Guest Writer: Not so lazy afternoon! Trades, wins, and lightsabers!

Yes or No --- Do you think if the Ottawa Senators had a top 2/3 Right shot D-man (Parayko, Petry) -- would they be in a playoff spot or very close (1-3 points out)?

NO

Everyone and their mother is looking for the same thing the Sens are. The Sens aren't making the play offs. It will be a huge ask and a huge overpay.

I'm not prepared to give up anything beyond our protected first, Formenton's rights and something from the minors. And in saying that, whoever we get needs to be here long term.

The Bruins are firing on all cylinders. This team is dialed in. Mandolese will get eaten alive.

Great Blog. Ryan Reynolds backed the wrong group. Oh well. It would have been fun.

Great blog. Hope you have signed up to do another one. I like the guest blog approach. Encouraged to see some people coming in and posting comments for a first time.

Thanks.

- Solidify the bottom six forwards
- Solidify goaltending
- New management and coaching
- Solidify the defence
- Re-engage fans and the community
- New building/massive renovation to Canadian Tire Centre (not realistic for October 2023, but plans)

Thoughtful list.

My first priority is Re-engage fans and the community.

No secret, I have long believed all Sens problems, both on and off the ice were directly tied to flakey ownership. At some time we will learn that some of the really bad player decisions were because of an owner that stuck his nose in places it should not be. Alfredsson, Zibanejad, Karlsson were teased out in the presence of an owner with ever changing moods.

The reengaging of community is an ownership issue. Right now it is going good.

Gauthier has moments, good ones. My feeling is he never really got enough ice time or a bigger role. His speed and size are undeniably good. If you slot him as the 3RW game in game out, he could be 15-20 goals a season. He was miscast all season on our 4th line because of Vesey imo

I think this is a good deal for the sens, certainly better than a 4th rd pick which is what Motte got Vancouver last year. With all that said, I’m very happy to have Motte back. He was a big part of last years run

it is going well. They're still ignoring Gatineau/Hull/Aylmer though. And at a time when they're about to build a stone's throw away from those three communities. They have some francaphone players you could do a couple of tours over there.

Unfortunate.

1. New management and coaching
2. Solidify the defence
3. Solidify the bottom six forwards
4. Solidify goaltending
5. Re-engage fans and the community
6. New building/massive renovation to Canadian Tire Centre

1. New management and coaching
2. Solidify the defence
3. Solidify the bottom six forwards
4. Solidify goaltending
5. Re-engage fans and the community
6. New building/massive renovation to Canadian Tire Centre
- SensFan25

New Coaching staff might eliminate the need for shoring up the defense. Jacques Martin or Marc Methot or Luc Richardson would have been excellent head or assistant coaches. Our current gum chewer and staff aren't really doing any coaching at all. The players are excelling in spite of them not because of them. Talent will only get you so far, structure is sorely needed.

Yes or No --- Do you think if the Ottawa Senators had a top 2/3 Right shot D-man (Parayko, Petry) -- would they be in a playoff spot or very close (1-3 points out)?
- AlfieisKing

There are more issues than just a right hand d-man. I'd argue if it was just a right hand d-man issue, this team would already be more in the playoff conversation. 5 on 5 play has struggled all year. Yesterday was the first game that it wasn't really an issue, but against a struggling Blues team.

NO

Everyone and their mother is looking for the same thing the Sens are. The Sens aren't making the play offs. It will be a huge ask and a huge overpay.

I'm not prepared to give up anything beyond our protected first, Formenton's rights and something from the minors. And in saying that, whoever we get needs to be here long term.

The Bruins are firing on all cylinders. This team is dialed in. Mandolese will get eaten alive.

Great Blog. Ryan Reynolds backed the wrong group. Oh well. It would have been fun.
- Octavarium

The bold was my immediate first thought after reading more about the Remington group but we shall see. NHL really wants Reynolds involved somehow, someway. Will be an interesting couple of months.

Thanks for the blog comments!

Great blog. Hope you have signed up to do another one. I like the guest blog approach. Encouraged to see some people coming in and posting comments for a first time.

Thanks.
- spatso

Thanks! I think a few of us are game to keep the guest blog approach going.

Something I missed with Julien Gauthier was the connection to Tomas Chabot and Mathieu Joseph. Played on the Saint Johns Sea Dogs in 2016-2017 together.

