#4 scorer in the league last year - out for extended period of time. (Spezza) #7 scorer in the league last year and current Norris Trophy winner - out for extended period of time. (Karlsson) Top pairing defenceman - out for the year. (Cowan)
Regin, Latendresse, Michalek are all hurt in Ottawa Hoffman & Stone hurt in Bingo
This season = over. With Spezza out, the Senators have the youngest set of centres in the league, we've been playing 1/2/3 Bingo blueliners in every game this season, and now were going to see them even more. This team is not going into the post-season this year -- no team in the league would be when losing three of their TOP players for most/all of the season. I don't see Murray making a big trade now, but he's surprised Sens fans in the past so who knows. Ryan O'Reilly? I'm not sure we need another young centre, given that next season we'll have Spezza and Turris for 1 & 2.
Bright side: more ice time for Wiercioch and Benoit, and more chances for Bingo players like Grant, Cowick, Borowiecki and Gryba.
We have three, actually. I don't expect Ben Bishop to be with the organization that much longer though, but I'm not sure what we're going to do with Lehner as he's an asset with a lot of potential but how long he's going to be content to play in Bingo is a big question mark. He's a free agent at the end of next year so by then we'll have to have made a decision on Lehner vs Anderson. Lehner will be wasted as a backup, as he's young and needs to play on a regular basis.
The problem is, goaltending doesn't win you games, it helps you prevent losing them. We're hurt big time on offense, and that's going to be that way for the rest of the year at least. At least we have a lot of potential in Bingo or still in junior.
it could be the season over, but you never know...sometimes, in these times, players get chances they wouldn't otherwise get, so perhaps some great young players start lighting it up in the bigs...as well, if everyone has a mentality of "season over", the pressure is removed, the team can play more loosely and look out...you still need to play smart defensive hockey, but a relaxed loose team with nothing to lose can be dangerous...everyone wrote off LA last year...no need to remind anyone how that turned out.
it could be the season over, but you never know...sometimes, in these times, players get chances they wouldn't otherwise get, so perhaps some great young players start lighting it up in the bigs...
Absolutely. We'll get a chance to see more of Patrick Wiercioch, as will everyone else. He's taken a few years but he's really come along this season thanks to a good off-season training regimen with one of his best friends from childhood: Kyle Turris. PW isn't EK, but he's got hands and putting on over 10 pounds of muscle over the summer has made him a more physical defender as well.
We'll also likely see Borowiecki (pronounced Boar-vee-etzky) some more, and he's a touch defender to play against. Gryba is another who's been maturing and getting ready in the AHL. Up front, injuries have depleted the ranks in Ottawa and Bingo, but once players heal up there we could see Mike Hoffman and/or Shane Prince. We already have Silfverberg and Zibanejad up, so Luke Richardson has been doing a great job developing players and keeping the farm team in the win column most nights. Of course, Lehner helps with that.