So. Much. Hockey.
The first round of the NHL playoffs is in full swing and the action has been basically non-stop. While the lack of fans has taken some of the excitement out of the post-season and the obsessing over former-Senators is a tad tiring, the playoffs have actually been pretty great.
One of the obvious benefits of the bubble format, at least from a fan’s perspective, is the condensed schedule. The whole twelve hours of playoff hockey a day is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.
Certainly a good way to pass the time until the Sens return in oh let’s say, four months? Only two months till the draft though! Plenty of time to discuss some potential draft scenarios. Have we covered that yet?
Anyway, let’s try Monday News and Notes, this time featuring no news and mostly out-dated notes.
-There are question marks up and down Ottawa’s 2020/2021 roster and that includes in goal. At last update, Anders Nilsson had cleared his baseline testing in what has been a long recovery from a concussion suffered last season but it’s still not clear if he’ll be ready to play next season. Marcus Hogberg is signed to a one-way deal so he’s part of the equation and both Joey Daccord and Filip Gustavasson may have a shot. It was sort of assumed that the Senators had turned the page on Craig Anderson but with lingering uncertainty around Nilsson, they may have to take more of a wait and see approach. There are a couple interesting options on the UFA market but I doubt the Senators want to go that route. Nilsson is scheduled to earn $2.4 million in the final year of his deal.
-The uncertainty over next season has left a lot of teams and more importantly players in limbo. While there have been a handful of exceptions, most teams seem to be taking a wait and see approach with their pending unrestricted free agents. It sort of makes sense when you consider that nobody really knows what next season is going to look like. Of course this has led to speculation that Mark Borowiecki’s time in Ottawa may be coming to an end. Boro is a UFA this off-season and is coming off a career-year with the Senators. It would be a damn shame to see Boro go as he is exactly the type of guy you want your young players learning from. At the same time, the Senators have to be careful about making a long-term commitment here.
-Lost in all the excitement over last week’s announcement about the new Senators Community Foundation were some interesting comments from the recently-hired although rarely heard from President of Business Operations, Anthony LeBlanc. Aside from all but confirming the rumours about a jersey release at or around the Draft in October, LeBlanc talked about some of his priorities heading into next season. Team staff are slowly beginning to trickle back and resume normal operations but it’s clear that from a business standpoint, the biggest priority is finding a way to re-engage with fans. The Senators are going to be a young, exciting team and it’s up to LeBlanc and his staff to capitalize on what should be a fun team to watch. While LeBlanc has an optimistic outlook on things, it really is scary to think what “normal” could look like for the Senators when play does resume. When you add a global pandemic to what was already a fairly precarious situation, there could be some tough days ahead on the business side. A winning hockey team will cure some of that but LeBlanc certainly has his work cut out for him.
-If you missed it last week, this interview with Brady Tkachuk is a must-listen for Sens fans. He covers a range of topics including the future of the Senators, his relationship with Mark Stone and the talk that Brady could one day be the Captain in Ottawa. Maybe it’s because we’ve burned a couple times lately but man, it sure was refreshing to hear a guy talk about the Senators like they were his team. He just sounds like a leader. Not sure if it’s going to be next season but Brady Tkachuk should be the next Captain of the Ottawa Senators.
-Over the weekend, an out of context twitter screenshot from an article in The Athletic had Sens fans in a tizzy. In it, the author (or Brian Burke via the author?) said that speculation suggests the Senators are willing to offer the 3rd and 5th overall pick to the Rangers for first overall. Rather than approach this information with reasonable levels of skepticism (why would the specifics of a trade offer leak two months before the draft?), Sens Twitter instead reacted with rage (as we often do) and somehow blamed Eugene Melnyk. First of all, if Pierre Dorion isn’t aggressively making a play for that number one pick, he isn’t doing his job. Just about everyone agrees that Ottawa should be using their draft capital to either improve on their existing selections or to add young players that complement the current core. And that absolutely should include making an aggressive pitch for first overall. If Ottawa picks seven times in the first two rounds, without making a single deal, the draft probably didn’t go the way the Senators planned. Specific to Alexis Lafreniere, yea there are obvious benefits on the business side where the Senators are teetering on the edge of disaster. So yes, that may be a consideration in such a deal. And that’s not a Melnyk thing, that’s common sense. But the hockey argument would be pretty strong too. The Senators already have a deep prospect pool but are in desperate need of an elite talent. Alexis Lafreniere is just that. There are almost certainly other elite talents up for grabs in this draft but he’s the best player available. First overall will probably be too expensive and the rumour about 3rd and 5th is complete nonsense but Pierre better at least make a call. Lots of them actually.
