2022-09-21 07:00:00
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The National Hockey League (NHL) will start the 2022/2023 season on October 7th. After the Tampa Bay Lightning’s reign was broken by the Colorado Avalanche, the Denver Avalanche is the new prey! In the annual preview series Hockey-News.info a different team in focus every day.
In the last five years, the Stanley Cup Playoffs have taken place without the participation of the Ottawa Senators, the last participation dates back to the 2017 season, when you only had to admit defeat to the eventual champion from Pittsburgh in the conference finals. Last season they finished 7th in the Atlantic Division with 73 points, 34 points behind the Boston Bruins, who were fourth in the division to qualify for the playoffs. An extremely eventful summer followed, in which General Manager Pierre Dorion set many levers in motion to upgrade the squad of senators properly. He also managed to do that with prominent additions on offense and in goal, so the Canadians can be expected to improve their performance this year.
Ottawa Senators Infobox
Additions:Alex DeBrincatClaude Giroux, Cam Talbot
Departures:Matt Murray, Adam Gaudette, Connor Brown, Victor Mete, Chris Tierney, Colon White, Michael Del Zotto
2022 1st Round Pick:–
Top 3 Prospects:Jake Sanderson, Shane Pinto, Ridley Greig
With the obligations of Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat the Sens were among the winners of the offseason, so the quality of the offensive was enormously upgraded. Giroux, 34, has signed for three years and will take to the ice as an assistant captain. He comes to the Canadian capital with the experience of over 1,000 NHL games. Alex DeBrincat has been one of the more consistent goalscorers in recent years – only 2019/20 was an outlier downwards – all the more surprising was the trade of the Chicago Blackhawks, who initiated the “full rebuild” with this move. The only 24-year-old American has already cracked the 40-goal mark twice and will give Ottawa plenty of offensive power. The only “problem”: the contract with the winger expires next summer and with another strong season, the striker’s annual salary should be in the 10M+ region. The best scorer of the past season was Captain Brady Tkachuk, who collected 67 points and also had 117 penalty minutes. Like many young cracks of the Sens, he is tied to the club for many more years – his working paper will only expire in six years.
Tim Stützle was happy about a nice payday a few weeks ago when he signed a contract worth almost 67 million US dollars. This binds the Viersener to the Senators until 2031. Headcoach D.J. Smith would like to see Stützle at the center, row 2 currently seems to be the most imaginable scenario. In the first row is with Josh Norris namely a strong all-rounder who recommended himself for this task with 35 goals and a solid 2-way game. The Norris is flanked by Tkachuk and Drake Batherson, who is often overlooked but showed up last season with 44 points in just 46 games. He had the highest point average of all Sens attackers. Batherson and Norris are also under contract for many more years: while Norris will not become an unrestricted free agent until 2030, 24-year-old Batherson still has five years ahead of him.
Tim Stützle is entering his third season with the Sens! Picture:
In the bottom six you will find yourself with the physical Austin Watson, Dylan Gambrell, Kelly Parkerthe still unsigned Alex Formenton, Mathieu Joseph and Tyler Motte absolutely reliable players. The personnel will be interesting Shane Pinto: The American was long considered one of the Sens’ best forward prospects, but he injured himself very early last year and missed the rest of the season. If he can live up to the early praise, then the Sens have even more depth, especially as far as the center position is concerned. Remarkable: with an average age of 25, the Senators are one of the youngest forward groups, but this offensive has a lot of potential and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the Sens end up in the top third of the table in terms of “goals for”.
Ottawa Senators Lineup
striker
Brady TkachukJosh NorrisDrake Batherson
Alex DeBrincatTim StützleClaude Giroux
Alex FormentonShane PintoMathieu Joseph
Tyler MotteDylan GambrellAustin Watson
defendergoalkeeper
Thomas ChabotTravis HamonicCam Talbot Jake SandersonArtem ZubAnton Forsberg Erik Brannstrom/Nick HoldenNikita Zaitsev
The defense of the Sens remained largely unchanged, so the D-Squad is once again the #1 defender Thomas Chabot listed. Last year, the Canadian collected 39 points in 59 games, with an average of 26:12 minutes of ice time per game, Chabot finished the season in league-wide comparison in second place, only Chicago’s Seth Jones was on average exactly one second more on the ice. The 25-year-old is under contract with Cap Hit for six more years at eight million US dollars each. Many expectations and hopes rest on the American Jake Sanderson, which was brought on board in 2020 as the 5th overall. The all-rounder excelled last year with 26 points in 23 games for the University of North Dakota and is entering his first professional season this year. If Sanderson develops as expected, Ottawa will have two really strong defenders in the Chabot-Sanderson combo who will lead the defense for years to come. These are joined with Travis Hamonic and Nikita Zaitsev two NHL veterans, Artem Zub was able to convince in his second season for the Sens with 22 points in 81 games. Supplemented by cracks like Nick Holden or Erik Brannstrom This results in an extremely interesting mix of potential and good all-rounders – including the young one Jacob Bernard-Docker can have legitimate hopes of being deployed.
Thomas Chabot is the clear #1 on the Sens defense! Picture:
The Ottawa Senators are starting the upcoming season with a new #1. Cam Talbot, who has guarded the goal of the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames and Minnesota Wild in his career, moved to the Canadian capital in the summer. At 35, he comes to Ontario with the experience of nearly 400 NHL games – his $3.66 million contract runs through the end of the upcoming season. Anton Forsberg was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2011 but switched to the Sens organization in 2020. Last season he played in 46 games, won 22 of them and has a catch rate of 91.7%. The 29-year-old Swede has another three years under contract and will form a rock-solid goalie duo with Talbot – almost certainly an upgrade from last year’s goalkeeping roster. In the coming years one hopes for a positive development of the Dane Mads Sogaardwho is entering his third professional season at the age of 21 – but he will continue to get important ice time in the American Hockey League (AHL), in the dress of the Belleville Bulls.
Hockey-News Projection: The Ottawa Senators are catching up – the newcomers in the offseason will give the team a boost and the “home-bred” youngsters are a year older and more experienced. The gap to the top of the division is getting smaller, but the Sens are not yet able to get close to Florida, Toronto and Tampa Bay.
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