Melnyk spend the money required to execute the final phase of the plan? And just as importantly, will Sens fans?
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