Last Word on Hockey brings you our team of the decade series. We will dive into the best player at each position this decade for every organization. The biggest and the best at each position, with the most memorable moments in franchise history. Here is the Ottawa Senators decade line-up.
Ottawa Senators Decade Team
The Ottawa Senators were drama queens in the 2010s. They had some great moments like the Hamburglar run in 2015, and their 2017 playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Senators had terrible moments like their implosion during the 2017-2018 season and the following rebuild. They also had fans protest against the owner Eugene Melnyk after he threatened to move the team. There have been emotional moments, like Craig Anderson getting a shutout in his first game back after attending to his wife with cancer. Ottawa also had some strange moments like Mark Borowiecki interviewing Eugene Melnyk right before the 2018-2019 season.
However, with all the ups and downs, many players played well in the decade Here is the Ottawa Senators decade team.
Left Wing: Mike Hoffma
No Ottawa Senator could shoot the puck better than Mike Hoffman during the decade. His wrist shot and slap shot was hard, accurate and deadly. Down below is video evidence.
He had more tools than just his shot. He was also a fast skater and a good playmaker. His 230 points in 342 games played makes him the highest-scoring left winger for the Senators during the decade.
Hoffman had a bad end to his Senators’ run in June of 2018. Erik Karlsson‘s wife, Melinda, applied for an order of protection in an Ottawa court against Hoffman’s partner, Monika Caryk, because of alleged cyberbullying. The story went viral, and the Senators traded Hoffman to the San Jose Sharks on June 19, 2018, with Cody Donaghey and a fifth-round pick. In exchange, Ottawa received Mikkel Boedker, Julius Bergman and a sixth-round pick. A few hours later, the Sharks traded him to the Florida Panthers along with a seventh-round pick for a second, fourth and fifth-round pick.
Centre: Kyle Turri
The Ottawa Senators acquired Kyle Turris on Dec.17, 2011 when they traded David Rundblad and a second-round pick (Anthony Stolartz) to the Arizona Coyotes to acquire the struggling 22-year-old centre. He grew to be a top-six centre with the Senators. He is third on the team in scoring during the decade with 117 goals, 157 assists for 274 points in 402 games.
Turris was Mr.Dependable in Ottawa. He was usually able to put up 50-60 points a season. Turris’s wrist shot was fantastic, and he had good speed and hands. He was also dependable in his own end. As Ottawa’s number one centre, he led them to game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals against Pittsburgh before falling in double overtime.
He was also big in the community. Turris and his wife Julie spent a lot of their time with the Capital City Condors, a family of hockey teams for disabled youth. Here is a Sportsnet feature on the about the relationship between Kyle and Julie and the Condors
In November of 2017, the Senators traded Turris to the Nashville Predators in a three-way trade that saw Ottawa acquire Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche.
Right Wing: Mark Ston
Mark Stone started the decade as a random prospect that the Senators drafted 178th overall in the 2010 draft. By the time he was traded at last season’s deadline, he was viewed as one of the best forwards in the NHL due to his talent both offensively and defensively.
Stone is second on the team in points scored during the decade with 123 goals, 188 assists for 311 points in 366 games. He burst onto the scene with the Senators in the 2014-2015 season, where he scored 64 points in 80 games and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy. In his five full seasons as a Senator, he only scored below 60 points once.
Defensively, he has been a rockstar. His 599 takeaways since he’s been in the NHL is first in the league by 85, and his Corsi For percentage has never gone below 52 percent. Last season he was a finalist for the Selke trophy.
Here is an example of Stone’s defensive and offensive talent.
During last season, the Senators were unable to re-sign Stone, and they traded him to the Vegas Golden Knights at the 2019 deadline for Erik Brannstrom, a 2020 second-round pick and Tobias Lindberg.
Right Defence: Erik Karlsso
Erik Karlsson is not only the best player the Ottawa Senators have had this decade; he is the franchise’s best player, period. During the decade, he led the team with 647 games played, goals with 126, assists with 392 and points with 518. He also won two Norris trophies during the decade (2012 and 2015) and was one of the best defencemen in the 2010s.
