A few quick hits on last night's 6-2 loss to the Oilers...
Without their two best players and subpar goaltending, the Senators aren't likely to beat many AHL teams. They really miss Mark Stone and Erik Karlsson (I know, that is quite the hot take, right) and if that is what life might be like without them, the sky is not so rosy.
This just in...Connor McDavid is a pretty good player. Just ask the debuting Christian Wolanin and/or Mike Hoffman, who both had pretty good views of McDavid flying by in a few short minutes in the third period outburst.
During the second intermission Garrioch said the Senators are looking to re-sign Mark Stone and said that the comparable from the Senators will be Ondrej Palat's $5.3M cap hit, which is laughable. The suggestion is that Stone's camp will want $7M on a long term deal, and in my opinion that would be a bargain. The Senators need to get that deal done, and Stone is as valuable as Karlsson at this point in time, and an ask by Stone's reps of anything around 8 years X $8M or less, I would be getting that signature before they finish the sentence.
I still think Karlsson's departure is inevitable, and they absolutely cannot even be perceived to low-ball Stone as well or the situation between the team and fan base will go nuclear.
Congratulations for a couple of milestones on the same goal, as Bobby Ryan earned his 500th career point, an assist on Filip Chlapik's first career goal.
Up next the Senators have an always exciting home and home with the Carolina Hurricanes beginning Saturday at home and Monday in Raleigh.
And alas, there will officially be no late run to the playoffs as the Senators were mathematically eliminated and even the most super optimistic of fans now have to face the reality.