Heading into the 2015-16 season, there are a few plausible scenarios that will occur for the Ottawa Senators. That sounds pretty straight forward, as most teams will either have a good season or a bad season. However, each team is capable of having various degrees of success or failure, and I wanted to share what I believe to be three outcomes for the Senators this season.
Of course there is a chance that none of these totally happen, but given the teams history and their present roster, I can’t imagine that happening.
So here are the three potential outcomes for Ottawa next season, starting with the most likely:
1. Slip into the playoffs with a wildcard berth
The Senators have been doing this ever since 2008. They were a contender every year before that in the early-to-mid 2000’s, but since their Stanley Cup Final run the Senators have only won one round. They were able to finish 5th in the East back in 2010, although the conference was very weak that year. Ottawa never makes it easy on themselves when it comes to making the playoffs, so why should we expect any different?
They haven’t added any players to the roster, but they have lost Erik Condra, David Legwand, Robin Lehner. They aren’t massive blows, but losing Condra will sting a bit and Lehner might as well. They will have to carry over their solid play from the end of last season into the new season, and even then they could still be a fringe playoff team.
Ottawa just doesn’t have the star power to match up against Tampa Bay, New York, Washington, and even Detroit. They could still grab a wildcard though, as the East is always wide open. In this scenario, the season would go like most other years, except there wouldn’t be an incredible run. They would be hovering between the first wildcard and 5th throughout he season, while most of the players making little or no progression.
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Some young players may have reached their peak, and it would be unfair to expect so much more from them. This possible outcome is so “Ottawa Senators” that it is painful. So many times they have just met expectations, but that doesn’t mean that just making the playoffs should be the end goal. If this were to come true, then all of the players would perform how we expect them to, and there wouldn’t be much progression or regression.
Essentially it would be where the team should end up.
Next: Depressing Season