Brady Tkachuk has taken his talents to South Beach, but are the Senators better off without their former captain or is this the beginning of a retool in Canada’s capital? Of the ten teams featured in the How To Fix series this offseason, the Senators are the only one to have made the playoffs last season. Sean McIndoe and Julian McKenzie discuss why that is the case, the strength of the team with the forward group, a defense corps that keeps getting better, and the ongoing sore spot for the Sens in goal.
#nhl #hockey #nhlhockey #senators #ottawasenators
1:25 – How to Fix: Ottawa Senators
5:55 – Are the Senators better off without Brady Tkachuk?
12:25 – Tim Stutzle leads a very talented forward group in Ottawa
21:25 – Jake Sanderson is one of the premiere defenders in the NHL
31:45 – Can Linus Ullmark block out the noise and find success in goal?
38:10 – Will the Bradyless Senators continue their playoff streak?
Photo Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
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??? we made the playoffs last year with the 3rd best xG% in the regular season
More confident goaltending like Linus was in the playoffs last year, some more improved PK, and seeing how the new acquisitions work out, i think we will be in a better position then last year.
SENS Will Make Playoffs And 103 Points, Dr Bob
They fixed it without having to do a thing. Brady left. Now it's a team where everyone should be committed to eachother
Nobody has ever said the Brady was the best player on the team, he's not even close to Stutzle and Jake Sanderson.
The most overated player in the league. We all heard "wait til we see playoff Brady". We all saw it. Other than trying to pump his own tires he did nothing. Good riddance. He took up waaay too much oxygen in that room and I do think they will be better without his act.
I've been saying for 3 years that Brady had to go. When thing were going bad, Brady made it worse. Yes, he's a great winger, but not the type of winger you want to have as a leader. I have fought against a lot of my fellow fans, but Brady was and always been a liability as a captain.
And they were 12-5-4-28. Or a .666 win percentage. When Brady was back, they went 1-5-0
He was our captain so I had Brady’s back, but too much drama with his podcasts
Not a Sens fan, I'm a Sharks fan, so I'm here for Eklund. You guys got a good one, treat him well. Goal of the Year last year. . . If you didn't see, look what he does against Swayman at the Garden last March.
Brady gone is a great thing. Sens will be better because of it. Tkachuks together in Florida are going to sink that team. Maybe not this year, but in 2-3 years, there's going to be locker room drama that's going to tear that team apart.
Sens are well positioned because of that trade to be dangerous the next few years
Ottawa will be fine. I believe Chabot should get Captaincy due to his tenure and Loyalty. Ottawa has great analytics, especially on team defence. Linus Ullmark has his own coach now in Maciej Swoch so his year should run more smoothly. Staois and Green tandem has given me modest optimism for upcoming year.
Question:
Sean asks Julian whether he missed something when he noticed Sens fans being less emotional than what he expected after Brady's departure.
One possible answer:
Under Travis Green the Sens play a more system oriented game rather than individual player driven game. This system seems to have continued delivering results even when key injuries have struck or key players have lost their form. With the system working, even when crisis befalls, Sens fans seem less stressed .
Examples of team success when key players have been missing over the past season:
(1) Brady missed 20 games early in the season and the Sens amassed a 11-5-4 record (wins-losses-OTlosses).
(2) Early to mid season, both Ullmark and Tkachuk were struggling, and the team did suffer results-wise. However, with the rest of the players continuing to well play, borne by analytics (at least), the process and system seems to have still been working. Ultimately, with Ullmark rebounding the Sens did go on a nice run in the last half of the season. Bottom line: the process and system still seemed to be functioning well even when under duress.
(3) Late in the season, the Sens D corps befell numerous injuries. At one point, the Sens were missing 7 D in total (starters and backups combined). The results even then still seemed pretty good.
Final thought:
Besides the Sens working well under Travis Green, Sens fans might seem more confident than what we saw during the Dorion/Melnyk era as Andllauer appears interested in continuing to bolster off-ice staff/management with sensible hires and Staios continues to deliver with his pro-level player assessments by way of good free agency moves and trades (e.g., the addition of Ullmark & Spence being a couple of such moves).
Ottawa could be in a position that they have to make a move and move a player that is good.There could be 2 moves.
Marchenko is going to go to Montreal if Ottawa doesn't get him.Montreal is deep if they add Marchenko you won't be able to compete.
Bathersons wage and cap hit are both going up after he signs a new contract.He is looking at 10 mill per season.You should be able to save some money and still pick up a top six left wing,second line.Jake Neighbours or Jake DeBrusk.
The Sens will need to make these moves to move from a maybe playoff team to a definite play off team
Stutzle played his best hockey last season when Brady was out injured. Add Eklund into the top 6 instead and they’re much faster. If Ullmark can play close to the level he did in the playoffs and the PK tightens things up, this team is better than it was last year
Sens are not Brocken team to fix it ☺️they have great forward and solid core on defense , we just need average goaltending . Losing Brady Dumbchuck is not end of the world
I didn’t know that the Sens were broken? I think they’re going to be a top 10 team in the league again this year!
How many podcasts has Julian McKenzie been on? It must be a crazy amount.
42 minutes and no mention of the Batherson and Zub contract situations. Both of them are important players.
Brady is gonna be a journeyman when Matthew gets sick of him being on the team.