- Team Outlook from McKeen’s Hockey Guide:
Even with Erik Karlsson, Craig Anderson, Milan Michalek, and Jason Spezza missing significant chunks of the 2013 campaign, the Ottawa Senators still somehow managed to make the playoffs for the second straight season.
The Senators certainly look like a team on an upward trajectory, but that doesn’t change the fact that it will be weird to see Ottawa play this season. After 1,178 games with the team, former captain Daniel Alfredsson decided to take his talents to the Detroit Red Wings this season. Combine that with the departure of Sergei Gonchar, and this is a team that needs new leaders.
Fortunately they have worthy candidates, with Jason Spezza – the last member of Ottawa’s successful Pizza Line that also featured the former captain and Dany Heatley – being one of the best examples.
On the ice, the Senators don’t look worse than they did in 2013. The acquisition of Bobby Ryan more than makes up for the offense they lost in Alfredsson and given their respective ages, it’s obvious that the Senators have more to gain in the long run from Ryan than they did from Alfredsson.
A fresh start after the flurry of 2013 injuries will certainly help too. Every team has to deal with them, but it’s doubtful that Ottawa will have nearly as much bad luck in 2013-14.
The Senators are still a young team, but they’re largely past the rebuilding phase. This is a team that’s built to compete now as well as in the future and should challenge for the Atlantic Division title.
- Team Fantasy Outlook from Dobber Hockey’s 2013-14 Fantasy Guide – Over a 150 pages of fantasy goodness:
Dobber’s lowdown on: Cory Conacher – You know who’s not a fan of Conacher? Coach Paul MacLean. And that’s not a good thing. I say this with my fantasy hockey goggles on because I’m sure the coach likes Conacher, but looking at the numbers it sure doesn’t look that way. Conacher’s ice time was lower than it was in Tampa Bay – and lower still in the postseason. His production went down, his power-play time went down and he was even getting scratched. When Conacher joined the team, MacLean gave him four games to prove himself. In those first four games his ice time was up around 15 minutes per game. But he had one point to show for it and after that his ice time hovered around 12 minutes. You only get one chance at a good first impression. I’d project at least 15 more points for him had he stayed in Tampa.
You would have thought that Turris produces more when Spezza is out of the lineup and he’s the No.1 guy. But actually, Turris had five points in the five games that Spezza played…and then another three points in the three playoff games that Spezza played. Small sample size, but it’s enough to convince me that Turris is not any worse with a healthy Spezza.
Both Spezza and Ryan have a habit of mediocre first halves and huge second halves. If that happens again, this time they’re teammates – think ‘perfect storm’.
Wiercioch had a tough time the first two years after he turned pro, but last season he found the switch and flicked it on. His AHL production matched that of the year before, but in half the games. And he turned his minus-14 into a plus-10 for Binghamton. In Ottawa, his impressive play continued. When Karlsson was injured, Wiercioch gradually took the reins and put up solid numbers. However, MacLean is still holding down his ice time, which is why I don’t project a big jump in his production even though this time he’ll have a healthy Karlsson. He’ll be a good one, but I want to give it another year yet.
The player who clicked with Jakob Silfverberg the most was Zibanejad. He had 11 of his 20 points with Silfverberg on the ice with him. If Ryan replaces Daniel Alfredsson, MacArthur replaces Silfverberg. Long term, that’s a step down. But for this year, that’s a fair swap of linemates.
Follow link for more info and stats
Additions: D Joe Corvo, G Andrew Hammond, F Ludwig Karlsson, F Clarke MacArthur, F Buddy Robinson, D Troy Rutkowski, F Bobby Ryan.
Subtractions: F Daniel Alfredsson, D Andre Benoit, F Pat Cannone, F Louie Caporusso, D Sergei Gonchar, F Hugh Jessiman, D Geoff Kinrade, F Guillaume Latendresse, D Mike Lundin, F Stefan Noesen, F Peter Regin, F Jakob Silfverberg, F Roman Wick.
