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Christmas is just one week away! It’s an exciting time, and I love how different everything feels in December. Kids have already sent Santa their wishlist for Christmas, and I’ll be doing the same thing here by asking for certain things regarding the Ottawa Senators. With how far down the gutter the organization is right now, there are a ton of other things I could ask for, and even on this list, I know that not all of them will come true. It’s sad how many things immediately came to mind for me.
Nevertheless, I hope that at least some of these come to fruition. Here is my Senators Christmas wishlist!
Ottawa’s draft pick (given to Colorado) falling lower than 7th/8th
Right now, the Senators sit 11th last in the league, and if they had to give up their pick in that spot, that wouldn’t be nearly as catastrophic as giving up Jack Hughes to the Avalanche. It still wouldn’t be good obviously, but the 11th overall pick doesn’t always end up being a star player. Any top-5 pick would be quite bad, but moving towards the second half of the top-10 is fine, and after the top-10 would be fantastic.
I don’t expect Ottawa to improve their record at all, and I think their shooting luck will run out in the near future. However, it would be really nice to see them ride out some luck the rest of the season just so that they don’t end up giving up a top pick. Although knowing the Senators luck, they will finish 10th last and still “win” the lottery anyway.
A new head coach
Guy Boucher is not the right head coach for the next great Senators team. He does not have a contract for next season, and I’d be pretty shocked if he got extended. He has been a bit better this season by being more willing to play younger players, and hell, he even scratched Tom Pyatt for the first time just recently. Still though, his “system” relied on Erik Karlsson and Craig Anderson being phenomenal, and he has been exploited as a one-trick pony in three different places. I’d love to see an innovative thinker such as Toronto Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe come to the team because Ottawa needs a breath of fresh air into the organization.
Just please no retreads like Mike Yeo or even Marc Crawford.
Norris love for Thomas Chabot
Chabot is currently first amongst defensemen in points with 36, and if the Norris trophy was handed out today, he should be in the discussion for it. He wouldn’t win though because of the most idiotic reason: that his team isn’t in the playoffs. I have no idea how that relates to someone being the best defenseman in the league, but nobody has ever won it on a non-playoff team. I don’t expect Chabot to win the award, but it would be nice for him to get some love and finish top-5 or around there.
In a year after losing Erik Karlsson, that’s exactly what Senators fans need. It still hurts knowing that both of them could be in Ottawa, but at least Chabot has taken his game to another level. Plays like his OT goal last night are just sensational:
More scouts hired
It’s pretty simple. The more scouts you have, the more players you can watch and the more evaluations and opinions you can gather. Obviously there’s a limit to how many scouts you can have because there is such thing as too many opinions, but Ottawa’s front office staff is still incredibly thin. The amateur scouts have done a solid job recently, but they can always use a boost, plus their pro scouting has been lacking considering some of the trades Dorion has made during his tenure.
This doesn’t have to be limited to scouts either, as Dorion needs to surround himself with smarter people and those who think differently and bring a fresh perspective.
Contract extensions for Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Dzingel
Okay, this is technically three wishes, but they are all grouped together. If they are able to keep all three of them, Ottawa’s forward group looks very good moving forward. But even if one of them goes (especially if it’s one of Stone/Duchene), then that is a massive hit. They are all going to cost quite a bit, but you can’t simply trade your best players once they get expensive. Stone should be amazing for a long time, Duchene has been phenomenal for almost a calendar year, and Dzingel has proven himself to be a top-six winger, bare minimum. They can’t let any of them go.
A Cody Ceci trade
Enough, already. The Ceci experiment has gone on for way too long, and if Dorion doesn’t recognize that yet, he needs to get a new set of eyes. I do wonder if there is some bad blood between him and the organization after going to arbitration, and perhaps Ceci wants to get out too, knowing that even his most ardent supporters are starting to turn on him.
He just is not a good defenseman, even if he was sheltered. Considering he already makes $4.3M, giving him a long-term contract would be asinine, and Dorion still has time to deal him for
something of value since Ceci will be an RFA in the summer. Ottawa mercilessly recognized when it was time to move on from Jared Cowen and Curtis Lazar, and they need to do the same with Ceci (two or three years too late).
Give Hogberg of Gustavsson a taste of the NHL
With Mike Condon playing poorly and also being hurt, veteran Mike McKenna has been backing up Craig Anderson while playing in seven games. He has actually been better in recent games, although he still has a .902 SV%, and he obviously isn’t the long-term answer for the backup goalie position. I don’t expect either Marcus Hogberg or Filip Gustavsson to be an NHL caliber goalie right away once one of them gets called up, but I think it’s worth giving one or both a shot.
Hogberg was a forgotten prospect, but in five games in the AHL since coming back from injury, he has posted a .927 SV%. The 24-year-old isn’t that young anymore, and Ottawa needs to see what they have with him. Although he only has 26 career AHL games played to date, it’s worth it to see if he could keep his head above water in the NHL. Furthermore, Gustavsson probably has the higher ceiling moving forward, and it’d be interesting to watch him as well.
After starting off well in Belleville, he has struggled and now has an .889 SV% in 16 games, but he has also been dominant in the SHL, so I’m curious to see how he would look in a few NHL games. Neither of these goalies would necessarily be the answer right away, but it would at least be fun to watch.
See what Balcers/Brown/Chlapik/Wolanin can do
This is pretty much the same wish as the previous one but in regards to forwards/defensemen. The four of them are the most exciting prospects in Belleville, and they also deserve a look at the NHL level. Balcers, Brown, and Chlapik can all fill in on the third line, where they can subsequently push guys like Tom Pyatt and Magnus Paajarvi out of the lineup. Obviously it would be hard to fit all of them in the lineup right away, but injuries happen, and they can rotate some of their call-ups. As for Wolanin, I legitimately think he will end up being a better player than Max Lajoie, and he could even be better than him right now.
Considering how well he played for 10 games in Ottawa last season, I’m quite shocked to see that he has only played one game in the NHL this season. Sure, you could say that he needs to clean up his defensive game, but that’s literally the same as the entire defense corps. It has been exciting getting to watch Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, Colin White, and Max Lajoie have their moments of greatness, and there is room for more of that with different prospects.
Eugene Melnyk selling the team
Save the biggest wish for last. Everything starts and ends with Eugene. They will never win a Stanley Cup with him as the owner, and it’s hard to have any hope so long as he is around. The only hope right now is for him to sell the team, and there has been so much smoke over the past year regarding a sale. I’ll never fully believe any rumours until the sale is 100% official, but I think this is a realistic thing to wish for...it just might not happen in 2019.
What else is on your wishlist this Christmas regarding the Senators?
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