I figured seeing as we have a lot of new players in our line up, due to injury, that it would be a good time to check in on some of our other prospects that aren’t NHL ready and also have a look down in Binghamton. Not surprising to learn that the B-Sens posted their worst win/loss record of the year this month. The once best team in the AHL has lost more games than they’ve won this month and it is obviously due to the lack of talent they now have in their lineup.
Eric Grybawas one of the Binghamton Senators most consistant players and was also named to he AHL’s all star team this year. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
The team that has paid most for the Ottawa Senators injuries isn’t really the Sens themselves. It has to be the Binghamton Senators. The team has almost been totally stripped of its talent and has had to replace them with players from their affiliate in Elmira. It must be pointed out that the level of talent that has come from Elmira to Binghamton is of much lower quality than the players the Sens used to replace players in their roster.
Some of the more consistent players in the B-Sens lineup and the core of the team were Eric Gryba, Jabok Silfverberg, David Dziurzynski, Mike Hoffman (injury) and Mark Stone (injury) to name a few, are all out of the binghamton lineup. Since the loss of these players, the most consistent players now seem to be Corey Cowick, Cole Schneider and Brett Ledba. Cowick has quietly put together a decent season after spending some time in Elmira last year. Cole Schneider is a player the Sens signed out of the NCAA, University of Connecticut to be specific, he wasn’t on anyone’s radar at the beginning of last years season. But he put together a good season and started to garner some attention late in the season and was later signed by the Ottawa Senators, who assigned him to Binghamton.
The fact that Stephane Da Costa was returned to Bingo will really help them out. Also with the approaching (we hope) return of Peter Regin, Milan Michalek and Craig Anderson to the Sens lineup, Bingo can expect another influx of talent to come back to their lineup.
In terms of prospects there are a couple worth nothing. Ryan Dzingel, who is playing for Ohio State, is the team leader in goals, power goals and total points. He is also ranked 4th in CCHA scoring. Then there are the obvious big name prospects in Cody Ceci, Stefan Noesen and Matt Puempel all having good seasons in junior. One player the Sens have to be a little disappointed in is jakub culek. He was expected to be a contributor for the Rimouski Oceanic when is was originally drafted in 2010 in the 3rd round. He was later traded to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles where some thought maybe a change in scenery would help spark some offence but he still has yet to produce at a point per game which you would expect an offensive player to do so in junior. He isn’t big enough to be a 3rd or 4th line player therefore he needs to produce in the offensive categories. Also worth nothing that he has dealt with injuries this season.
A couple more players worth talking about are the two goaltenders the Sens drafted in the later rounds of last years draft. Not expected to play all that well this year but have since the start of the season put up some solid numbers are François Brassard and Chris Driedger. Both are in the top ten in their respective leagues in goaltending stats and are both playing above expectation. Click here for the link to the Sens prospect list to see how other players are doing!
Back with another update next week. Enjoy tonight’s game!