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My various thoughts on the team...Read them!
It’s a matter of when, not if
There’s just a week and a half until the trade deadline, and we aren’t really any closer to getting clarity in regards to Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Dzingel being willing to stay in Ottawa. The thing is though, if they wanted to stay, it would be pretty clear by this point, and we would be hearing about it. Instead, there hasn’t been any positive news to report on, and I would not get your hopes up on contract extensions. Dorion needs answers as soon as possible so that he can get these trades done because every indication now is that none of these players will be Senators next season.
David Pagnotta indicated that things could change on Saturday if contracts are not close, so perhaps this coming weekend will be busy:
I’m sure they wouldn’t mind at all to stay in the city of Ottawa, and the team might even be offering fair market value to retain their services. However, all of them are aware of what is going on in the organization, so why would any of them want to stay? It is absolutely asinine that the Senators have to deal with Stone leaving so soon after Erik Karlsson, but here we are. At this point, I just can’t imagine him or Duchene or Dzingel staying either. It’s a matter of when they get traded, not if.
Best teams for Matt Duchene
I talked about the teams that could trade for Mark Stone a few days ago, but what about for Matt Duchene? It’s a tougher fit because he is a centre, although a team could possibly put him on right-wing (but that’s unlikely). Some playoff teams that would benefit the most from an upgrade at centre include the New York Islanders, Calgary Flames, Columbus Blue Jackets, and perhaps even the St. Louis Blues. Then there are teams such as the Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets, and Vegas Golden Knights who have less of a need, but could be going hard after him (and/or Stone) anyway. None of these teams have a bad combination of top two centres, but adding Duchene would simply make them much more lethal.
Just with the Stone sweepstakes, I think the latter three of the Predators, Jets, and Knights will be trying their hardest to get either Stone or Duchene, plus a wildcard team like the Islanders might push some chips in to get Duchene. I’d try very hard to get the Islanders first round pick in 2020, because that is a team that is bound to fall from grace next season...
All I know is that there are no shortage of teams that would be interested, meaning Ottawa can still get a decent return for both of them.
Forgetting to trade Ceci
With those big three impending UFAs most likely getting traded, there is less time for Dorion to negotiate a trade involving Cody Ceci. He is an RFA in the summer, so there is definitely less urgency, but I worry that he will completely forget about trying to deal him. The more time that he plays in the NHL, the less value he is going to have, just because it will become more apparent that his actual value is much less than his perceived value, plus there are probably some contenders who want to have him for one extra playoff run.
There have been plenty of rumours about Ceci getting moved, so it does seem like it will happen either now or in the summer. At the same time, this is the same organization that has been incredibly reluctant to deal him for years, so it’s hard to believe that it will happen until it actually does. It’s not the end of the world if he survives the deadline, but the sooner the better, and we can’t rule out the possibility that he plays better down the stretch and convinces the team to re-sign him. They desperately need to cut ties with him before he has lost all of his value though.
Nilsson/Borowiecki get the ball rolling in a positive way
The Senators have been incredibly underwhelming when it comes to initiatives with the LGBTQIA+ community, as their pride parade commitments have paled in comparison to the Ottawa REDBLACKS and they have seemed reluctant to do anything more than the bare minimum with “Hockey is for Everyone” (HIFE). However, that is hopefully changing, with Anders Nilsson and Mark Borowiecki being the first fantastic supporters of HIFE. They joined in the WinterPride parade on Sunday, which was marvelous to see:
Furthermore, these two players aren’t just doing this because they are forced to. Borowiecki had a well-worded comment in regards to inclusivity and how the team hasn’t done enough in the past:
It’s a simple message: everyone should be able to play the game that they love, and there is no room in the game (or anywhere in life) for discrimination. Nilsson has also been outspoken in terms of LGBTQIA+ rights, as he notably displays the pride flag on his goalie mask as you can see:
These two players being advocates doesn’t fix everything and make the Senators organization saints, but it’s a step in the right direction. This isn’t a political thing, all it is about is inclusion. Because nobody should be turned away from the sport if they love the game, and hockey as a whole needs to be better at getting that message across.
Belleville’s playoff push
(EDIT: The AHL playoffs are based on divisional standings, not conference ones. So instead, the BSens are three back of the Toronto Marlies with three more games played, and are five points back of the Utica Comets with one more game played. They sit 6th in the division in terms of points percentage.)
What seemed almost impossible just a few weeks ago is no longer out of the question. The Belleville Senators have won five in a row, and have seven wins and three shootout losses in their past 10 games, putting them right back into the playoff race. After their 3-0 win last night, here is what the standings look like:
Obviously at first glance, they look extremely close, being just two points back of the 8th place Lehigh Valley Phantoms. However, they still have a long ways to go because they have played more games than any team in the conference, with many teams having three games in hand. So a two point gap could actually be as high as an eight point gap at worst. In fact, in terms of points percentage, the BSens are still 12th in the conference at 0.519.
Now, that shouldn’t minimize how well the team has been playing recently, because it’s nice to see them go on a bit of a run. If they can make the playoffs for the first time since 2014, it will be a real boost for the organization. Playing meaningful games even if it is not in the playoffs is important for their young prospects too, so at least they are making things close. I don’t expect them to make it in because they still have a long ways to go, but they’re making up ground quickly.
It certainly helps when the best player on the team is putting up historical numbers like this:
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