Karlsson was a wizard on the ice. He was an unreal skater, super fast and had great agility. His skating allowed him to gain separation from defenders and also catch attacking forwards. He was a fantastic passer. The pass he made to Hoffman in the 2017 playoffs against the Boston Bruins, where he flipped the puck high in the air from his zone and had it land on Hoffman’s stick on the Bruins’ blueline was unbelievable. The video is below. Karlsson also had a hard slap shot and a deadly accurate wrist shot that he could get through traffic.
Karlsson was at his best in the 2017 playoffs. On a broken ankle, he scored 16 points in 19 games and played 28:08 minutes a night. He received one Conn Smythe vote even though his team was eliminated in the third round.
After months of trade speculation, the Senators traded Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks on September 13, 2018, along with Francis Perron. The Senators acquired Josh Norris, Chris Tierney, Dylan DeMelo, Rudolfs Balcers, 2019 second-round pick, a 2020 first-round pick, and a conditional 2021 second-round pick.
Left defence: Marc Metho
Erik Karlsson’s trusty defensive partner. Marc Methot was not flashy; he only scored 69 points in 304 games as a Senator. But his impact was felt on the defensive end while he let Karlsson take care of business on the offensive end.
Methot joined the Senators during the 2012 offseason. He was traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to Ottawa for Nick Foligno. Methot was a stereotypical big, rugged, stay at home defenceman. He played a physical game, only once in his five seasons as a Senator he did not register over 120 hits. However, he was clean. Only once he exceeded 30 penalty minutes in a season. He was known as a hip-check specialist, just watch the video below.
Marc Methot was left exposed by the Senators in the 2017 expansion draft. Ottawa wanted to protect Karlsson and Cody Ceci and they were forced to protect Dion Phaneuf because of his no-movement clause. The Golden Knights selected Methot but quickly traded him to the Dallas Stars.
Goaltender: Craig Anderso
Not only is Craig Anderson the Ottawa Senators’ best goalie of the decade. He’s the Senators’ best goalie of all-time. His 422 games played is first all-time and 151 games further than the next closest goalie, Patrick Lalime. He also leads all Senators goalies in wins (202) and save percentage (.914) among goalies who have played more than 100 games for the club.
Ottawa acquired Anderson on Feb.18, 2011, after they traded Brian Elliott for Anderson. He was a great goalie for Ottawa. During his first six seasons as a Senator, his save percentage never dropped below .911. In the 2013 season, he had to fend off young up and coming goalies Ben Bishop and Robin Lehner to keep his job. He did so with posting a 1.69 goals-against average and .941 save percentage in 24 games during the lockout-shortened season.
He won the Bill Masterton Trophy in the 2016-2017 season as the player who showed the most perseverance and dedication to the game. His wife, Nicole, had cancer and Anderson still had a great season. He did take some time off to take care of his family. In his first game back, he posted a shutout against the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton. After the game, he received cheers as the game’s first star. It was one of the most emotional moments of Senators’ decade.
Anderson is the only player on this list who is still a member of the team. However, it looks like Ottawa’s plan is to have Anders Nilsson and Marcus Hogberg as the two goalies for next season. And with the rest of the regular season still in limbo because of COVID-19, Anderson might have played his last game as a Senator.
Honourable mentions
Before Karlsson became a star player, the best player on the Ottawa Senators was Jason Spezza. He is Ottawa’s only true number one centre during the decade and was the team captain during the 2013-2014 season. In 282 games, Spezza scored 103 goals, added 166 assists for 269 points, which puts him fourth in 2010s scoring. Overall, he is second in all-time points for the Senators.
Milan Michalek was Ottawa’s best left-winger during the first half of the 2010s. He was a talented player, he was fast, powerful, had a good shot and hands. His 224 points in 412 games put him seventh in Senators’ scoring in the 2010s. The main issue for Michalek is he could rarely stay healthy for a full season.
Chris Phillips was a stable presence for Ottawa on defence during the first half of the 2010s. He played around 20 minutes a night and was a physical stay at home defenceman. Phillips earned a Norris trophy vote in the 2009-2010 season. He retired in 2016 as the franchise’s all-time leader in games played. The Senators retired his number this season.
Main Photo:
