When looking at the Ottawa Senators and their depth chart, Chris Tierney is often thought of as a placeholder for prospects that currently are too green for showtime. Recently re-signed to a two-year contract extension, Tierney, 26, has an opportunity to prove that he can be much more than that for this franchise.
A quick look at Tierney’s underlying numbers from 2019-20 suggests that the organization is going to need more from him over the course of this two-year extension to break even. While he was able to notch 11 goals and 37 points during the regular season, he ranked near the bottom of the list in terms of shot attempt share, goal share, and expected goal share at five-on-five among Senators regulars. Being on the ice for more shots against and goals against than shots for and goals for isn’t a recipe for long-term success, even if bad luck played a role in some of those numbers looking as underwhelming as they do.
Still, there is reason for optimism with respect to Tierney and his future performance. Those aggregate numbers include a large chunk of ice time playing with Anthony Duclair. Duclair, who has seemingly galaxy-brained his way out of a comfortable contract extension with the Senators and into the free agency void, delivered a lot of exciting moments during the 2019-20 campaign alongside Tierney, but that excitement came at a cost. Duclair and Tierney giveth, and Duclair and Tierney taketh away. Nearly every bit of offence created by the duo was offset by glorious chances, sustained possession, and shots against in the other direction. Creating goals is vitally important, but it can’t come at such a high cost for a team to be successful.
With Duclair gone, there’s reason to think that Tierney might have an opportunity to improve his own standing among his Senators teammates in terms of on-ice performance. With-or-without-you numbers aren’t determinative or conclusive, but they do paint an interesting picture with respect to this duo:
*All statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick
There are obviously lots of factors that go into creating the contrast painted by these numbers, including quality of competition and teammates, but the difference here is stark. Both Duclair and Tierney were significantly better apart from each other than they were together. Eliminating the 300+ minutes of five-on-five action that they played together might just give Tierney the boost he needs to deliver on the team’s renewed commitment in him.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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