Ottawa Senators Season Preview

[dickiedunn]

STATE OF THE NATION
A year removed from an all out rebuild and a last place finish, Ottawa ended the 2012-13 campaign as the 10th best team in the league.

Management has the Sens headed in the right direction and were the team to beat in the Eastern Conference last year.

Dealing the first overall pick in the 2012 entry draft landed Ottawa two critical ingredients to their present and future success in Sens starting goaltender Braden Holtby and franchise goalie of the future Andrey Vasilevsky whom the team drafted with the 14th overall pick they received from Washington.

Other key players in the Sens success were Subban's Norris winning breakout season, Mike Del Zotto's emergence as a premier blueliner, Dennis Wideman's resurgence as a PP monster and Matt Read's consistent point production until his season ending injury.

The departure of Jason Garrison as Ottawa used it's only Amnesty buyout will be damped by the free agent signs of Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov to considerably less expensive deals.

PROSPECT ROUNDUP
Last year, Holtby stepped in to fill the goaltending void in Ottawa and management expects him to be on place for the foreseeable future or until Vasilevsky supplants him in a few years.

The Senators have a Grade A crop of prospects waiting for their big break and for a number of them, that could come as early as this season.

Here's a look at the five biggest prospects for the Sens:

Vasilevsky - Drafted by the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning could conceivably steal the starters job from Holtby but will likely remain in the Konrinental Hockey League for another year of seasoning.

Mark Scheifele was drafted by the NHL's Winnipeg Jets 7th overall in 2011 and appears to be ready to contribute as a top 6 winger this season if he can show that he can hold his own against bigger, stronger, faster NHL defensemen.

Jacob Trouba is yet another prospect from the NHL Jets system taken 9th overall in 2012. Trouba may need to gain some experience at the minor league level before earning a full-time job with the parent club.

Colten Teubert saw his career stall in 2012-13 but looks to compete for a bottom pair role. Failing that, Teubert could be better off with another team as he has shown his play both with and without the puck are both FNHL and NHL ready.

Vladislav Namestnikov is another highly regarded prospect currently in the Lightning's farm system. After dropping in the 2011 NHL entry due to the Russian factor, Namestnikov has demonstrated his commitment to reaching the parent club and is expected to be an exciting two-way winger when (and if) he arrives as he is considered too small to play his natural position of Center standing at 5'11".

2013-14 OUTLOOK
Ottawa looks to be a serious Stanley Cup contender with a good mix of veteran leadership and youthful talent.

Opponents should expects high scoring match-ups and possibly another blockbuster trade to go along with their recently completed deal that saw Patrick Sharp coming over in exchange for Mike Richards and Brian Campbell, which was on the heals of a deal with the Jets that netted Joe Pavelski.

[PsychoticPondGoons]

Nice going Dickie!
Hartnell must've helped your team out last year before you let him walk to free agency?

[PigsRule]

STATE OF THE NATION
A year removed from an all out rebuild and a last place finish, Ottawa ended the 2012-13 campaign as the 10th best team in the league.

Management has the Sens headed in the right direction and were the team to beat in the Eastern Conference last year.

Dealing the first overall pick in the 2012 entry draft landed Ottawa two critical ingredients to their present and future success in Sens starting goaltender Braden Holtby and franchise goalie of the future Andrey Vasilevsky whom the team drafted with the 14th overall pick they received from Washington.

Other key players in the Sens success were Subban's Norris winning breakout season, Mike Del Zotto's emergence as a premier blueliner, Dennis Wideman's resurgence as a PP monster and Matt Read's consistent point production until his season ending injury.

The departure of Jason Garrison as Ottawa used it's only Amnesty buyout will be damped by the free agent signs of Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov to considerably less expensive deals.

PROSPECT ROUNDUP
Last year, Holtby stepped in to fill the goaltending void in Ottawa and management expects him to be on place for the foreseeable future or until Vasilevsky supplants him in a few years.

The Senators have a Grade A crop of prospects waiting for their big break and for a number of them, that could come as early as this season.

Here's a look at the five biggest prospects for the Sens:

Vasilevsky - Drafted by the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning could conceivably steal the starters job from Holtby but will likely remain in the Konrinental Hockey League for another year of seasoning.

Mark Scheifele was drafted by the NHL's Winnipeg Jets 7th overall in 2011 and appears to be ready to contribute as a top 6 winger this season if he can show that he can hold his own against bigger, stronger, faster NHL defensemen.

Jacob Trouba is yet another prospect from the NHL Jets system taken 9th overall in 2012. Trouba may need to gain some experience at the minor league level before earning a full-time job with the parent club.

Colten Teubert saw his career stall in 2012-13 but looks to compete for a bottom pair role. Failing that, Teubert could be better off with another team as he has shown his play both with and without the puck are both FNHL and NHL ready.

Vladislav Namestnikov is another highly regarded prospect currently in the Lightning's farm system. After dropping in the 2011 NHL entry due to the Russian factor, Namestnikov has demonstrated his commitment to reaching the parent club and is expected to be an exciting two-way winger when (and if) he arrives as he is considered too small to play his natural position of Center standing at 5'11".

2013-14 OUTLOOK
Ottawa looks to be a serious Stanley Cup contender with a good mix of veteran leadership and youthful talent.

Opponents should expects high scoring match-ups and possibly another blockbuster trade to go along with their recently completed deal that saw Patrick Sharp coming over in exchange for Mike Richards and Brian Campbell, which was on the heals of a deal with the Jets that netted Joe Pavelski.

nice work!

[PsychoticPondGoons]

Someone's a closet journalist. LOL

[Burkes Boys]

[jackdaniels]

I'll post a preview later this week. Good reading.

[PsychoticPondGoons]

STATE OF THE NATION
A year removed from an all out rebuild and a last place finish, Ottawa ended the 2012-13 campaign as the 10th best team in the league.

Management has the Sens headed in the right direction and were the team to beat in the Eastern Conference last year.


2013-14 OUTLOOK
Ottawa looks to be a serious Stanley Cup contender with a good mix of veteran leadership and youthful talent.

Opponents should expects high scoring match-ups and possibly another blockbuster trade to go along with their recently completed deal that saw Patrick Sharp coming over in exchange for Mike Richards and Brian Campbell, which was on the heals of a deal with the Jets that netted Joe Pavelski.

This is a great example of a good fantasy team rebuild! 
Sens plugged all the holes on it's roster and went from last to 1st over 3 seasons. 

The Anaheim Ducks are on a similar path. Cloud looks like he started off in the league with no goalies and has built himself a killer team that's going to challenge for the CUP!

[dickiedunn]

Thank you, PPG!

That 10th place finish last year was somewhat disappointing but it was still a big stride forward for the Sens franchise. I hope Ottawa can reach the final four this season and really make a strong push for the FNHL Stanley Cup.

- Owner Dickie Dunn

[PigsRule]

that was a classic tear down / rebuild.

always fun to watch one of those rebuilding projects in a league.