Sens Poll Results Recap – The Forwards

Written By: Luke Muise

The best time of the year is here – a new season of Sens hockey is upon us. It's been a busy off-season full of notable departures and additions, but now that training camp is underway and the puck is about to drop on the pre-season it's time to turn our attention to months of hockey ahead, and what we expect from our favourite team.

I enjoy taking the temperature of the Sens fan base. I ran several threads of Sens polls during the off-season last year and decided to do the same again after joining the Sens Talk crew. 

Sens fans are a good fan base to poll; they're a smart bunch who have also gotten used to keeping their expectations in check, so the majority opinion tends to not be too far from reality in most cases. 

I've compiled the results and I'll be breaking them down over the next few days, beginning with point projections for the forwards.

Brady Tkachuk

Of course we're starting with Captain Brightside himself.

Tkachuk is one of those players that always has more to give even when everyone thinks he's peaked. 

Pretty much everyone, Sens fans included, never saw offence as a particular strength for Tkachuk. It certainly wasn't viewed as a weakness either, just more of an added bonus on top of everything he brings to the table. 

The naysayers are wrong though, because every year he comes out and proves that you shouldn't underestimate his ability to produce. Last year he put up an impressive 83 points (35 goals, 48 assists) over a full 82 games.

Sens fans are confident he can do it again:

I expect the same, and I feel that he will wind up on the higher end of this range, because he always has more to give.

My prediction: 36 goals, 53 assists, 89 points

Tim Stützle

Stützle's rise to stardom has been meteoric and isn't showing any signs of slowing down.

There was a little blowback from some naysayers around the league when he signed his eight-year, $8.35m AAV contract before the start of last year, but Sens fans always knew it was going to be a bargain. Stützle wasted no time proving us right, putting up 90 points (39 goals, 51 assists) in 78 games and shutting up his detractors in the process.

So what are Sens fans expecting this year?

They're expecting a one-point improvement. I think that's the years of tempering expectations I talked about earlier shining through here. I'm more worried about the people expecting 80 or fewer points. Are you… okay?

My prediction: 43 goals, 61 assists, 104 points

He's breaking 100 this year folks, and you can't tell me otherwise.

Claude Giroux…

…is an Ottawa Senator. For a while it felt crazy to say, but now it just feels right. It must have felt right for him too. In his first year in Ottawa, he set a career high in goals at 35 years old. He ended the year at 79 points (35 goals, 44 assists). That's some magnificent stuff from an incredible veteran who is providing just what this team needs.

Do the fans think he has an encore in store?

It appears fans think he will take a step back.

It's a fair opinion looking at his age on paper – it could happen. The thing is, he hasn't yet looked his age on the ice. It was clear watching him last season that he still has plenty left in the tank.

My prediction: 31 goals, 45 assists, 76 points

Josh Norris

So much of the upcoming season's success falls on the surgically-repaired shoulders of Josh Norris. 

His absence for much of last season sent the bottom three lines into turmoil that they simply couldn't recover from. While the depth is a little better than it was last season, the Sens can ill-afford to see Norris miss a bunch of time this year. He's never played more than 66 games in a season (35 goals, 20 assists, 55 points, career high).

No pressure, bud.

So what are Sens fans hoping to see from Norris this season?

This is an optimistic outlook, and I love that for us.

A lot of this is going to depend on how PP1 time gets divided up between the top six and where Norris lines up. That and the shoulder.

I wouldn't be surprised if goal scoring takes a step back this year, but I'm going to hope for the best.

My prediction: 30 goals, 31 assists, 61 points

Drake Batherson

Batherson looked pretty out of sorts with the lines shaken up as much as they were last season. Playing with a rookie centre, struggling to gain chemistry with Alex DeBrincat, and recovering from his knee injury led to an underwhelming season (22 goals, 40 assists, 62 points) for Batherson, particularly on the defensive side of the puck.

Things started to turn around after his knee fully recovered later in the season and he began to look more like his regular self out there. Being back on a line with Norris should help him out quite a bit too

Here's what the fans have predicted:

The fans think he'll end up in a similar range to last season.

I think he does a little better than that.

My prediction: 27 goals, 47 assists, 74 points.

Vladimir Tarasenko

The off-season's biggest addition comes to Ottawa with a no-risk deal worth $5 million, and one year to prove he's worth more than that in free agency next year. I like that equation for the Sens.

He had a career high 82 points two seasons ago, and has had some injury trouble himself. Last season between St. Louis and New York, he put up 50 points (18 goals, 32 assists).