Shouldn't be surprising as Dorion loves to make a deal for a player with current roster familiarity, despite being years removed and a different league entirely.

Something I missed with Julien Gauthier was the connection to Tomas Chabot and Mathieu Joseph. Played on the Saint Johns Sea Dogs in 2016-2017 together.

Shouldn't be surprising as Dorion loves to make a deal for a player with current roster familiarity, despite being years removed and a different league entirely.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Do not discount the importance of building a roster that has strong french language skills and and they are accessible to fans and media. Upwards of 35% of National Capital Region are french speaking. Thomas Chabot, Claude Giroux, Joseph, Brassard et.al., makes for strong community identification.

Well the boys were humming against St. Louis that's certain. After a somewhat boring first period they seemed to turn on the jets and took over the game against a blues team that looks to be just a ghost of the team that won the Cup not that long ago.

Tkachuk, Stutzle and Giroux were dominant along with Batherson, Pinto and DeBrincat.

That Batherson pass to Pinto and the DeBrincat pass to Batherson were things of beauty and the finish shown by Pinto and then Batherson was top tier.

Once again Stutzle and Tkachuk put on a show for the crowd with Stutzle just owning Greiss on both of his goals and Tkachuk showing good hand eye coordination on his.

Sogard looked solid again which bodes well for the future and Greig potted his first.

Chabot was strong all the way through playing the kind of game I expect from him.

Tkachuk really lost his cool when they blew the game against Chicago because he knew how important that point was. I've never seen him like that before and maybe it put a bit of the fear of God into the rest of the team. Just kidding. I think they all want to win and make the playoffs but maybe his anger helped some of them believe a bit more.

I look forward to seeing how they do against Boston.

I don't know anything about Gauthier other than what they say. He's big and can skate and plays with a bit of an edge. Might end being an effective bottom six RW. Motte was steady and dependable which is what the Rangers wanted but I don't think he fit in with the Sens plans. Would have liked a better pick coming back but it's no great catastrophe and may work out well overall.

It looks to me like Giroux has been fading a bit of late which is no surprise considering his age and the tempo of guys like Stutzle and Tkachuk. I think when Norris gets back we'll see him playing the RW alongside Stutzle and Tkachuk while Giroux slides down to play with Greig whom he seemed to connect well with. This depends a bit on what happens with DeBrincat and I have no clue what will happen there. A lot depends on what the new owners will decide to do with Dorion.

I think I've made it pretty clear what I would like to see but if the new owners are just a bunch of real estate guys who don't care too much about the team or hockey we might end up with another season of the dynamic duo of Dorion and Smith.

They're starting to think that they're too good to score just regular old goals but need to dazzle the puck into the net. What a waste of an opportunity!

1. New management and coaching
2. Solidify the defence
3. Solidify the bottom six forwards
4. Solidify goaltending
5. Re-engage fans and the community
6. New building/massive renovation to Canadian Tire Centre
- SensFan25

I think if you do number 1 well you stand a better chance with 2, 3 and 4 so that's top priority.

Since we haven't seen anything from JBD or Thomson to suggest they can play a top 4 role I would say that if a very good RD becomes available and doesn't cost too much that would be a priority.

Normally I would put goaltending in that number 2 spot but let's see what these two young guys can do for the rest of the year.

For sure for sure they need a better bottom six or they're not winning anything.

If they take care of 1, 2, 3 and 4 number 5 will take care of itself and a winner will draw fans anywhere.

Not too concerned about number 6 if there is a parade happening in the not too distant future.

As an outsider, I think the biggest problem is overall defensive structure has been a mess with the sens for quite some time under multiple coaches. Not sure why this is. Good coaches can turn averages players into a good defence given the proper structure. Jacques Martin comes to mind. I look at guys like Thomas chabot who is talented offensively but leaves a lot to be desired in his own zone. Has he really improved much there since he first came into the league? Under a good coach, you would be able to see his brain farts get less frequent but I’m not sure that’s the case.

Many thanks to both Octavarium and Gord_Wilson_2.0 for being part of the guest writers rotation. I've worked out a potential schedule for the remainder of the season, with a basic structure that alternates between a mid-week and weekend update. It works out to having an update for every ~2GP, which should allow for a good amount of game-specific content per blog.

