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Sens win, Sens win! Pierre Dorion is failing this team with minor moves!! |
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Well, when you least expected it, the Ottawa Senators pulled out a massive win on the road last night in defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. The Sens flat out quit last game out against Vancouver, then had to travel to Carolina while the Canes were a rested bunch ready to pounce on a wounded Ottawa team. The problem is, Anton Forsberg played out of his mind in goal for Ottawa, even though Carolina threw everything at the Sens in the opening frame. Carolina outshot the Sens 20-4, but somehow Ottawa led 1-0 going into the first intermission on a goal by Alex Formenton.
Each time the Canes came at Ottawa relentlessly, the Sens pushed back. A key moment for Ottawa was when they went up 2-0 but the refs waived off. DJ Smith challenged the goaltender interference call and won. But then came the Canes in anger, scoring on the PP, then less than 2 minutes later they tied at two. Smtih once again came through for his team calling a timeout to settle down his young team and they responded with a massive goal not long after the timeout to go ahead to stay, 3-2.
Forsberg stopped 47 of 49 shots, a career-high for him and Ottawa showed a ton of pride by rebounding after a horrible effort the night before. It was nice to see Formenton notch 2 goals, but somehow he had the least amount of ice time, of any Senator! The same goes for Lassi Thomson, he had less than ten minutes of TOI on the blueline. DJ needs to play the youth on this team, by giving Zaitsev such an enormous of ice time because he was having a solid game, it would be nice to see DJ do the same for other players when they have a great game going too. The double standard is so frustrating to watch and I can only imagine how some of the youth on this team must feel when it comes to the allocation of ice time.
Next up for Ottawa is Colorado, as the Avs come to town tomorrow night. It would be nice to see the Sens gain momentum from last nights win, but no way can they allow 49 shots on goal on a nightly and expect a win. Plus it would help to get more than 20 SOG, therefore creating more quality scoring chances. Crazy stat of the night, Gambrell won 3 faceoffs and lost 16! Yikes!
I really thought Mete would've come out of the lineup after another terrible night against Vancouver, in favour of Michael Del Zotto as DJ made recently acquired Adam Gaudette a healthy scratch in favour of Tyler Ennis. Overall, it's nice to see this team rebound and enjoy a win!
Did you know? Ottawa only had 4 forwards and 2 defensemen in the lineup last night that they drafted! Everyone else has been acquired by trade, waivers or signed as a UFA!
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I wanted to take a quick look at the trades/waiver claims from last season and this season. I didn't include AHL or minor trades, only trades that affected the NHL roster. I wanted to layout to Sens fans, how Dorion has failed to upgrade this roster substantially in any way and how bad he's failing this franchise. Sens fans are told by Dorion that this team is going to take a step forward this season, or that the rebuild is over. Or better yet the owner says Dorion is going to add a top 6 forward and a top 4 defenseman. Well, when you look at the moves below, no wonder this team is such a mess. The youth on this team hasn't been given the proper pieces to work with as they grow and develop. Dorion has failed the players and coaching staff, plain and simple!
- Josh Brown was acquired from Florida(Oct.2/2020) for a 4th round pick and was immediately given a 2-year contract. Not sure why it couldn't have been a one year deal to see how he fit in, but Dorion probably listen to DJ Smith as he did with Zaitsev and Hainsey. It's very clear he's not capable of playing in the NHL on a regular basis.
- Matt Murray was acquired from Pittsburgh on Oct. 7/202 and 2 days later signed a 4-year extension. We all know where he's playing now.
-Erik Gudbranson was acquired from Anaheim(Oct.8/2020) for a 5th rd. pick traded to Nashville for a 7th rd. pick in April.
-Austen Watson was acquired from Nashville on Oct. 10/2020 for 4th rd. pick. After this season, he still has one year left on his contract.
- Alex Galchenyuk signed as a UFA, Oct. 28/2020. He scored 1G in 8 games, -6 as well. Before being traded to Toronto. But I had to post this quote from Sens GM Pierre Dorion.
"Alex's signing represents another good addition for us at forward," said Senators general manager Pierre Dorion. "He's versatile in that he can play both left-wing and centre. He's gifted offensively, has been a solid power-play contributor and is a proven goal scorer in this league."
- Brayden Cobourn and Cedric Paquette were acquired from TB on Dec. 27/2020.
-Jan. 12/2021 Ottawa loses Rudolph Balcers on waivers to the SJ Sharks, so the Sens could keep Galchenyuk in the lineup. Alex played 8 games and scored once for the Sens! We all know Balcers has since signed a 2-year extension in SJ.
-Galchenyuk and Cedric Paquette traded to Carolina for Ryan Dzingel on Feb. 13/2021.
-Anton Forsberg is claimed off waivers on March 17th. This has turned out to be a great pick up by Dorion!
Cobourn for a 7th rd. pick
- Christian Wolanin was traded on March 29 or Mike Amadio. The Sens didn't qualify Amadio in the off-season and let him become a UFA. He signed in Toronto and has since been picked up off waivers by Vegas.
-Victor Mete is claimed off waivers on April 12th. In a small sample size, he played well in the last 12 games of the season, but as Pierre McGuire said at the time, fool's gold. Ottawa already had a smaller puck-moving defenseman in Erik Brannstrom, therefore clogging up the development of prospects.
-Ottawa trades Dadonov to Vegas for Nick Hoden, he has been solid for Ottawa, plus they shed Dadonov's 5M per year salary, problem is, it was never used to acquire a top 6 forward as Dorion said he would use the money that was saved to put talent back into the lineup. No surprise, another broken promise.
-MDZ signs for 2 years with Ottawa after he was on a PTO the year before in CLB. In fact, no other team was offering MDZ a 2-year contract but Ottawa. Again, another defenseman that wasn't needed when you had Mete and Brannstrom with a similar skill set. This money could've been used to upgrade the forward position.
-Tyler Ennis PTO on Sept. 19, then a 1 year deal on Oct. 7th. Ennis is a good depth player, but why not have some of the youth gain experience instead of Ennis taking a spot in the lineup.
-Ottawa trades Logan Brown to STL for Zach Sanford. Dorion didn't want to keep Brown around any longer after watching him go through the motions at the intrasquad game.
-Ottawa acquires Dylan Gambrell for a 7th round pick from SJ, in 10 games, he has registered zero points and is a -3.
-Ottawa claims Adam Gaudette off waivers, 5 days ago. He was a healthy scratch in Carolina.
The Sens are paying Watson(1.5M), Gambrell(1.1M), Sanford(2M) and for the most part this season, are playing on the 4th line. To spend 4.6M on your 4th line is absurd! Instead, they could be using that money on a top 6 forward, yet again Dorion has outdone himself! At least Colin White's salary is covered by insurance, 80% of it!
I'm really curious to hear Sens fans thoughts on how little Dorion has done to help this current lineup. Are you surprised by how little Dorion has done to improve this team over the last year and a half?
Thanks for reading.
Kevin
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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