So the finger pointing and blame game has already begun on the boards and in the media about what went wrong, who to blame and what changes need to be made in the wake of the Senators missing the playoffs again.
From ownership not spending the money to lack of management bringing in the right players to poor coaching to players simply not living up to expectations, there are plenty of places to aim, and you would be at least half right.
There is plenty of blame to go around.
But, lets look at what the starting lineup was projected to be, especially up front:
MacArthur - Turris - Stone Hoffman - Zibanejad - Ryan Michalek - Pageau - Chiasson Lazar - Smith - Neil Prince
*The bottom 6 was a work in progress and you could move the pieces around but essentially those are the 12 that were supposed to start.
So take away 1 top liner, or at least top 6 forward in MacArthur after 4 games played. That hurt, but the Senators were still rolling along pretty well without him.
Then move ahead a few more games to about the 1/4 mark of the season, and the night that Casey Cizikas rolled over Kyle Turris' ankle in such a way that even the best case scenario after viewing it was a projected lengthy absence. Almost miraculously (and in hindsight probably foolishly) Turris didn't miss a game although he was at far less than 100% until he finally missed time, came back and was eventually shut down again.
Before that fateful night against the Islanders, Turris had amassed 22 points in 25 games and the Senators were 13-7-5 and in third place in their division, just 10 points behind the "fastest ever starting" and soon to suffer an even more monumental Price-less tumble, Montreal Canadiens.
On Nov. 9th I wrote that Turris had moved into the category of legitimate #1 centre, instead of simpley being the default centre of the first line. Not in the elite group by any means, but certainly not taking a backseat to many other first line pivots in the league.
So already without a top 6 winger, the loss of Turris cannot be underestimated. I still see calls for the Senators to go out and add a #1 centre on almost a daily basis.
A) The cost of getting one, if one became available, would be far too prohibitive in terms of salary and/or what it would cost in terms of players and picks to add that player and B) The Senators have one already, and he comes with one of the best value for money contracts in the league for the next 2 seasons.
Sure, adding Scott Gomez as a stop-gap measure was a curious move, but Gomez is adding about what Turris was on a bad leg, so it was a pretty lateral move. Turris' injury wasn't bumps and bruises, it was a legitimate injury that impaired his ability to compete at the same level as his peers and even when he played after Cizikas tried (absolutely accidentally) to reaarange the bones in his lower leg) and the trickle-down effect was too much for the Senators to overcome.
Mark Stone went through a slump shortly after the injury that lasted until the unlikely trio of Stone - Pageau - Smith was born and it also meant Zibanejad saw tougher competition, which he probably wasn't ready for while the Senators were trying to plug not one but 2 top 6 holes.
There are not many teams, budget or not, that could withstand losing a #1 centre and another top 6 forward for extended amounts of time and not feel the brunt of that. The Senators still have 4 players in the top 50 of NHL scoring, and when Turris was in the mix he was at that level as well.
That doesn't excuse the fact that they allowed far too many shots, the defense was in disarray for much of the season, questionable power play deployment even when Turris was healthy or the lack of finding a top 6 forward when it was apparent MacArthur was out for the longer term. Most of those problems were there before and are still there in essence now, and you can add inconsistent goaltending to that list as well. but in my mind the Senators don't need to blow their brains out for a top end centre, and this is a playoff team when healthy although the budget dictates that they will walk a fine line if more than one of their 5 or 6 top guys sustain a lengthy injury.
There are some things you can't control, and some things that you can't just throw money at to fix any more, whether you have the space or not. Other GMs aren't going to take pity on you and just offer up a cheap alternative to fill your needs without there being a catch in terms of a bad contract or try to fleece you. Perhaps the development of the younger players wasn't as rapid as expected, especially Shane Prince and Matt Puempel (although you could also legitimately point to misuse in those cases which would be on the coaching).
So even though I don't think there was any malicious intend, I am pointing a large portion of the finger of blame at Casey Cizikas for putting the Senators season off the rails on that fateful night of December 5th. And there is still plenty of internal blame to go around as well.