Asking a Sens Fan
Written by: AJ Bhuller and Tyler Beauchesne
Passion and the way its been going
Happy New Year and I hope you all had a fantastic holiday! It’s been a little while everyone and a lot has happened, but it’s been rinse and repeat on the ice for the Ottawa Senators. We had a GM exit, a coaching exodus with interim coaches named, a restructuring of the front office, and even a goalie coach change. But the losses still continue to add up and the way it's been happening seems to be the same. I wanted to sit down with a fellow Sens fan and ask them how they have been feeling about a few hot-button topics. I thought who better than our very own Sens Talk assistant editor Tyler Beauchesne. He is as honest and as passionate as it comes when it comes to Sens fans. He bleeds this team and I know like most of us, he has been going through it lately.
What do you think has been the biggest surprise and disappointment this season?
Tyler: The biggest surprise has been Mathieu Joseph. I know that’s an easy answer but when you listened to the fan base in the summer, everyone wanted him gone. He really had to fight for his spot. When DJ Smith put him in the middle six with players who fit his style and speed, he became the player we thought were getting in 2021. He has gone from one of the bloated contacts to one of the biggest steals. My biggest disappointment has been MacEwen. I know, how can a fourth liner be disappointing? Maybe the mistake was Pierre Dorion signing him to a three-year deal. But he has not fulfilled his role on the roster. We need a gritty guy who is a big hitter, blocks shots and sticks up for teammates. Brady does some of that, but we cannot have our captain in the box more than five minutes per night. MacEwen was supposed to help him in that regard but he can barely get in the lineup and it was a waste.
AJ: I agree with your take on Joseph that’s hard to beat. He has been solid since coming back from injury as well, we just need him to finish more. My biggest surprise, and to be different, I must go with Jacob Bernard-Docker. I gave this kid plenty of flack in the pre-season. He looked tentative, slow and looked scared of any contact out there. I didn’t see any offensive instincts at all. I had Lassi Thomson firmly ahead of him on the depth chart. But this young man has turned it around. Not sure if he was injured to start the year, but I feel the last few months, he has been one of the Senators better defenders on most nights. His offense is starting to come along too with four goals and eight points in 31 games, with limited minutes. Skating and gap have improved astronomically. He has been physical when needed and always seems to make the safe play. Recently noticed he is towing the line more and getting more shots on net. He is starting to look like an internal solution to a two way but mostly shut down right shot defender in the long term. My biggest disappointment and it pains me to say this as a big goalie guy, is Joonas Korpisalo. I was a big fan of the signing when it happened and I was still willing to give him a chance here. It's not all on him, but he has failed to consistently come up with timely saves when the team needs it. Even allowed the odd leaky goal. Most nights he makes ridiculous save after ridiculous save, only to then allow a goal or two he should have stopped. Blame it on fatigue for the team giving up too much? However, he hasn’t been consistent enough for someone who was signed to be a starter. I still feel he can turn it around, the defence has been atrocious, but he must own a piece of it too. He has been disappointing, but I’d still like to see him behind a more consistent defensive effort.
What two moves would you make to save the team, short and long term?
Tyler: Short term, I would keep Hamonic on the bench. Since we cannot move him, we must work around that. He needs to be our seventh defender as he is not NHL quality anymore. He has caused a lot of bad goals this year. Replace him with anyone else, and then in the summer hopefully we can buy him out and move on. The move I’d make longer term is trade for a defensive right-handed defender. The team needs more defensive play and help in our end. A name I would suggest is getting Brett Pesce from the Hurricanes. Not a big-name defender but he regularly puts up 100-plus blocked shots a year and gets 30 hits. That is the kind of guy who can come in and help on the penalty kill.
AJ: I’d bring in a veteran two-way special team forward. Someone who can help on the penalty kill especially. Outside of Parker Kelly and Mathieu Joseph, we are lacking in that area. He is not available but to give you an idea, a Ryan O’Reilly type. Even if it took a package of higher draft picks and decent prospects, I would do it. On the higher end I’d look at Elias Lindholm, but what is his availability and what would he cost? He’s not this massive special teams guy but two-way enough to take pressure off Josh Norris and Tim Stützle. On the lower end, I’d look at guys like Anthony Duclair. The big/long-term move I’d make is try and dump a goalie and make the calls on what it would take to get Juuse Saros out of Nashville. We need a legit starter who still has mileage left on him and he is as solid as they come. Not only can he bring it on the ice, but he has a strong mental makeup this Senators team needs behind them.
