Matt Kassian – Ottawa Senators Season Wrap

Mar 25, 2014; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers right wing Krys Barch (21) and Ottawa Senators left wing Matt Kassian (28) fight in the first period at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s face it. Matt Kassian wasn’t a part of the Ottawa Senators roster for his offensive upside. The fact that he scored his only goal of the season in his last game into an empty net bears that fact. He was on the roster to provide a deterrent to those who might try to take advantage of the Senators players physically. He made his money more with his fists than his hands.

He got into 33 games, registering a goal and an assist and 63 penalty minutes. The Ottawa Senators had a much better record when Kassian was dressed and on the bench than when he was sitting in the press box. However, with the NHL moving away from the enforcer era, there isn’t room on many rosters for a person who can’t really keep up to the speed of the game on a shift by shift basis and play more than 5 minutes a game.

THE GOOD

For some reason, Ottawa had a 17-6-10 record with Kassian in the lineup
Had a career high 9 fighting majors

THE BAD

Couldn’t get into the lineup on a regular basis, even on the fourth line

CONTRACT STATUS

Kassian will be an unrestricted free agent in July, and the Senators have already indicated that he is not in their future plans and that they will not be offering him a contract to remain with the team.