This Think Tank is posted a bit later for you folks out in the east, but it is here nonetheless!
Best case scenario: win one round
Now that Columbus has made the playoffs, we know that Ottawa’s first round pick in 2019 cannot be any higher than 19th. It will stay at 19th if the Blue Jackets lose in either the first or the second round, but it will move down in the order if they make it to the Conference Finals. Picks 28-31 are where the Conference Finalists pick each season, so that is the only way that Ottawa wouldn’t be picking 19th.
So obviously Senators fans will be cheering for the Blue Jackets to not win two rounds. However, the best case scenario is probably for them to win this round vs. Tampa Bay and then lose to either Boston or Toronto, because that way Matt Duchene might be convinced to stay on a “winning team,… thus giving Ottawa another first round pick in 2020. I don’t know all the details about what Duchene is looking for on his new contract, although I do know that he wants to be on a winning team. It’s risky hoping for a Blue Jackets win in round one just because they could then easily win in round two as well, pushing the Senators pick into the 28-31 range. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but dropping nine spots is still significant.
The Blue Jackets come-from-behind 4-3 win yesterday was a shocker, but I’d still be surprised if they end up winning the whole series. So it’s too early to say that the series is over of course, but it’s at least a possibility that Columbus could make it to the second round.
Former Sens doing well
Just one day into the playoffs, former Senators players are doing quite well:
Erik Karlsson: 2 assists
— Pan of Hockey Ops (@PanofSCU) April 11, 2019
Mark Stone: 2 goals
Nick Foligno: key first goal in a huge come back win
Bishop & Lehner win
Turris: 6 shots.
Pretty good night for the former Sens
I was expecting Mark Stone to have a dominant playoffs, and he’s already off to a fantastic start. Erik Karlsson was no slouch either as he was a big reason why the Sharks won game one. It really hurts to see how well Ben Bishop and Robin Lehner are doing, as either one of them would be huge additions for the team right now. Moving Bishop seemed like the right thing to do back in 2013, and perhaps the Senators wouldn’t have gone to the Conference Finals in 2017 without Craig Anderson. Still though, Bishop and Lehner were two of the best goalies in the league this season, and that stings a bit. At least Colin White has turned out well for Ottawa.
Who would you want to see win the most?
Speaking of former Senators players, Shawn Simpson had an interesting poll yesterday:
Which former Sen would you like to see raise the Cup?
— Shawn Simpson (@TSNSimmer) April 10, 2019
At around 1000 votes, not a single person had voted for Matt Duchene. I was surprised to see Lehner so close to Karlsson, as I felt much more connected to Karlsson despite being a huge advocate for Lehner during his time in Ottawa. I feel like the story that came out about his struggles with anxiety and depression has made it easier for people to root for him, so that is probably why the votes are close. For me, I would say either Stone or Karlsson on this poll, but it’s tough to decide.
Karlsson holds a God-like status, although seeing how excited Stone would be to win the Cup would be amazing. Who would you want to see win it all?
Unstressful playoff hockey
Playoff hockey is back! Despite finishing my last ever final papers at UBC this week, I will be making time to watch the playoffs just because it is so entertaining to watch. In fact, it might even be more fun without a horse in the race just because there is absolutely no stress. I still have teams to root for in each series, but I’m not living and dying on every single shot like I am if the Senators are in the playoffs.
The NHL playoff experience is essentially this:
why watch overtime playoff hockey when you can simply snort cocaine and ride a motorcycle out of a helicopter
— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) April 17, 2014
The first round is the absolute best.
Belleville’s costly loss
After beating Cleveland in a must-win game on the weekend and the Monsters losing again on Tuesday, the B-Sens were looking to keep their momentum going against the Toronto Marlies. However, they came up empty handed last night in a devastating 3-2 loss:
📹 The #BellevilleSens fell 3-2 to the Marlies Wednesday #fortheB pic.twitter.com/klGb8MPH6a
— Belleville Senators (@BellevilleSens) April 11, 2019
With two games to play, it is going to be tough for Belleville to make it into the playoffs. They sit one point back of Cleveland, but the Monsters have three games left. So if Belleville wins both of their games, they have to hope that Cleveland gets a maximum of three points out of six. Or if Belleville wins once, they have to hope that Cleveland gets a maximum of one point. Either way, all it takes for the Monsters to clinch a spot is win two of their final three games, which isn’t too difficult.
The B-Sens need a lot of help, and it would be a shame to see them miss the playoffs after their miraculous turnaround and even holding a playoff spot for a bit.