This is a not a very good group of core Fs which is compounded by bad coaching. It's mistake after mistake and let the goalies bail us out. The 2 main reasons are bad coaching and a total lack of detail to their game especially in defensive situations. I don't know if it's coaching, bad reads, reluctance to defending, playing the wrong position, not in their DNA etc. but it doesn't help the D. Part of the solution would be a new coach and a new system, Batherson, Pinto, White at C, move Stutzle back to LW and Norris to RW and find a C. On D Chabot, Zub, Holden, Thompson and sort out the rest (Sanderson, JBD, Heatherington, Del Zotto, Zaitsev, Brannstrom, Mete)

DJ needs to be fired and replaced before the next season starts this is 100% needed OTT needs to sign Giroux and or trade for Fiala. Giroux would be #1 as he can mento Norris, Stu and Pinto in the FO circle and provide excellent Vet leadership to OTT yougn Core, Fiala would be the Cherry on top to round out the top 6
- Mithos

I believe Sens will make an attempt to add a scoring forward this summer.

Fiala (Minnesota) and Keller (Arizona) are two names out there of players that might be available. Minnesota is tight on cap space. Fiala is an RFA and he will be asking $7m. The Wild are already hard against the cap. But I think they can squeeze him under if they made other adjustments.

Arizona is at the other end of the cap. They have lots of free cap space and Keller is signed to a $7m cap hit (7 years). (Chycrun is supposedly also available and he is on a great contract.

Would you offer up the Sens top 10 pick (lottery protected) for any of those players?

Pipe dream I guess, but it would be nice!

Anyone else hear PD on Vancouver radio? OMG, if I hear anyone that says PD should be here next year, give your head a shake after this one!. I mean, we have all heard DJ tells us dozens of times this year that Zaitsev is elite. Now this!

Pierre Dorion - " I feel comfortable that on our right side Zaitsev is an elite defender. He can defend top players in our league."

END OF DISCUSSION, PD SHOULD BE FIRED! IF A GM IS WILLING TO GO ON RECORD AND STATE SOMETHING THAT NO OTHER GM OR HC WOULD EVEN THINK ABOUT SAYING UNDER THE UNFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL!
- Kevin Francis

I think he's trying to sell him as an elite talent to trade him, not sure who's buying that unless they are blind.

This is a not a very good group of core Fs which is compounded by bad coaching. It's mistake after mistake and let the goalies bail us out. The 2 main reasons are bad coaching and a total lack of detail to their game especially in defensive situations. I don't know if it's coaching, bad reads, reluctance to defending, playing the wrong position, not in their DNA etc. but it doesn't help the D. Part of the solution would be a new coach and a new system, Batherson, Pinto, White at C, move Stutzle back to LW and Norris to RW and find a C. On D Chabot, Zub, Holden, Thompson and sort out the rest (Sanderson, JBD, Heatherington, Del Zotto, Zaitsev, Brannstrom, Mete)
- granpa

So much crazy sh_t being posted. For one the D is complete sh_t. No one out there other than Zub belongs on the top 4 D of an actual NHL team so there is no helping them and coaching is not helping. Tkachuk is all the way on the opposing blue line waiting for that long stretch pass. That's the extent of Smith's breakout strategy.

Stutzle is going to be an outstanding number 1 C. Why in the world would you make him play LW and then go looking for a C? Same thing with Norris. There's a very good number 2 C and you want to make him a RW and then go looking for a C. Oh no that's right! You want to take their RW, Batherson, and make him the C. And you've got White in there as well! What kind of drugs are you on?

Please, Lord, save us from this madness and don't let Dorion or Smith anywhere near the same drugs.

Also for all you Fiala lovers out there. Which of Stutzle, Norris, Tkachuk, Chabot and down the road Sanderson will you be willing to move in order to make room for that midget's salary? There is cap space now but there won't be 2 years from now especially if other guys like Thomson or JBD or Pinto or Greig etc. turn out to be even better than expected or do you just get rid of them too so you can pay your midget?

God, please let sanity define future management because I for one have seen more than enough of the Dorion style of thinking. Actually some of this stuff makes Dorion look like a mastermind in comparison.

One more thing now that I think of it. I like Chychrun but he is a LD just like Chabot and Sanderson. Wait and see how Thomson shows next year because with Zub already there you might not need a top 4 RD so why squander assets on one?

Get something straight in your minds - Ottawa is NOT - let me repeat that slowly - Ottawa is NOT winning anything next year if for no other reason than their D is going to be way too young not to mention some of their better forwards so quit thinking that all you need to do is sell the store for that one piece that is going to take you to the promised land. Patience is still the key word.

