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Who Can Fill Offensive Void Left By Jason Spezza?

September 16, 2014, 8:35 PM ET [63 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
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First things first. Congratulations to Travis Yost who was just hired by TSN and will join forces with James Mirtle and Scott Cullen to form a highly talented trio of writers who will focus on analytics.

Travis provided this website with high caliber content on a daily basis and served his readership well. It isn't easy to write everyday, it's even more difficult to write everyday and churn out top notch material. Travis did it and made it look easy.

When I first started to write for the Penguins here at Hockeybuzz I was very interested in the analytical part of the game. Travis was always accommodating to me and would help answer whatever questions I may have had.

Thank you Travis and best wishes on your new professional endeavor.


Secondly, I am not Travis' replacement. You will have a Senators blogger before the season begins, it won't be me. I am going to try and sprinkle in some Ottawa content for the Senator faithful until a new replacement is found.

What is my background as it pertains to the Senators? I wrote the Ottawa player profiles in this year's Hockey Prospectus book which will more than likely be out next month.


OK, let's get down to business. Who is going to fill Jason Spezza's offensive void?

Spezza may have had some recent injury issues and is now entering the part of a player's career where you can expect to see numbers drop, but he still led the Senators in points/60 at even strength last year with 2.22.

Considering the Senators missed the playoffs last year, losing their top even strength point producer would seem like a step in the wrong direction.

The Senators probably won't be able to find one guy to replace the production but they may be able to accomplish this by committee.


Bobby Ryan





Bobby Ryan had a sports hernia for much of the season last year and was not at 100%. Despite that annoyance he still produced 23 goals and 48 points in 70 games. His goals per game started to climb back up after a substandard 2012-13 season.

Given the combination of being in a contract year and getting back to full health Bobby Ryan has a great chance at having his first 30 goal year since 2011-12.


Mika Zibanejad

Zibanejad has the size and the skill to become an offensive threat at the NHL level. To this point he has shown flashes of that ability. Consistency is the next step in his development and the Senators will certainly need him to up his offensive output. In his career he has a .45 points per game average, he will need to see that number bump up to at least .80 points per game (65 points in 82 games). Talent is there and with Spezza gone he should also find himself with some better linemates.





This chart shows represents the releative quality of teammate. You can see there are quite a few forwards that are higher up than Zibanejad. Look for that to change in 2014-15.


Curtis Lazar

Lazar is the dark horse in this equation. He is the Senators best forward prospect and he is knocking on the door of the NHL. A strong training camp and he just might fight his way onto the roster this year. Playing for the Edmonton Oil Kings he had 79 goals and 137 points in his final two junior seasons. He also had 22 points in 21 games on route to winning the Memorial Cup last year.

During the prospect tournament Lazar flashed his offensive upside by scoring on a shorthanded breakaway against the Penguins prospects.





Given the Senators limited budget, Lazar would be an attractive option on an entry level contract if he were to prove his worth in training camp.

Who do you think will help fill the offensive void left by Jason Spezza?

Thanks for reading!

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