what terrible lines... Smith is not even a AHL coach yet alone a NHL one....
- Mithos

I would switch Paul and Brown with Formenton and Ennis 🤦‍♂️👌

In a nutshell:

We just need to be patient and stay the course. Allow time for the younger guys to develop. But they need to play to develop. They need to make mistakes and learn.

No more stop gap “character veterans” that are “big bodies” and “hard to play against”. Last season, once Stepan was injured, and Gudbranson, Paquette, et al were moved out, Smith was for forced to play the kids. And what happened? We ended the season on a VERY positive note. Then in the offseason AGAIN he brought in a bunch of vets in MDZ, Holden, and the forward scrubs we have. And now we suck again. Go figure.

So if Dorion makes the same mistake for a third offseason (Summer 2022) in a row, then I will have completely lost ANY hope he is a competent GM. Perhaps he’s best served as head of scouting.

And I agree 100% with the point Kevin made in the article about some guys having longer leashes than others. There needs to be consistent expectations within the roster. Thomson is already better than MDZ, Mete, and Brown. Let him play. Same goes for Formenton. All those vets brought in were to “insulate” the young players. Well when the young guy in question has proven on the ice he doesn’t need insulating, why is DJ still sheltering him and playing vets who aren’t as good instead?

You can't force players to develop faster. With all the talent in the pipeline this team is about 3 years away from being good for a long time. When you try to rush guys along you end up like the Edmonton Oilers who sucked for a decade even with all those 1-OAs, and despite having the 2 top scorers in the league they still don't have enough depth to make a serious playoff run. Losing sucks and if the coach is legitimately impacting the development of the core players then that's a separate issue, but no one is playing for this season in Ottawa.
- Udogs

Well said, but that is just it, the coach is impacting the youth for the wrong reasons. Mann down in Belleville is dynamite!

I would switch Paul and Brown with Formenton and Ennis 🤦‍♂️👌
- sens4life1971

I know a few have said this and here are a few lines that would be nice. And not just for one game!

Tkachuk/Norris/Sanford
Formenton/Stutzle/Batherson
Paul/Tierney/Brown
Ennis/Gambrell/Watson

Its wild that Gaudette played that first game, but his mistakes from the first game made him a healthy scratch. If only DJ employed this notion with the entire roster, not a healthy scratch but rather let these young guys work through their mistakes. There is no expectations on this roster, let the kids grow, progress for next year!

Man. That list really puts things into perspective. Dorion has pulled off some good moves in his tenure but reading that list made me worry about the future. You can’t pull off 1 good move for every 5 or 10 bad ones and expect to be competitive.

For every Colorado and Edmonton rebuild, there is a Buffalo and New Jersey rebuild struggling. Even Edmonton, rebuilt once and ended up doing it again once they realized they still stunk. There was a time Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, and Hall were the saviors.

Which way will the Sens go?

While some patients is needed, Dorion has proven he cannot surround the core of this team with suitable options. Not unlike Edmonton before the Connor McDavid days, who eventually changed the GM.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Well said my friend! I will be hitting in my postgame blog on what Dorion had to say today at his presser.

It's been largely said already, but in general what's most disappointing is the relative lack of progression. Last year saw the successful introduction of Batherson/Norris/Stutzle to the lineup, but this year has been a complete face-plant in terms of Formenton/Pinto being effectively brought in, plus Stutzle has to some extend regressed. They clogged the D-pairings once again, which has come at the direct expense of Brannstrom, and limited the ability of Thomson to prove his value. You could argue that demoting Murray has created a deserved opportunity for Gustavsson/Forsberg to share the net... but that's also a major unforced error on Dorion's part, in terms of wildly over-paying a player that had all kinds of yellow flags about their rate of decline.

