The Hockey Sports Forecaster is a respected publication that forecasts the season ahead and makes predictions both for individual players as well as teams.
And if you believe this year’s edition, it could be a fun season ahead for fans in the Nation’s Capital. Hockey Forecaster has the Ottawa Senators as their Stanley Cup Champions, winning the coveted trophy in a hard fought series with the Los Angeles Kings. If you weren’t already thrilled about the upcoming season, a prediction like that should do the trick.
Since Daniel Alfredsson’s departure, fans have insisted that the Sens were a better team on paper although I’m not sure even the most optimistic of fans would pencil the Senators in as Stanley Cup favourites.
When I look at the line up as it stands on paper, I still see a need for another top 6 forward and maybe another top four defenceman. If the team can fill those holes internally and players like Zibanejad and Wiercioch have big seasons, Ottawa will be extremely dangerous.
According to the Sports Forecaster, the Cup win will be no fluke, as they suggest Ottawa will win the Eastern Conference and President’s Trophy along the way. Predictions in August obviously don’t mean a whole heck of a lot but it sure is nice to see our team getting some respect from the so called “experts”.
The Ottawa Senators have flown under the radar a little bit the last couple seasons but thanks to some key off season additions and the health of their star players, the Sens have suddenly been elevated to the category of Stanley Cup contender.
- Interesting little bit of information that was sent my way the other day related to Ottawa’s off season pursuit of free agent David Clarkson. I can’t confirm this with absolute certainty but it was suggested to me that the Senators actually offered more money than the Leafs did to the former New Jersey Devil. Clarkson ended up in Toronto for 7 years at an incredible $36.75 million. Talk about dodging a bullet…
- Elliotte Friedman was on the Fan 590 yesterday and suggested that the NHL salary Cap could rise as high as $80 million by the 2017-1018 season. Soooo, about that casino…