Promotion candidates: LW Dave Dziurzynski, C Mike Hoffman, C Jean-Gabriel Pageau, C Shane Prince, LW Matt Puempel, RW Mark Stone
Player salaries: $52,377,500 (23)
Cap Number: $56,935,833
Bonuses: $850,000
Cap Space: $8,214,167
Forwards: $33,532,500 (14)
Defensemen: $19,145,833 (7)
Goalies: $4,057,500 (2)
Source: CapGeek
Forwards
Bobby Ryan – Jason Spezza – Milan Michalek
Cory Conacher – Kyle Turris – Clarke MacArthur
Colin Greening – Mika Zibanejad – Zack Smith
Erik Condra – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Chris Neil
Jim O’Brien – Matt Kassian
Defensemen
Marc Methot – Erik Karlsson
Patrick Wiercioch – Jared Cowen
Chris Phillips – Joe Corvo
Eric Gryba
Goalies
Craig Anderson
Robin Lehner
2013 Ottawa Senators Draft Results
| Rd. | Draft # | Player | Team | Pos. |
| 1 | 17 | Curtis Lazar | Edmonton (WHL) | C |
| 3 | 78 | Marcus Hogberg | Linkoping Jr (SWE) | G |
| 4 | 102 | Tobias Lindberg | Djurgarden Jr. (SWE-JR. ) | RW |
| 4 | 108 | Ben Harpur | Guelph (OHL ) | D |
| 5 | 138 | Vincent Dunn | Val-D’Or (QMJHL ) | C |
| 6 | 161 | Chris Leblanc | South Shore (EJHL) | RW |
| 6 | 168 | Quentin Shore | U. of Denver (WCHA) | C |
Ottawa Senators Top Prospects
| NHL.com | Hockey Prospectus | Dobber Prospects | Hockeys Future | The Hockey News | |
| 1 | Robin Lehner | Cody Ceci | Robin Lehner | Mika Zibanejad | Curtis Lazar |
| 2 | Cody Ceci | Robin Lehner | Cody Ceci | Robin Lehner | Matt Puempel |
| 3 | Matt Puempel | Mark Stone | Curtis Lazar | Curtis Lazar | Cody Ceci |
| 4 | Jean-Gabriel Pageau | Curtis Lazar | Jean-Gabriel Pageau | Cory Conacher | Mark Stone |
| 5 | Shane Prince | Jean-Gabriel Pageau | Matt Puempel | Cody Ceci | Mark Borowiecki |
| 6 | Curtis Lazar | Shane Prince | Mark Stone | Patrick Wiercioch | Chris Driedger |
| 7 | Mike Hoffman | Mikael Wikstrand | Mikael Wikstrand | Mark Borowiecki | Marcus Hogberg |
| 8 | Mark Stone | Matt Puempel | Chris Driedger | Jean-Gabriel Pageau | Stephane Da Costa |
| 9 | Mark Borowiecki | Stephane Da Costa | Shane Prince | Matt Puempel | Tobias Lindberg |
| 10 | Chris Driedger | Mike Hoffman | Mark Borowiecki | Chris Driedger | Vincent Dunn |
2012-13 Ottawa Senators Player Stats
| Player |
Pos
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
P
|
+/-
|
PIM
|
PP
|
SH
|
GW
|
OT
|
S
|
S%
|
| Kyle Turris |
C
|
48
|
12
|
17
|
29
|
6
|
24
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
118
|
10.2
|
| Sergei Gonchar |
D
|
45
|
3
|
24
|
27
|
4
|
26
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
85
|
3.5
|
| Daniel Alfredsson |
R
|
47
|
10
|
16
|
26
|
1
|
33
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
101
|
9.9
|
| Mika Zibanejad |
C
|
42
|
7
|
13
|
20
|
9
|
6
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
90
|
7.8
|
| Jakob Silfverberg |
R
|
48
|
10
|
9
|
19
|
9
|
12
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
134
|
7.5
|
| Colin Greening |
C
|
47
|
8
|
11
|
19
|
5
|
11
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
80
|
10
|
| Patrick Wiercioch |
D
|
42
|
5
|
14
|
19
|
9
|
39
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
81
|
6.2
|
| Zack Smith |
C
|
48
|
4
|
11
|
15
|
-9
|
56
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
94
|
4.3
|
| Erik Karlsson |
D
|
17
|
6
|
8
|
14
|
8
|
8
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
79
|
7.6
|
| Chris Phillips |
D
|
48
|
5
|
9
|
14
|
-5
|
43
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
89
|
5.6
|
| Milan Michalek |
L
|
23
|
4
|
10
|
14
|
8
|
17
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
58
|
6.9
|
| Chris Neil |
R
|
48
|
4
|
8
|
12
|
0
|
144
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
87
|
4.6
|
| Erik Condra |
R
|
48
|
4
|
8
|
12
|
3
|
34
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
73
|
5.5
|
| Marc Methot |
D
|
47
|
2
|
9
|
11
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
53
|
3.8
|
| Guillaume Latendresse |
L
|
27
|
6
|
4
|
10
|
-2
|
8
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
53
|
11.3
|
| Andre Benoit |
D
|
33
|
3
|
7
|
10
|
-3
|
8
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
50
|
6
|
| Jim O’Brien |
C
|
29
|
5
|
1
|
6
|
-2
|
8
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
38
|
13.2
|
| Eric Gryba |
D
|
33
|
2
|
4
|
6
|
-3
|
26
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
51
|
3.9
|
| Cory Conacher |
C
|
12
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
6
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
14
|
14.3
|
| Jason Spezza |
C
|
5
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
12
|
16.7
|
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau |
C
|
9
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
14
|
14.3
|
| Kaspars Daugavins |
L
|
19
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
-7
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
23
|
4.3
|
| Peter Regin |
C
|
27
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
-4
|
8
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
37
|
0
|
| Dave Dziurzynski |
L
|
12
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
-1
|
13
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
20
|
10
|
| Stephane Da Costa |
C
|
9
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
-3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
15
|
6.7
|
| Jared Cowen |
D
|
7
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
12.5
|
| Matt Kassian |
L
|
15
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
47
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
16.7
|
| Mike Lundin |
D
|
11
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
-2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
13
|
0
|
| Mark Borowiecki |
D
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
18
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
| Derek Grant |
C
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
| Mark Stone |
R
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
| Mike Hoffman |
C
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
| Player |
GP
|
GS
|
W
|
L
|
OT
|
SA
|
GA
|
GAA
|
Sv
|
Sv%
|
SO
|
G
|
A
|
| Craig Anderson |
24
|
24
|
12
|
9
|
2
|
677
|
40
|
1.69
|
637
|
0.941
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
| Ben Bishop |
13
|
12
|
8
|
5
|
0
|
399
|
31
|
2.45
|
368
|
0.922
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
| Robin Lehner |
12
|
12
|
5
|
3
|
4
|
424
|
27
|
2.2
|
397
|
0.936
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Some info, stats and video taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30 series.