I believe Sens will make an attempt to add a scoring forward this summer.

Fiala (Minnesota) and Keller (Arizona) are two names out there of players that might be available. Minnesota is tight on cap space. Fiala is an RFA and he will be asking $7m. The Wild are already hard against the cap. But I think they can squeeze him under if they made other adjustments.

Arizona is at the other end of the cap. They have lots of free cap space and Keller is signed to a $7m cap hit (7 years). (Chycrun is supposedly also available and he is on a great contract.

Would you offer up the Sens top 10 pick (lottery protected) for any of those players?
- spatso

Neither are worth a top 10 pick, Keller is having a career year, stay away and Fiala comparable in terms of trade is Reinhart which got Buf a late 1st and a B ish prospects

Neither are worth a top 10 pick, Keller is having a career year, stay away and Fiala comparable in terms of trade is Reinhart which got Buf a late 1st and a B ish prospects
- Mithos

I'd strongly consider Keller, if Arizona would trade him. And i'm normally not a fan of trading top 10 picks.

Keller has scored 60+ points before. He could really fix the hole on the right wing, which I don't see anyone in the system fixing anytime soon.

It would give someone for Stutzle to play with on the second line.

Formenton Stutzle Keller

Issue as mentioed is Arizona may need to add salary. We could include Zaitsev I guess, but then they'd need to add even more.

So much crazy sh_t being posted. For one the D is complete sh_t. No one out there other than Zub belongs on the top 4 D of an actual NHL team so there is no helping them and coaching is not helping. Tkachuk is all the way on the opposing blue line waiting for that long stretch pass. That's the extent of Smith's breakout strategy.

Stutzle is going to be an outstanding number 1 C. Why in the world would you make him play LW and then go looking for a C? Same thing with Norris. There's a very good number 2 C and you want to make him a RW and then go looking for a C. Oh no that's right! You want to take their RW, Batherson, and make him the C. And you've got White in there as well! What kind of drugs are you on?

Please, Lord, save us from this madness and don't let Dorion or Smith anywhere near the same drugs.

Also for all you Fiala lovers out there. Which of Stutzle, Norris, Tkachuk, Chabot and down the road Sanderson will you be willing to move in order to make room for that midget's salary? There is cap space now but there won't be 2 years from now especially if other guys like Thomson or JBD or Pinto or Greig etc. turn out to be even better than expected or do you just get rid of them too so you can pay your midget?

God, please let sanity define future management because I for one have seen more than enough of the Dorion style of thinking. Actually some of this stuff makes Dorion look like a mastermind in comparison.

One more thing now that I think of it. I like Chychrun but he is a LD just like Chabot and Sanderson. Wait and see how Thomson shows next year because with Zub already there you might not need a top 4 RD so why squander assets on one?

Get something straight in your minds - Ottawa is NOT - let me repeat that slowly - Ottawa is NOT winning anything next year if for no other reason than their D is going to be way too young not to mention some of their better forwards so quit thinking that all you need to do is sell the store for that one piece that is going to take you to the promised land. Patience is still the key word.
- Whatisavailable

I went through worst name calling and ridicule 2 years ago when I posted that DJ Smith was in over his head coaching in the NHL. Now everybody wants him out. It's obvious that we look for different attributes in the C position and only time will tell.

This is a not a very good group of core Fs which is compounded by bad coaching. It's mistake after mistake and let the goalies bail us out. The 2 main reasons are bad coaching and a total lack of detail to their game especially in defensive situations. I don't know if it's coaching, bad reads, reluctance to defending, playing the wrong position, not in their DNA etc. but it doesn't help the D. Part of the solution would be a new coach and a new system, Batherson, Pinto, White at C, move Stutzle back to LW and Norris to RW and find a C. On D Chabot, Zub, Holden, Thompson and sort out the rest (Sanderson, JBD, Heatherington, Del Zotto, Zaitsev, Brannstrom, Mete)
- granpa

So, now that the team finally has its top-4 young forwards producing at a ~30G/70pts pace across two different scoring lines, your plan is to move 3 of them out of position so that you can attempt to band-aid the worst blueline in the NHL with Batherson/White down the middle? Pretty sure we might want to wait to see what Sanderson, Thomson, and Bernard-Docker can do, before sabotaging the one part of the rebuild that's actually on track. Even just getting something close to a full season from Pinto, White, and Joseph would make a difference... as would finding a way not to start a year with a soul-crushing 4-16-1 record.

