The Senators are off until tomorrow night when they host the Buffalo Sabres, and today after practice Guy Boucher said that Chris Neil would be back in the lineup, but he might still go with seven defensemen.
While the obvious choice to sit would be Chris Kelly, I would bet that sitting Bobby Ryan would be a consideration. At least Kelly has filled a role so far this season. He has killed penalties, taken key faceoffs and nobody has scored more goals without being on the ice than he has.
Which is a heck of a lot more than Ryan has brought. Ryan is in the midst of another slump that hasn't seen him record a point in 5 games, the 5th time he has gone at least 4 games between points. Over the course of a full season, he is scoring at a 37 point pace.
Guy Boucher is pretty much running out of options with Ryan, which also means so is GM Pierre Dorion. Ryan skated on the third line against the Islanders, and the next spot on the slippery slope is out of the lineup. He sat out one game on January 8th, and we still don't know the whole story behind the benching, but he came back and had points in four of the next 6 games.
And it isn't just points that matter, it is having some impact on the game in a positive way. Mark Stone went through a dreadful scoring streak where nothing went right, but he was still getting chances and doing the right things. Ryan is supposed to be a goal scorer but you can't score if you don't shoot, and Ryan is 13th among Senators skaters in shots per game over the team's last 10 outings.
Nobody is going to trade for the winger unless Ottawa eats up a big chunk of the remaining salary due, and a buyout wouldn't be worth it because of the signing bonus and 10 year commitment buying him out would entail. He will probably be exposed in the expansion draft, but it would likely take quite the incentive for the Golden Knights to take over that salary commitment as well, even for an expansion team.
Right now he is an albatross around the neck of the Senators, and one that they can't move very easily. They have to find a way to get him motivated or it will be a long 5 years. Every player has a role to fill, and them filling it is paramount to the team's success. Whatever Ryan's role has been, there is nobody on this team underachieving more than him. Maybe sitting for a couple of games watching might provide the spark to at least make him try, because I don't think we are seeing the effort let alone the results from the team's highest paid player.