Blog E - Sat. Feb. 25 (CAR/MTL) -
Blog F - Tue. Feb. 28 (DET/DET) -
Blog G - Sat. Mar. 4 (NYR/CBJ) -

Blog H - Thu. Mar. 9 (CHI/SEA) -
Blog I - Sun. Mar. 12 (VAN/CGY) -
Blog J - Thu. Mar. 16 (EDM/COL) -
Blog K - Sat. Mar. 18 (TOR) -
Blog L - Tue. Mar. 21 (PIT/BOS) -
Blog M - Sat. Mar. 25 (TB/NJ) -

Blog N - Thu Mar. 30 (FLA/PHI) -
Blog O - Sun. Apr. 2 (TOR/CBJ) -
Blog P - Thu. Apr. 6 (CAR/FLA) -
Blog Q - Mon. Apr. 10 (TB/CAR) -
Blog R - Thu. Apr. 13 (BUF) -

Please let me know if you'd like to write a guest blog, and which one you'd like to sign up for. I'm going to be away for 2 weeks in March, so I won't be able to contribute written pieces in that time, though I'm happy to assist with the review/submission process to HB during that time. I've marked off those blogs for which I'll be away for in italics, and hopefully we'll get enough people signed up to cover that time off.

anyone else notice that boston is clearing their zone trough center ice because ther is never a sens in front of the net

Many thanks to both Octavarium and Gord_Wilson_2.0 for being part of the guest writers rotation. I've worked out a potential schedule for the remainder of the season, with a basic structure that alternates between a mid-week and weekend update. It works out to having an update for every ~2GP, which should allow for a good amount of game-specific content per blog.

Blog E - Sat. Feb. 25 (CAR/MTL) -
Blog F - Tue. Feb. 28 (DET/DET) -
Blog G - Sat. Mar. 4 (NYR/CBJ) -

Blog H - Thu. Mar. 9 (CHI/SEA) -
Blog I - Sun. Mar. 12 (VAN/CGY) -
Blog J - Thu. Mar. 16 (EDM/COL) -
Blog K - Sat. Mar. 18 (TOR) -
Blog L - Tue. Mar. 21 (PIT/BOS) -
Blog M - Sat. Mar. 25 (TB/NJ) -

Blog N - Thu Mar. 30 (FLA/PHI) -
Blog O - Sun. Apr. 2 (TOR/CBJ) -
Blog P - Thu. Apr. 6 (CAR/FLA) -
Blog Q - Mon. Apr. 10 (TB/CAR) -
Blog R - Thu. Apr. 13 (BUF) -

Please let me know if you'd like to write a guest blog, and which one you'd like to sign up for. I'm going to be away for 2 weeks in March, so I won't be able to contribute written pieces in that time, though I'm happy to assist with the review/submission process to HB during that time. I've marked off those blogs for which I'll be away for in italics, and hopefully we'll get enough people signed up to cover that time off.
- khawk

I can take blogs H-M if that if ok with everyone? I'll be busy the beginning of March (work) and beginning of April (vacation) but can hold the fort down for the dog days of March.

I can take blogs H-M if that if ok with everyone? I'll be busy the beginning of March (work) and beginning of April (vacation) but can hold the fort down for the dog days of March.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Works for me. Solid job on the current blog.

Well I called that game wrong.
I thought they'd get blown out.

Sleepy teams. It was a tight game, but seriously the Bruins barely being able to score on the AHL back up.

New Coaching staff might eliminate the need for shoring up the defense. Jacques Martin or Marc Methot or Luc Richardson would have been excellent head or assistant coaches. Our current gum chewer and staff aren't really doing any coaching at all. The players are excelling in spite of them not because of them. Talent will only get you so far, structure is sorely needed.
- Octavarium

I agree. They should not make any major moves until they have new management and a new coaching staff in place until American Thanksgiving.

New Coach before new GM.

And address the RHD issue in the offseason, via FA, where it doesn't cost you anything.

Unless they are withing 4 pts of the last spot in a week.

They have 4 games in 5 nights coming up....that will determine the next direction, IMO.

In other news, Gauthier didn't look lost. Looks huge on the ice. But that could be because everyone else on the Sens looks small.