Ottawa Senators: Erik Karlsson Set To Make His Return

The Ottawa Senators have been plagued with injury troubles since the start of the season. Their defence core had been torn apart. However, now things are finally starting to look up for the battered defence.

Yesterday Thomas Chabot and Alex Formenton were sent back to the AHL and junior by the Ottawa Senators. Formenton being sent down was expected as he had played just one game. Boucher had been choosing to ice seven defencemen instead of using either of his rookie forwards. However, with Thomas Chabot being sent down it could mean only one thing, someone was returning on defence. Today it has come out that Erik Karlsson is ready to return and will play tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks.

While Karlsson was out the Ottawa Senators managed to maintain one of the best records in the NHL. They went 3-0-2 to get eight out of a possible ten points. All this was done without their best player. Now with Karlsson returning it gives them an edge they were previously lacking.

Karlsson’s Return

The return of Karlsson is huge for the Ottawa Senators. He’s one of the best players in the entire NHL and can win games on his own at times. With his return the Sens should be better in all areas. Most notably they should be improved on the powerplay.

Powerplay

The Sens were terrible on the powerplay for the first few games of the season. However, the past two games saw them get it going. However, despite it working for two games it still has been poor overall since the start of the season. Karlsson coming back gives the Sens a player who can drive the action from the blue line.

Part of what made the powerplay successful the past two games was having Thomas Chabot around to control the play. A good puck moving defenceman is one of the most valuable players in this part of the game. With Karlsson being a better version of Chabot, it should be even better than it was before.

Next: Senators Sweep Western Canada Road Trip

Contending

Going into the season it was believed that all the Ottawa Senators had to do was stay afloat before Karlsson returned. The Sens did more than that by getting eight out of ten points. Now with their captain back they can get ready to do some serious damage.