Three very easy improvements they could start making right away would be:
1) No more adding NHL veterans, unless they can play a 3rd line F, or 2nd D pairing role better than the young players in the system
2) Let the young skill players (e.g. Stutzle, Formenton) start to develop chemistry by playing together, instead of isolating them with fringe NHL players
3) Have at least 1 AHL prospect on the 4th line at all times (with 2nd unit PP time), as a development opportunity (e.g. Sokolov, Jarventie, Crookshank)

None of that will happen, of course, but it would at least stop the congestion of the lineup with mediocre players that absolutely nobody really wants to pay good money to watch.
- khawk

Great post my friend! When you look at this line up, not even half of it will be here in a year or year and a half, so let the youth play and like you said, call up the kids from Belleville here and there to get a taste of the NHL!

Good observations!

I think the main problem is Dorion and Smith are terrified of losing their jobs. The season is lost but their focus is on win now so play the veterans and don’t take a chance on grooming the young players. This thinking worked for them at the end of last season when other teams were tanking, the Sens put the pedal to the medal. This worked for them but the Senators went from a top 5 pick to finish 10th and picked Boucher. The pick of Boucher at 10 was ridiculed by all other NHL scouts and hockey analysts. So far this year they are right, it was a very bad choice. I expect the boys will do the same thing this year, try to stomp on the tanking teams to save their jobs.
- Barrykerr1

Thanks!
I said it in another reply, I truly hope we don't get stuck picking in the middle third of the draft because they have his glorious finish again! Ugh!

In a nutshell:

We just need to be patient and stay the course. Allow time for the younger guys to develop. But they need to play to develop. They need to make mistakes and learn.

No more stop gap “character veterans” that are “big bodies” and “hard to play against”. Last season, once Stepan was injured, and Gudbranson, Paquette, et al were moved out, Smith was for forced to play the kids. And what happened? We ended the season on a VERY positive note. Then in the offseason AGAIN he brought in a bunch of vets in MDZ, Holden, and the forward scrubs we have. And now we suck again. Go figure.

So if Dorion makes the same mistake for a third offseason (Summer 2022) in a row, then I will have completely lost ANY hope he is a competent GM. Perhaps he’s best served as head of scouting.

And I agree 100% with the point Kevin made in the article about some guys having longer leashes than others. There needs to be consistent expectations within the roster. Thomson is already better than MDZ, Mete, and Brown. Let him play. Same goes for Formenton. All those vets brought in were to “insulate” the young players. Well when the young guy in question has proven on the ice he doesn’t need insulating, why is DJ still sheltering him and playing vets who aren’t as good instead?
- PavohnDatsvares

Great points! Dorion has the rest of the season to right the ship, but don't panic either.

I think the blockbuster move is coming, I'm quite sure that Melynk will love this one, he will save almost $2M over the next 8 years! Blues send Colton Parayko to Sens for Brady Tkachuk, the Sens will have their star defenseman they have been looking for!
- IBleedBlu1

Oh funny, very funny!

I like this team a lot.

Rebuilds are tricky. Positive outcomes will always seem so far away until they actually happen. Injuries to White and Pinto were serious disruptions.

The future of this team is the #1 power play (Norris, Tkachuk, Batherson, Stuetzle and Chabot). Some positive adds coming through the system and maybe another lottery pick on the horizon. This year is a hiccup in the rebuild process. Be patient! Give the kids a chance to grow into their game.
- spatso

You say give the kids a chance to grow into their game, but that's the problem, the coach doesn't apply the same logic to ALL of his younger players. If he did, then fans and media wouldn't be on him the way they are. Plus some of this youth has regressed this year, that is on the coaching staff!!!

So.. its a goal because the puck was going to cross the line?

That's a weird one.

WOW! 2-2 going into the 2nd period and Ottawa now up 5-2! 2nd periods are usually the worst for Ottawa, nice to see this goal eruption!

So.. its a goal because the puck was going to cross the line?

That's a weird one.
- david22

That was a weird one, I agree, but its nice to have a break go the Sens way for once!

Win or lose, love this team.

Oh funny, very funny!
- Kevin Francis

Must be bluetaco sister 😂🤦‍♂️

Love these kids!