Here's how you voted:

Pretty even split between the 60 and under crowd and over 60 crowd. 

I think it's safe to say he should come in around the 60 point mark.

My prediction: 29 goals, 35 assists, 64 points.

Shane Pinto

The elephant in the room. If he misses any time due to his contract situation with the Sens, it will affect his totals depending on how long it takes to find a resolution.

He played admirably when thrust into a second-line role while he was basically still a rookie, scoring an impressive 20 goals while adding 15 assists for 35 points.

Drumroll for the fan prediction…

They're expecting him to stay consistent.

I tend to agree. He should see some reduced ice time on the third line but will still have capable linemates and another year of experience under his belt.

My prediction: 19 goals, 19 assists, 38 points.

Dominik Kubalik

Another newcomer to the Sens lineup, he joins the team as part of the Alex DeBrincat trade.

The guy definitely has some upside. He had a tremendous breakout season in Chicago a few years ago and has become a fairly reliable point scoring forward in the NHL, putting up 45 points (20 goals, 25 assists) with the Wings last year.

The fans think he'll take a bit of a step back this season. That makes sense - it's where he ended up in the two seasons before last, and power play time is going to be limited for him on this roster.

My prediction: 17 goals, 23 assists, 40 points.

Mathieu Joseph

It's an understatement to call last season an off-year for Mathieu Joseph. He didn't score a single goal at even strength all season, and only tallied three all year (3 goals, 15 assists, 18 points).

He's also probably the most likely to be traded in a move to free up cap space for Pinto (along with Kubalik or Brannstrom), so this may all mean nothing as far as our exercise is concerned.

Here's the fan prediction:

Confidence in Joseph among the fanbase is very low, aside from a couple of truthers predicting over 40 points.

I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle, whether that's with the Sens or elsewhere.

My prediction: 11 goals, 22 assists, 33 points.

Ridly Greig

Greig showed a lot of promise in his first stint in the NHL, putting up solid rookie numbers in 20 games (2 goals, 7 assists, 9 points), and earning the praise of one Claude Giroux.

How much he scores this season will really depend on how often he's in the lineup, which is kind of unknown at this point. He may be able to take advantage of the Pinto contract situation, and even has a chance to make the team out of camp. It's just as likely he spends most of this season in Belleville. It could go either way.

Here's how you voted.

If he plays about half the season I think the fans have nailed it here.

I'll agree with the majority here.

My prediction: 8 goals, 21 assists, 29 points.

Mark Kastelic

A prototypical 4th line centre, Kastelic has carved himself out a nice role in Ottawa. He had 11 points (7 goals, 4 assists) on the 4th line last year, which isn't amazing, but neither was that line as a whole. He does have some offensive upside and was a top producer with Calgary in junior, so his game does contain that element.

Do Sens fans think he can bring it to the forefront?

Yeah, I think they do. This would be good production for the 4th line centre.

My prediction: 7 goals, 12 assists, 19 points.

Parker Kelly

Look, no one can question the guy's effort. He works his ass off out there. No one can say he had a great year last year, either (1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points).

Yeah, that ain't it. Even on the 4th line. Yikes.

Going to have to agree with the fans here, especially since Pierre brought in some pieces that could definitely take his job.

My prediction: 3 goals, 4 assists, 7 points.

Zack MacEwan
One of the guys here for Kelly's job is Zack MacEwan. He joins the team in free agency after putting up 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) between Philly and LA last year. He's not here to score but has been given the Claude Giroux stamp of approval in camp. I think he'll see plenty of NHL ice this season.

The fans think he'll stay consistent.

I think he'll come in somewhere around 10 points too, maybe a shade higher.

My prediction: 4 goals, 8 assists, 12 points.

Jiri Smejkal

He joins the Sens as a free agent signing out of the SHL, where he put up 43 points (23 goals, 20 points) in 49 games.

How did the fans think that will translate?

I think that's a nice prediction for a guy who is probably going to play his share of NHL games this year.

My prediction: 9 goals, 6 assists, 15 points.

Likely/potential call ups

These guys are difficult to predict since it's hard to say how much they’ll play or if they'll play at all. Here are the fans' thoughts on them:

Big shout out to the Boko truthers, Boko for Hart.

I find it hard to disagree with the fans here, so I'll side with them for this last group of players.

Thanks to everyone who voted in the polls, and an even bigger thanks if you've read this far. I'll be revising this article at the end of the season to see how we all did.

Stay tuned for my follow-up articles on the Defense, Goalie, and Team polls.