Will this be the Ottawa Senators line-up in October?
The Ottawa Senators take to the ice in around a month’s time and there are plenty of questions surrounding what their team will look like on the opening night.
The 2019/20 season will be one of development for the Ottawa Senators, who are likely to see a number of young players step up into the line-up.
With the Senators likely looking to bottom out this year, giving themselves the best chance at landing the first overall selection in the 2020 Draft, it is quite a challenge to name a line-up that the team could start the season with.
Fortunately, the good folks at CapFriendly have a neat little depth chart tool showing what they believe the team’s possible line-up could look like.
So here at SenShot we decided to give the line-up a look and consider whether or not we are likely to see it by the time the regular season rolls around in October.
Forwards
Tkachuk – Pageau – C.Brown
Boedker – Tierney – Ryan
Duclair – Anisimov – White
Balcers – Batherson – Veronneau
Scratches: Ennis, Paul
The top forward line suggested by CapFriendly is arguably the most surprising, with only one of the named players likely to find themselves playing the most minutes each night.
Brady Tkachuk had an exceptional rookie season, registering 22 goals and 45 total points while being the most energetic, agitating player on the team.
He is bound to be the team’s top left winger this season, but his partners are not likely to be Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Connor Brown, both of whom might be better suited to a role further down the line-up.
After locking up Colin White to a long contract extension, it would be a surprise to not see him named the top-line centre for the forthcoming season.
White is currently listed as the team’s third-line right-winger, but his spot moving forward could see him play a more significant role through the middle.
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Drake Batherson, who had an exceptional campaign in the AHL, is likely to be given the opportunity to impress on the top line – having already earned nine points in his first 20 NHL games.
Batherson was on pace to earn around 40 points had he played a full 82-game season and his impressive rate of development in recent seasons could see first-time head coach D.J. Smith give him an opportunity to grow in the show.
Pageau and Brown are likely to play a role in the middle six, with Brown looking to regain his 20-goal scoring rate from his rookie season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Chris Tierney and Artem Anisimov could battle Pageau for the team’s second-line centre role, while Brown is likely to be cemented alongside whoever wins that battle.
On the left side, Anthony Duclair is likely to be given a longer look after impressing greatly during his brief spell with the team after the trade deadline.
Veteran winger Mikkel Boedker will play a crucial role on the third line alongside the ‘loser’ of the Pageau/Tierney/Anisimov battle with Bobby Ryan also providing some valuable veteran experience on what could become one of the stronger third lines in the entire NHL.
The Sens’ bottom line will be an interesting position to watch, with the likes of Tyler Ennis, Nick Paul, Max Veronneau and Rudolfs Balcers all battling for a spot in the line-up along with a number of prospects not listed.
Plenty could change before the opening game of the regular season, but it looks as if the forwards the Ottawa Senators are likely to ice could differ greatly from that suggested by CapFriendly.
Defencemen
Chabot – Zaitsev
Borowiecki – Hainsey
Brannstrom – DeMelo
Scratch: Wolanin
Like the forwards line-up previously listed, there are a number of changes that should be made to the list of defencemen given above.
Thomas Chabot is a lock as the team’s top pairing left-handed defenceman, exploding for 55 total points (14 goals, 41 assists) in 70 regular-season games during his sophomore campaign with the team.
His partner should be Dylan DeMelo, who looked solid throughout his first season in the Canadian capital and is already familiar with Chabot’s style of play.
Nikita Zaitsev, acquired in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier in the summer, would be best served as a second pairing defenceman that can provide some valuable offensive upside, likely partnering Mark Borowiecki in the process.
Having the offensive-minded Russian partnering the defence-first Ottawa native could provide Smith with a balanced pairing that could complement each other’s style of play.
As Erik Brannstrom is viewed as the team’s best prospect, giving him a strong veteran mentor to learn from would be the most sensible move for the Ottawa Senators.
With that in mind, partnering the young Swede alongside 38-year-old Ron Hainsey, a veteran with over 1000 games under his belt and a Stanley Cup ring, would be the ideal bottom pairing.
Giving Brannstrom a defensive-minded partner that is responsible on the penalty kill and has more mileage than anyone else on the team’s blueline, could help the 20-year-old adjust to the NHL and grow good habits both on and off the ice.
Christian Wolanin has looked good for the Senators, but will need to be at the top of his game to find a regular spot in the top six if the team opts to bring Brannstrom up this season.
Smith is likely to rely on the likes of Zaitsev and Hainsey early on in his tenure as head coach as he is familiar with them and knows exactly what he’ll get out of them.
Wolanin, who arguably should be in there ahead of the likes of Hainsey, may have to settle for being a seventh defenceman that can come in and provide cover on nights that the 38-year-old is given off.
Goalies
Anderson
Nilsson
This position is the easiest of all to predict for the Ottawa Senators, at least at the start of the season.
Craig Anderson will remain as the team’s starter between the pipes to open the season, with the 38-year-old American only needing nine more starts to reach 400 with the Senators organisation.
Anders Nilsson is being viewed as the future stop-gap starter for the team once Anderson’s contract expires at the end of this season, with the Swedish goalie locked up until 2021.
The likes of Marcus Hogberg and Filip Gustavsson are both battling for playing time in the AHL and either player could find themselves promoted into the NHL line-up once Anderson steps aside.
Hogberg is likely to be the team’s backup for the long-term, regardless of how long Nilsson is the starter, with Gustavsson still viewed as the better prospect and the future number one of the team.
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What do you think of CapFriendly’s depth chart Sens fans? How about our views on where each player listed in the line-up will likely play? Who else, not currently listed in the line-up, could you see playing in the opening game of the season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!