The Ottawa Senators lineup on opening night will look much different than the one they started with during the 2017-2018 season. The roster has seen lots of turnover in the past year or so. It will very likely see turnover throughout the year as well. However, today we will be looking at what the Ottawa Senators may look like come opening night.
Ottawa Senators Lineup May Look Very Different This Year
The Lineup
There are lots of questions still about the Ottawa Senators this year. The Sens have lots of rookies pushing for spots on the team. They also have lots of trade rumours circling, in particular around the captain, Erik Karlsson. Most people will have disagreements on what the lines will look like. It will obviously change lots throughout the course of the year. With that being said, here is our prediction for the opening night lineup:
Ryan Dzingel – Matt Duchene – Bobby Ryan
Mikkel Boedker – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Mark Stone
Zack Smith – Logan Brown – Colin White
Magnus Paajarvi – Filip Chlapik – Tom Pyatt
Christian Wolanin – Erik Karlsson
Mark Borowiecki – Chris Wideman
Notables: Brady Tkachuk, Max McCormick, Ben Harpur, Marian Gaborik, Christian Jaros, Alex Formenton.
Top-6 Forward Notes:
The lines are not as important as who is on the team. Let’s break down the sections of the team, starting with the Top Six.
The top six is made up of all veterans. Unlike most, there are no rookies predicted in the top six. The reason for this being Guy Boucher still has not instilled a ton of faith to play any of these players, and for the most part, none of them have earned it just yet. Obviously, when it comes to lines training camp is going to have a huge impact. However, in looking at last seasons results it may be better to shelter some of the rookies.
Players like Chlapik and Brown will find their way into the top six eventually if they get to play a whole season. They may get sheltered minutes to start. That also is probably not the worst idea either. Many fasn seem to underestimate how hard it is to take top minutes as a rookie NHLer. .
As for the lines themselves, Matt Duchene needs speed to work with him, hence why Dzingel is right there. Boedker is also an option on the line, but the Sens likely start with Dzingel. On the other side, Ryan and Duchene were finding some chemistry when Ryan was playing last year, and the Sens would be smart to spread out the skill they have, so Stone could be moved down a line.
Bottom-6 Forward Notes
As stated above, the rookies take up a big part of the bottom six. This is mostly due to sheltering minutes. Logan Brown is Ottawa’s most interesting centre prospect. Ottawa has a lack of high-end centre depth compared to other teams. This makes it a good chance for Brown to crack his way into the lineup this year.
As for White, he spent time at both wing and centre last year. He should start at wing on the third line. There is a very good chance he and Chlapik could switch, as Chlapik also played a bit of both last seasons. Overall, I think White and Brown could work very nicely together. Add in Zach Smith as a solid bottom-six player and good veteran presence and you have a capable third line.
Top-Four Defensive Notes
At this point, Karlsson is pencilled into the lineup. As of yesterday, the trade rumours started to pick up on Karlsson again. However, we’ve heard these for the better part of eight months now, so until something actually happens he will be listed. As for his partner, the Sens may try a few different partners like last year.
Wolanin is with him to start as it would be smart to split the skill of Karlsson and Chabot over two different pairs. This allows the Sens to be a little bit more dynamic in who they employ. No doubt Cody Ceci will be in the top four as he has been the past few seasons, but it is unlikely he plays with Karlsson. That the leaves Wideman or Wolanin. Wolanin played with Karlsson a bit at the end of last season. There were so bumps, but there were some bright spots too. This could be a pair Boucher tries out.
Wideman has the potential still to be a top-four guy, but the team seems to lack confidence in him. Ben Harpur should not be near the top pair of an NHL team, so that leaves Wolanin to step up and take the spot.
Bottom Two Notes
As for the bottom pair, I think Boro and Wideman could make a decent pair. Boroweicki surprised many last year as he drastically improved his game. He went from “the defenceman who hit everything” to a bottom-pair player who could be physical, who also moves the puck around.
Someone like Harpur could rotate in this bottom pair, and there is the potential of going with seven defensemen again. This is something that Boucher loves to do. However, to start the year, these are the best six, and the six the Senators will want out on the ice. There’s nothing wrong with giving players a rest here and there, so a seventh defenseman is very necessary.
Goalie Notes
The goaltending situation this year seems set. Unless a trade happens to move Anderson out and bring someone else in, the Sens just don’t have anyone else. Gustavsson looks promising but definitely needs some starts in the AHL. Hogberg was promising but looks like he may be the third AHL goalie yet again. Other than that, the Sens goalie pipeline is pretty dry. Expect to see Mike McKenna used as the Sens third goalie this year. A veteran signing for the AHL team, he may be deemed most NHL ready if needed.
Notables
As for Brady Tkachuk, according to Jeff Marek, there’s a good chance he plays in London this year. It wouldn’t be the worst move for him as London is a known great hockey organization and looks to have a very good OHL team. He will get a lot of minutes on this year. If the Sens want to keep him up, he could be bottom-six ready. The question is how many minutes they want to give him, and if it would be worth it. He may be a good option to play a few games and then be sent to the OHL before his nine-games are up, saving the year on his entry-level contract.
There have been some rumours that Gaborik won’t be healthy to start the year. The Sens have not made any comment about how his surgery went late last season. There is a chance he is placed on LTIR to start the year.
Formenton has a shot at the team, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in the OHL with Tkachuk for a year. They would both be on the Knights and could find some chemistry. Jaros is someone I’d expect to start in Belleville but he could be up soon enough. The organization would likely want to see what they have soon. If he has a good camp he may make a name for himself to be on the team at some point this year. As for Harpur and McCormick, they are likely depth players that can fill in for injuries or fatigue.
Overall
Overall, this team lacks some high-end talent. If they want to be good this year they will need some huge performances from the rookies. The first and second lines are below average. If they use the rookies, the third and fourth lines may not be bad. Ultimately, however, it’s the top-six that needs to be better.
It’s still a bit of an ugly defence core. They could use another top-four defender. There is also the Karlsson situation. It wouldn’t be a shock if Karlsson does end up getting moved before the end of the year, which would make this, easily, the worst defence group in the league.
In net, this season is very worrying. The pipeline looks interesting, but Anderson is getting older and it’s possible he’s closer to the goalie we saw last year than the one of the past. As for Condon, he’s just not good enough to step up and take more games, this is a weak tandem which isn’t promising.