That said, I'm not overly confident about the coming off-season. Now that DJ Smith is an assistant coach with Team Canada's WC team, he'll almost certainly be immune from criticism/accountability for another year. The manner with which they failed to address the need for a 2nd line scoring forward and a top-4 d-man last year was almost breath-taking, so I don't expect them to find a way to land anything close to a Giroux-quality player. At minimum, I'm hopeful that Dorion/Mann manage to stick with a borderline-rational interpretation of BPA at this year's draft, instead of making another foolish spectacle of themselves.

I went through worst name calling and ridicule 2 years ago when I posted that DJ Smith was in over his head coaching in the NHL. Now everybody wants him out. It's obvious that we look for different attributes in the C position and only time will tell.
- granpa

While you're at it why not make Tkachuk your starting goalie and Forsberg your faceoff specialist as a first line LW?

So much crazy sh_t being posted. For one the D is complete sh_t. No one out there other than Zub belongs on the top 4 D of an actual NHL team so there is no helping them and coaching is not helping. Tkachuk is all the way on the opposing blue line waiting for that long stretch pass. That's the extent of Smith's breakout strategy.

Stutzle is going to be an outstanding number 1 C. Why in the world would you make him play LW and then go looking for a C? Same thing with Norris. There's a very good number 2 C and you want to make him a RW and then go looking for a C. Oh no that's right! You want to take their RW, Batherson, and make him the C. And you've got White in there as well! What kind of drugs are you on?

Please, Lord, save us from this madness and don't let Dorion or Smith anywhere near the same drugs.



Also for all you Fiala lovers out there. Which of Stutzle, Norris, Tkachuk, Chabot and down the road Sanderson will you be willing to move in order to make room for that midget's salary? There is cap space now but there won't be 2 years from now especially if other guys like Thomson or JBD or Pinto or Greig etc. turn out to be even better than expected or do you just get rid of them too so you can pay your midget?

God, please let sanity define future management because I for one have seen more than enough of the Dorion style of thinking. Actually some of this stuff makes Dorion look like a mastermind in comparison.

One more thing now that I think of it. I like Chychrun but he is a LD just like Chabot and Sanderson. Wait and see how Thomson shows next year because with Zub already there you might not need a top 4 RD so why squander assets on one?

Get something straight in your minds - Ottawa is NOT - let me repeat that slowly - Ottawa is NOT winning anything next year if for no other reason than their D is going to be way too young not to mention some of their better forwards so quit thinking that all you need to do is sell the store for that one piece that is going to take you to the promised land. Patience is still the key word.
- Whatisavailable

A+

Outstanding!

The right answer!

People get lost trying to make it about last night's game or tonight's game or, even silly about line matching with a bunch of kids as the backbone of your team and your top 6.

Keep it simple Chabot, Tkachuk, Norris (this summer), Stutzle (next summer) and Sanderson (the following summer) means the Sens will have $40m of annual cap invested in their top 5 players. Batherson, Zub, Formenton and a couple of others will mean another $25m on the cap.

So, we are talking about $65m against a projected cap in the range of $96m.

I am sure some of those players might be swapped out in a trade. But this is essentially the core group that brings us to the promised land. For an optimist like me, I see everything as incredibly positive.

The pessimist believes it is all going backwards and big changes are needed.

The jokeying has begun. Noise is being made. The guy who says the least knows he has the inside lane. Greenberg is an important player.



Graham Richardson
@grahamctv
NEW: One of Ottawa’s most prominent real estate executives said he “would likely” participate in ⁦
@Senators
⁩ ownership if Melnyk family decides to sell #sens #ottnews #nhl #hockey

So, now that the team finally has its top-4 young forwards producing at a ~30G/70pts pace across two different scoring lines, your plan is to move 3 of them out of position so that you can attempt to band-aid the worst blueline in the NHL with Batherson/White down the middle? Pretty sure we might want to wait to see what Sanderson, Thomson, and Bernard-Docker can do, before sabotaging the one part of the rebuild that's actually on track. Even just getting something close to a full season from Pinto, White, and Joseph would make a difference... as would finding a way not to start a year with a soul-crushing 4-16-1 record.

That said, I'm not overly confident about the coming off-season. Now that DJ Smith is an assistant coach with Team Canada's WC team, he'll almost certainly be immune from criticism/accountability for another year. The manner with which they failed to address the need for a 2nd line scoring forward and a top-4 d-man last year was almost breath-taking, so I don't expect them to find a way to land anything close to a Giroux-quality player. At minimum, I'm hopeful that Dorion/Mann manage to stick with a borderline-rational interpretation of BPA at this year's draft, instead of making another foolish spectacle of themselves.
- khawk

More goals, better defence, better goaltending same results. What am I missing here. It's obvious this team makes a ton of mistakes without the puck (no detail to their game) and a good part of the game is played without the puck. If that's good enough for you that's fine.

