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What do the Senators Need to be Complete? |
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When Eklund reached out and pitched the site-wide series asking what each team needs to be complete, I came to the realization that limiting the Ottawa Senators blog to just one thing would be difficult. The reality is that the Senators are at least a couple years away from being considered anything close to “complete,” so suggesting one thing right now feels a little bit foolish.
Then, an epiphany hit me like a freight train: In their search for completeness, the Ottawa Senators are just like many of us, in that two of their biggest needs, wants, and desires are time and money.
As mentioned, the Senators aren’t in a situation where a single player or personnel change is going to put them on the brink of competitiveness. That’s just not where this organization is at in its lifecycle right now. Instead, the Senators need to be patient with what they’re building. The organization, under Pierre Dorion’s leadership, has built an enviable crop of young prospects, signalling the dawn of a new era of hockey in Canada’s capital. If Tim Stuetzle and Jake Sanderson can team up with Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, Josh Norris, Thomas Chabot, Alex Formenton, and Erik Brannstrom, among others, the Senators have the chance to be incredibly dangerous in just a few short years. There isn’t one single thing that can bring that promise to fruition sooner than our understanding of the space-time continuum will allow. The Senators simply need time to let those young players to explore their potential and develop into the dominant NHLers many expect them to be.
Of course, prospects developing into bona fide NHLers typically isn’t enough to push a team over that final hurdle. The Tampa Bay Lightning are a perfect example of a franchise that developed a core internally, but still needed to supplement it with outside help to finally capture the Stanley Cup. Both keeping that developed core around and surrounding it with an adequate supporting cast takes money.
On that front, it’s no secret that the Ottawa Senators have been a budget team for the last handful of seasons. As frustrating as the constant news coverage around it might be, that strategy isn’t inherently damaging when the team is rebuilding. There’s no need to spend significant sums when the team is focussed on stockpiling futures. However, that equation changes when it comes time to compete.
If you look at recent Stanley Cup champions, the common denominator is that they haven’t been afraid to spend. That’s not to say that each season’s champion was always the highest spender, but it is to say that true budget teams aren’t often the last ones standing at the end of the year. When the time comes, Senators ownership is going to have to open the wallet and dish out the dollars. The promising news on that front is that Eugene Melnyk was previously quoted as planning to spend near the cap between 2021 and 2025. Whether the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted those plans remains to be seen.
So, in summary, what do the Senators need to be complete? Time and money. It’s really that simple.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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