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With tonight's game between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens, I thought I would compare what each team has when it comes to their young core players under the age of 25 and prospects that have played at either the NHL or AHL level. Both teams carry terrible contracts that need to be dealt with this off-season to clear the way for the youth on both teams. Naturally easier said than done. Ottawa has 3 bad contracts with Nikita Zaitsev, Matt Murray, and Colin White. Montreal on the other hand has far more to deal with when it comes to bad contracts this off-season with the likes of Carey Price, Jonathan Drouin, Jeff Petry, David Savard, Josh Anderson, Joel Armia, and Brendan Gallagher. I'm not including White for Ottawa on my list as he won't be in Ottawa come next season and junior players that have yet to play pro aren't included on either list. I've included Guhle and Sanderson on both lists as they were both drafted in 2020 in the 1st round, but both players should make big impacts for their respective teams next season even though neither has yet to play in the NHL.

Ottawa -

Filip Gustavsson and Mads Sogaard - Goalies
Josh Norris C
Brady Tkachuk LW
Drake Batherson RW
Tim Stutzle C
Alex Formenton LW
Shane Pinto C
Egor Sokolov RW
Thomas Chabot D
Jake Sanderson D
Lassi Thomson D
Jacob Bernard-Docker D
Erik Brannstrom D

Montreal -

Cayden Primeau/ Sam Montembeault - Goalies
Cole Caufield RW
Nick Suzuki C
Ryan Phoeling C
Jesse Ylonen RW
Justin Barron D
Jordan Harris D
Alexander Romanov D
Kale Clague D
Kaiden Guhle D

When looking at both lists, Ottawa has more skill at the forward position of players under the age of 25 and they will have a bigger impact on their teams next year. Defensively both teams have five players that should contribute on the blueline but with the Sens having Chabot and his experience at such a young age, Ottawa has the edge on defense going into next year. When it comes to goaltending the Habs both goaltenders have seen more NHL action than the Sens duo of Gus and Sogaard. Gus will be expected to take a big step next season, while Sogaard continues to develop in the AHL. Primeau was once considered a possible future starting goalie in the Montreal organization but this year Montembeault has jumped Primeau and clearly has played the most games of either team's goalie prospects, so the edge goes to Montreal. Overall, I would rather have the young core group of Ottawa at this time over that of Montreal. The biggest question will be can either team's young defense live up to their billing next year and take a big step in their development. The youth on the blueline will determine both teams' success next season.

Thoughts/comments Sens and Habs fans regarding both lists?!

Lastly, for an end of season game with nothing on the line, I expect Ottawa to bring one of their best efforts against Montreal tonight due to the ridiculous comments made by Brendan Gallagher after Ottawa won 6-3 in Montreal earlier this month. Many former players have gone on record saying, Gallagher should've kept those comments to himself. They went on to say it's one thing to have that conversation with your teammates after the game on the bus or plane but going after Stutzle the way he did wouldn't have been looked upon fondly by his teammates. Bring on the Habs tonight!

Thanks for reading.

Kevin

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