I watched alot of the Canucks game tonight. Capping for my blog tomorrow, this Vancouver team is going to torch Ottawa tomorrow night. An expansion team holds Ottawa to how many shots on goal? I should've made Seattle a larger wager tonight. Double up on Vancouver tomorrow night. Good Luck Ottawa.
- PuckPix

I flipped over to the Sens game when the Canucks was at 2nd intermission. The coach kept his lines together all 3rd period, getting no offense or shots on goal. Do something to grab their attention. No coach does that, sitting there and doing nothing down one goal. It's not like it was 5-2 but who knows with that guy?

Someone in here said a few of the players go into the coaches office to talk hockey. Ya, they probably go in there to tell the Sens GM stop ruining this team, stop bringing in AHL players. That line up last night was ridden with AHL guys.

More goals, better defence, better goaltending same results. What am I missing here. It's obvious this team makes a ton of mistakes without the puck (no detail to their game) and a good part of the game is played without the puck. If that's good enough for you that's fine.
- granpa

More goals? Playing people out of their natural position doesn't usually work that way. Stutzle's production as a LW vs. C is a clear example of the difference it can make. Even if we ignore the fact that Batherson isn't a C, working on the details isn't exactly something that's facilitated by scrambling everyone's lineup position for no reason.

More goals? Playing people out of their natural position doesn't usually work that way. Stutzle's production as a LW vs. C is a clear example of the difference it can make. Even if we ignore the fact that Batherson isn't a C, working on the details isn't exactly something that's facilitated by scrambling everyone's lineup position for no reason.
- khawk

Work all day, I will be around later in the discussion.

To think if it wasn't for injuries this team would never have found out about Stutzle at center, or seen Thomson or JBD called up when we knew Zaitsev and Brown were train wrecks. Formenton would have been nailed to 3rd line and even sometimes 4th line duty for crying out loud! Brannstrom was told over and over he couldn't play his off side on defense but said he would be just as comfortable on both sides. The list goes on and on. Forsberg getting more time due to Murray being a head case and continues to be a head case might I add, the stuff that has been going on with him and DJ the last few weeks is nuts!

I believe Sens will make an attempt to add a scoring forward this summer.

Fiala (Minnesota) and Keller (Arizona) are two names out there of players that might be available. Minnesota is tight on cap space. Fiala is an RFA and he will be asking $7m. The Wild are already hard against the cap. But I think they can squeeze him under if they made other adjustments.

Arizona is at the other end of the cap. They have lots of free cap space and Keller is signed to a $7m cap hit (7 years). (Chycrun is supposedly also available and he is on a great contract.

Would you offer up the Sens top 10 pick (lottery protected) for any of those players?
- spatso

Fiala was a problem in NSH, there's a reason he was traded, cant say but I don't want him here knowing what he's like as a person! This team prides itself on good people, don't need Fiala here. Keller would be great though, one of Brady's best friends too.

14 shots in the 1st period equalling the amount from all of last game!

Formenton gets his first goal in 11 games!

Gambrell and Kelly caught out there for 2 minutes end of the 2nd period, inexcusable, then it leads to a Cancuks PP, but hey DJ will reward them with more TOI. If its Colin White or Erik Brannstrom, they get nailed to the bench. Both of those players could've got off the ice, Watson made sure he did, but those two chose to be selfish!!!

Gustavsson has stopped 24 of 26 shots after the 2nd period and hasn't got much help in front either. He has looked just fine!

Gustavsson has stopped 24 of 26 shots after the 2nd period and hasn't got much help in front either. He has looked just fine!
- Kevin Francis

The number of times an Ottawa player with little or no pressure in their own end has just handed the puck over to a Vancouver player to create out of thin air a dangerous situation against themselves is completely ridiculous.

The number of times an Ottawa player with little or no pressure in their own has just handed the puck over to a Vancouver player to create out of thin air a dangerous situation against themselves is completely ridiculous.
- Whatisavailable

That is the sign of no system though, no 5 man units, no coaching! Its tough to watch man. No in-game adjustments. I am watching it with a NHL scout, he cant believe how silent DJ is on the bench and how nobody is there for a quick 5 or 10 foot pass when a player is in trouble. He said it all goes back to coaching, in this case he said, lack thereof! No accountability. The 2 min shifts by Kelly and Gambrell, he said should result in a benching especially with it leading to a PP for Vancouver, but DJ wont as Kelly is his new little fav player. Its sickening to watch! But hey, lets bring back the coach for another season to find out yet again how bad he is.

Stutzle out!

DJ said how he needs 4 lines rolling on the back to back nights but he has gone back on what he told the media, benched Gaudette and Senyshyn! Unreal