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The first Think Tank of May:
Matt Duchene narrative was always dumb
Matt Duchene has 9 points in 7 playoff games and his team is up 2-1 in the second round against the Boston Bruins. It’s almost as if...he is a very good player who makes his team better and the narrative that he is a detriment to his team was always a ludicrous one. There were tons of people saying that he was a cancer on Colorado and Ottawa because the Avalanche improved when he left and the Senators spiralled down when he got there.
But correlation does not equal causation, as there were way more external factors that led to those two things happening for Colorado and Ottawa. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog becoming the top line in the league is why the Avalanche became a playoff team, and everything in Ottawa crumbled despite Duchene being a point per game player for over a calendar year. To say that a 60-70 point centre is the reason why two teams struggled is absolutely insane. He has been a big reason why Columbus has been successful in the playoffs, meaning he can get it done when it matters most. Furthermore, I’m sure the entire fanbase there would love to keep him around.
Hell, I’ll do my best to convince the team that he should be re-signed, just because we all know why that would help the Senators.
Please not DJ Smith
One other person the Senators are going to be interviewing for their head coach position is Maple Leafs assistant coach DJ Smith:
Smith has spent the past four seasons in Toronto, with his previous three seasons coming in Oshawa in the OHL (where he won the Memorial Cup in 2015). I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much about him in the past, but he seems the worst person from the Maple Leafs organization to be interviewing (as opposed to Sheldon Keefe, most obviously). A simple comment such as this just gives me no hope in him whatsoever:
Who knows, perhaps he might be a good coach in other aspects, but someone who is going to be that degrading towards something as simple as shot attempts does not deserve a head coaching job in 2019. It’s not rocket science. And Ottawa doesn’t need more dinosaurs in their organization.
Don Maloney as POHO?
On the most recent episode of the Cost Per Pointcast, guest Murray Pam brought up Don Maloney as a potential candidate for the vacant POHO spot for the Senators. Maloney is currently the Calgary Flames Senior Vice President, and was previously the the Vice President in 2017-18. Of course, he was most famously the GM of the Arizona Coyotes from 2007-2016, although his success was somewhat limited after inheriting a whole lot of nothing on his roster. He has also been an AGM for the Islanders and Rangers, and a GM for the Islanders from 1992-1995.
He hasn’t really been mentioned from the big national reporters just yet, although he might be a name to keep an eye on. With not many candidates willing to come to Ottawa, they don’t have many options left. Ron Francis is a possibility as well, although he might not want to leave Carolina. Either way, Maloney has experience as a GM and also as a Senior Vice President, so that is exactly the kind of resume that the Senators would be interested in. Perhaps he has already said no behind closed doors, but we might hear his name come up in other talks shortly.
Add Wolanin to the list
Another Sens player will be playing in the WHC starting May 10th, and that is Christian Wolanin:
I didn’t even think he was a possibility for the team, but I was happily surprised to see this news. Obviously this tournament doesn’t always have the best available players playing, but it is neat to see him on the roster nonetheless. If anything, this should convince people in the organization that he is very good and needs to be trusted more in Ottawa.
Even The Simpsons know Ottawa is a joke
Well, the Senators have officially reached the same level as other North American joke franchises like the Miami Marlins, the Cleveland Browns, and and New York Knicks...As I’m sure you’ve seen by now, The Simpsons made a joke at the expense of the Senators on Sunday:
It was a pretty funny joke that Ottawa fans should be able to laugh at because they’re the ones who know best how much of a mess the organization is right now. I’m not sure average Americans even knew there was an NHL team in Ottawa, but maybe now they do...
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