The Ottawa Senators have some more injury news to report. Just in case anyone has not realized it yet, this is a roller coaster of a season for the Ottawa Senators organization. Their General Manager Pierre Dorion has remained very busy throughout. Furthermore, the team has had some costly injuries that have caused Dorion to make some moves. Finally, it is a good chance to do some reflection and look forward to what is ahead.
The Ottawa Senators Team Play Despite Injuries this Year
The team’s play has been the centre of attention for most of the year. This is evident from their recent stretch of play. After getting right into the thick of the race, being within three points they have cooled off. They collected only one win in five games on their western road trip. Are they currently out of the playoff race? No, but they need to get very hot very quickly. Somewhere to the tune of 25 points in their final 15 games, or approximately a .833 WIN%. However, they are a streaky team and coming off this little slump, we can expect them to get hot coming home.
Some Costly Injuries for the Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators seem like they have some important injury news. The reason the team’s streaky play has contributed from the injuries. Have the Senators had a lot of injuries? You could argue no, and with the wave of injuries around the league, you cannot say they are necessarily disproportionately affected. Conversely, the significance of the injuries has been noteworthy for the Senators. Josh Norris has missed the majority of the season, and at the beginning of the season was essentially their top centre. Now, this has been hidden by the emergence of Tim Stutzle as a superstar and also the veteran leadership of Claude Giroux. Moreover, their goaltending has also been hit with the injury bug, namely in their top two goalies, Cam Talbot and Anton Forsberg currently out. This has caused them to possibly rush Mads Sogaard and forced them to go with their number four guy, Kevin Mandolese.
Mathieu Joseph Injury Update
In terms of other injuries, more appear to be creeping up on them. For starters, Mathieu Joseph took a hard crash into the boards in Ottawa’s recent game against the Calgary Flames. He looks to miss some time. In 47 games thus far, he has been a solid third-line contributor. He has three goals and 14 assists but has not quite regained his early success with the club. Last year, after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Nick Paul, Joseph was on a heater. He scored 12 points in just 11 contests. To Joseph’s credit, in that stretch, he had been seeing top-line ice time, with Brady Tkachuk and Norris.
The Thomas Chabot Injury and a Look at his Play
One key piece that has recently been hit with the injury bug is star defenceman, Thomas Chabot. He was on the ice briefly Tuesday morning for practice, but left and did not suit up against the Edmonton Oilers. For Chabot, he has appeared in 61 games this year. In addition, he missed a few games in November from a hit by Travis Konecny. Despite the rough season, and taking some heat from the fan base for costly turnovers, Chabot is having a nice year. He plays over 25 minutes a night and is on track for the second-highest defensive point share of his career at 2.9. His CF% Rel is also the second highest of his career at 11.4%. He helms the point on the top power play unit and has 36 points. Again, the point total could be his second-best by the season’s end.
Some Positive Individual News for the Club
So injuries aside, and their streaky play, let us mention some of their high points. By potting his 68th career goal against Edmonton, Tim Stutzle has the most goals scored by a Senator in their first three seasons. With the goal, he passed Daniel Alfredsson’s 67 for the top spot. Additionally, another brought spot has been the roster moves. Goaltender Mads Sogaard has done well in his run as a starter. Also, the trade for Jakob Chychrun was definitely a very pleasant surprise for the fan base. Chychrun has not disappointed in his short time with the club. He already has two goals and two assists in seven games and has appeared on the power play. To sum up, the Senators do have a lot of positives to take away. If they can continue to develop their young stars, with this roster, barring major injuries, next season they will make the playoffs.
Main Photo: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
