Now that we can start to look forward to the new season with pretty much all the questions answered as far as the makeup of the team goes, we can start to speculate on what will happen.
Today I will look at who might have a break-out season for the Senators.
Here are my own personal top 3 contenders - 1. Cody Ceci - the 21 year old blueliner already has 130 NHL games under his belt, and continues to improve at both ends of the ice. I think he is ready to take the next step in his development and find a way to get some more offensive opportunities. He was drafted as a puck mover, and a guy who can put up points from the back end. Given the amount of time on the PK that he has logged, the team is comfortable with his play in his own end, and he can become a threat in the opposing end as well.
2. Andrew Hammond - You might consider last year Hammond's break-out season, but it was more of a coming out than break out, because nobody outside of Ottawa (or many inside for that matter) even knew who he was before Feb 14th. The rise was so meteoric that there wasn't much of an air of legitimacy around his play. Not many people are predicting similar things from Hammond despite his 1/4 season run to the playoffs. But maybe, just maybe, his is a case of figuring things out at the right time and he can indeed become a starting goalie in the NHL. His 25 or so game run turned heads, but is still seen in many circles as a freak occurrence rather than what really should have been. He won't be able to post such astronomical numbers again, that just isn't realistic. However, with Craig Anderson's injury history, even if he doesn't win the starting job in camp Hammond will likely get to play a stretch of games in a row where will get the opportunity to prove something that Robin Lehner couldn't during his chances over the last couple of years.
3. Curtis Lazar - While it is unlikely that he can crack the top 6, I think there is certainly more in the offensive tank for Lazar. After being snakebit for so long to start his career, he showed more and more confidence as the season went on and culminated with 6 points in his last 12 games. Depending on the opportunities he is given, it wouldn't surprise me to see 20 goals and 40 points from the sophomore. Confidence is a big thing, and he was riding a wave at the end of the season where he really started to feel he belongs and began to show he can handle the puck. Now it is just a matter of finishing more opportunities so that he becomes more like Stone or Hoffman and less like Condra. He had 38 and 41 goals in his last 2 junior seasons so he knows where the net is.
Who are you looking for to have a break out season in a Senators uniform?