Thoughts on ownership and the new front office to date?
Tyler: I like them but I am conflicted. They have a chance to do some real good in this city, but it will take more time. The sale was finalized too late to do anything substantial for this season. When push came to shove, GM Steve Staios and Owner Mike Andlauer were forced to make a few changes and bring in their people earlier than they thought. I’ve heard rumours that they might make a few moves that I would certainly question. But I am willing to trust their judgement and the moves they want to make. I want them to bring in people with experience on and behind the bench and hopefully, next year won’t be a write-off.
AJ: I am with you; it is too early to tell. What I can say is starting from the top, Michael Andlauer has come in and said all the right things. Myself, working in a corporate job, I can see that he is someone who is going to hold people accountable. Based on the way he talks and carries himself; nothing is going to get by him. He is serious about this team from a venture standpoint and that is huge. I love the move bringing in Staios. I like his overall demeanour and the way he carries himself, is very professional. Staios had his work cut out for him, having to let go of DJ Smith and Pierre Dorion in quick order. Both were the correct moves as we need to move forward with new leadership. I am over the moon about the Dave Poulin hire. Loved his takes for years, and he sees the game inside and outside the box in a unique way. He is a smart hockey man who is not going to be afraid to speak his mind and share his views. During Dorion’s reign, he had no one to answer to, he ran everything and that never made sense. I am ready and willing to see what moves the new front office makes. We might not like the moves initially, but I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. We know how bad things have been and we cannot be attached to the pieces already here. It hasn’t worked. Someone we all love or want to keep is going to get traded, and then the true evaluation begins. But patients will be needed, as we won’t see the fruits of this front-office labour for another year or so.
What cap gymnastics would you do with this team?
Tyler: Trading Thomas Chabot would be the move to figure things out long-term. I debated over this, but I think it's time to accept that we need to trade somebody and to me, that somebody must be him. We have too many left-shot defensemen and we need better defensive play. My suggestion is we try to get Brett Pesce from Carolina because he’s a right-shot defenceman and solid defensively, and he has been involved in some trade talks. With this move, it checks all the boxes: right-shot defenseman, good defensively and gets us some cap for other moves.
AJ: Gut feeling is at this point LTIR will be how we get money for Pinto and short-term moves. Especially after losing Forsberg and Norris going down momentarily. I do feel Staios will move money out and it’ll be the likes of Brannstrom, Kubalik and sadly Tarasenko being moved. Just a few months ago, I would have traded Tarasenko for almost anything. But things have changed, he has been much better on the ice as of late and we are even starting to see some leadership qualities coming out of him with the young guys. Plus, there is buzz that he genuinely likes it here. Vladimir Tarasenko, Ottawa guy? Who knew?!
What do you think was going on with Tim Stützle?
Tyler: He was trying to do too much out on the ice because he was focused on making plays and wowing fans. I feel he wants to be on highlight reels and now after a bunch of mistakes, his confidence is shot. Maybe, he has even got the yips for a while there. I still feel it's very possible he returns to form and becomes one of the best Senators in franchise history. Until then, he needs to regain his confidence and do it by making simple plays on the ice. But he can throw in a nice dangle here and there because it does wow me too.
AJ: Timmy is an interesting case and always will be. I do believe it has to do with confidence, but I do really believe it came down to being injured and not 100% during that stretch. He is trying to do too much but it's an injury in my eyes. He has never been as tentative as he has been this season, especially over that stretch. At the start of the year, he looked more assertive and closer to his normal self, but he has looked like two different players at times in the first 10 games or so until now. Funny enough, he started looking like himself again versus Colorado, and coincidentally, that was the first game which medical KT tape disappeared from behind his neck. I do think he is starting to heal and reach 100%. It pains me to say this part, but his lack of offence, whether it's his fault or not, has been a significant factor in us losing more games than we have won. He is a game-breaker and needs to be a game-breaker every night and when he is not physically able to do that, it has hurt this team. He’s been solid health-wise since being in the NHL and that has something to be said, availability is a skill. I do still think the best is still ahead of him.
Conclusion
This article was started amidst the changes and the team starting to play better. We tried to keep the context in its most current state as we could. A big shout out to my editor Tyler for collaborating with me on this piece. His responses truly came from a place of passion and at times, like most of us, frustration. We all want to see our team thrive and despite all odds and all the negativity, we both don’t think that is too far away.
