Ken Hawkins, Guest Writer

The Ottawa Senators will play their first game since the all-star break on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers, who are in the middle of a 4-game road trip. The Senators will be looking to take advantage of the Oilers playing their 3rd game in 5 days, as well as an abnormal 12:30 pm start time. However, the much-maligned Senators’ defence will need to be sharp right from the first puck drop against the league’s highest-scoring team, featuring the league’s #1 PP and the virtually unanimous league MVP. Fortunately, Artem Zub is expected to return to the lineup, so they’ll have the rare benefit of a healthy top-4D. Cam Talbot is still injured, so Anton Forsberg will make his 4th straight start. Mads Sogaard was recalled from the AHL and will serve as the backup.

Having a playoff-quality match-up so early in the post-all-star timeframe will be a major test for the Senators. It’s the first of 10 critical games in February that will heavily influence how GM Pierre Dorion approaches the coming trade deadline. They also currently have 3-5 games in hand over teams like the Capitals, Panthers, and Islanders. If those games start being quickly converted into wins and they make a sharp move up the standings, it could force Dorion to make a significant move to bolster the momentum. Anything short of that outcome could result in any number of UFA-pending players being moved, including Talbot, Hamonic, Motte, Brassard, Holden, and Watson. The Rangers and Islanders have already made substantial moves to improve their roster, so it will be interesting to see what trade rumours emerge in the coming days/weeks.

Troy Mann fired as B-Sens head coach

The all-star break should have been a time for rest and mental preparation for the Senators’ coming playoff surge, but instead yielded an unfortunate front-office distraction. It was a painful reminder of the late-Melnyk era when the team seemed incapable of going a month without an embarrassing public incident. In this case, we have the rather unexpected firing of Troy Mann as head coach of their AHL team in Belleville. The initial rationale was a perceived lack of systemic alignment between the NHL/AHL teams, but was then followed by vague references to leaked scouting reports. Neither perspective has been substantiated, which has led to speculation that Pierre Dorion, Ryan Bowness, and DJ Smith may have concerns about their future under the much-anticipated new team ownership.

Mid-Season Grades - Forwards

Silversevensens.com recently posted their mid-season grades for Senators forwards, where they provide a writer grade and a fan-voted grade. No real surprises, but these kinds of lists always seem to spark discussion. Of note, this list includes only those players with at least 30GP so far in the season. (Writers Grade/Readers Grade).

A - Stutzle (A+/A+), Giroux (A/A+), Tkachuk (A/A)
B - DeBrincat (B+/B+), Pinto (B/B), Batherson (B/B-)
C - Motte (C/B-), Brassard (C/B-), Joseph (C+/C+), Kastelic (C-/C)
D - Kelly (D+/C), Gambrell (D+/C-), Watson (D/C-)

It would be hard to suggest that Stutzle, Tkachuk, and Giroux haven’t been the top forwards on the team so far this season, or that outside of Pinto the 3rd/4th lines haven’t been collectively underachieving. Interestingly, this is precisely where a player like Formenton would have been highly impactful, and it remains to be seen what his future holds. And while the emergence of Greig has made a difference, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Dorion target a potential upgrade to the checking lines. This may also take the form of moving out impending-UFA players and giving AHL prospects like Viktor Lodin or Angus Crookshank a chance to bring new energy to the checking lines.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the game!

Join the Discussion: » 65 Comments » Post New Comment

» Wally Pipp Moment

» KRAKEN HOCKEY IS BACK!

» Release the Kraken!

» The RF Plan

» THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE KRAKEN GOALTENDING