The Ottawa Senators wrapped up their preseason with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. Having earned a 3-2-1 record in their six-game exhibition schedule, the Senators can now turn their attention to the campaign that matters; their 2019-20 regular season begins on Wednesday with a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
While there are still roster decisions to be made in advance of Wednesday’s contest, one player who will certainly be on the roster is Brady Tkachuk. Tkachuk, who was drafted fourth overall in 2018, is looking to build on a rookie campaign that saw him tally 45 points in 71 games last year.
If the eye test is any indication, Tkachuk should be in a position to deliver. He played at better than a point-per-game pace (though, four of those six points came in one game against the Canucks) and played the role of agitator well throughout. Preseason is largely meaningless, but preseason success is still better than preseason failure.
Of course, it hasn’t all been roses for Tkachuk during the exhibition season. Per Natural Stat Trick, his expected goal share, shot attempt share, and scoring chance share were all materially worse in this preseason than they were during the last regular season. It would be foolish to draw any conclusions from that at this stage of the game, given the lack of importance that defines these recent contests, but at the same time it does leave the player with something to prove starting Wednesday. As said in the previous paragraph, preseason success is better than preseason failure. A sophomore slump from Tkachuk could turn what is already supposed to be a tough season for the Senators into an absolutely insufferable one.
With all that in mind, I’m curious to see what the fan base thinks Tkachuk will do this season. What kind of offence are you expecting from him? Let me know by responding to the poll question below.
Daily game previews, game reviews, and other feature pieces start Tuesday/Wednesday. Let the games begin!
As always, thanks for reading.