With the Ottawa Senators now in ‘over-and-out’ mode, thoughts go to the future and where the organization needs to show improvement.
After making a jump into the playoffs this year after seven away, it’s attractive to get drawn into the romantic notion that this type of success is now a given. But as the players – to a man – said during this week’s locker-room cleanup and exit day, taking another step forward, never mind simply making the post-season again, is going to take work.
Lots of work and a bit of improvement.
Let’s dip into that as the NHL prepares for the onset of Round 2.
The term ‘house money’ has never been heard as much as it was during Ottawa’s first-round exit at the hands of Toronto.
Broadcasters and a number of players couldn’t stop themselves: “Well, we’re playing with house money now . . .” In other words, just jumping the hurdles and making the playoffs (in rather easy fashion mind you, after a scorching second half) was simply good enough.
Perhaps.
Then again, if you wipe out that bunnies-in-the-headlights opener where the experienced Maple Leafs had Ottawa looking like a first-day-at-a-new-school-kid, the Senators should have fared better. It was that close.
With one season of modest success now tucked under their belts, the Senators will look to progress.
Captain Brady Tkachuk said as much on exit day.
“Everybody knows that you do whatever it takes to win. Seeing this fan base, the excitement, and how much they rallied around us. Everybody is waiting for it, and everybody wants us to accomplish winning the Stanley Cup. I know we have a great group in here, and I know we’re going to get that much better.”
There are just a couple of areas that need addressing and you don’t require Scotty Bowman’s mind to tell you what No. 1 is: scoring.
Ottawa scored 16 times in the six-game series. That’s 2.67 goals-per game. Ottawa’s biggest outburst was a four-spot in a Game 5 4-0 win.
During the regular schedule, the Senators finished 18th league-wide. Not bad, but not good enough to stimulate another jump in the standings in 2025-26. Tkachuk (29 goals), Drake Batherson (26), Tim Stutzle (24) and Shane Pinto (21) led the way.
Conversely, the triumphant Leafs were led by William Nylander (45 goals), John Tavares (38), Auston Matthews (33), Matthew Knies (29) then Mitchell Marner (27). Third-liner Bobby McMann even chipped in with 20.
A huge discrepancy.
The belief is that Stutzle and Pinto’s numbers should grow a tad, but getting more out of the support staff (that exists now) isn’t likely to happen. This is where General Manager Steve Staios steps in. Ottawa needs help on the attack.
That help won’t be coming from the farm. Belleville’s top scorers were Angus Crookshank and Wyatt Bongiovanni with 22 apiece.
Free agency will be targeted and with the cap rising by $7.5 million US, Ottawa will have some maneuverability.
What’s out there?
Well, if you want to pay a king’s ransom, Marner’s available. Not sure if Ottawa’s a desired landing spot for the Toronto-born 28-year-old winger.
Other nuggets include Brock Boeser, Nikolaj Ehlers, Sam Bennett, Tavares and Brock Nelson. Not quite a gold mine of scoring ability. And any one of those is going to gut you financially.
Another area requiring improvement is consistency in goal.
Linus Ullmark had periods of genius and periods of just-plain-poor in the regular season. He ran hot and cold to boot in the post-season to be honest. But that’s his resume – streaky goaltender to a tee.
Anton Forsberg (2.72 goals-against average, .901 save percentage) was a capable back-up.
A year of good health should improve Ullmark’s numbers, so we’ll see. Still, an improving defensive system in front of him (and Forsberg) bodes well.
And we’ll end on this. A positive for you, Senator Fan.
Ullmark will be playing in back of an area of strength. Yup, an area which in recent memory was the team’s Achilles heel.
Defencemen.
Jake Sanderson (57 points) had a whopper of a second half, as did fellow North Dakota grad Tyler Kleven. Both will be 23 when the season starts. Sanderson was getting Norris Trophy candidate chatter this spring; Kleven’s game – physicality and a wicked shot – keeps getting better. He was terrific versus the Buds.
Nikolas Mantinpalo was an out-of-nowhere discovery, Thomas Chabot enjoyed his most complete (and healthy) year yet and Nick Jensen was the surprise no one expected, bringing calm and composure to the blue line.
Something to build on for sure.
But a few more goals would help the cause.
And then there were three.
Ottawa and Montreal were tossed aside after the first round – some quicker than others. (Calgary and Vancouver didn’t quite make the post-season waltz).
Seven Canadian teams pared down to a trio as the next round gets underway tonight.
And to be frank, not too many of you out there are pegging Toronto or, to a lesser degree given the context here, Edmonton as a Stanley Cup favourite.
Winnipeg got past St. Louis by the skin of its teeth but in doing so emptied the tank and has a myriad of big-time injuries and questionable goaltending to deal with.
Oh right. Next up is Dallas; everyone’s Stanley Cup favourite.
Three Canadian shots out of eight teams left.
Which begs the question, after all is said and done, is it that much more important that a Canadian team wins the gold? Does it?
In my heart of hearts that win at 4 Nations means/meant a ton more than seeing a Canadian-based team – loaded up with Swedes, Americans, Russians, etc. taking home this springtime trophy. I remember back to that St. Louis win in 2019. An American-based team, yes. But the Blues carried the largest number of Canadians on their roster compared to the rest of the league.
Think as well – if Ottawa wins the Cup down the road with its two best players calling the USA home (Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson) and its starter from Sweden (Linus Ullmark), does that play into partisanship?
Regardless, mark down 1993 as the last time a Canadian team won, as Brian Bellows, Patrick Roy and Guy Carbonneau led the Montrealers to the gold. Does that change in 2025? Unlikely.
But the whole discussion of where your heart lies and why might make for good water-cooler chat.
thegrossgame@yahoo.com
Photo: Courtesy CP
