SenShot
Fansided

Ottawa Senators: Three Players Who Need to be Better

By Joshua Delorme

DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 21: Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith looks on from the bench during the game between the Ottawa Senators and the Dallas Stars on October 21, 2019 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Steve Nurenberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 21: Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith looks on from the bench during the game between the Ottawa Senators and the Dallas Stars on October 21, 2019 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Steve Nurenberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
OTTAWA, ON – NOVEMBER 07: Ottawa Senators Right Wing Tyler Ennis (63) close up during second period National Hockey League action between the Los Angeles Kings and Ottawa Senators on November 7, 2019, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON – NOVEMBER 07: Ottawa Senators Right Wing Tyler Ennis (63) close up during second period National Hockey League action between the Los Angeles Kings and Ottawa Senators on November 7, 2019, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

3. Tyler Ennis

Tyler Ennis was signed by the Senators as a free agent this past July after spending some time with the other Ontario team. Ennis was brought over, probably by recommendation from new head coach DJ Smith, to be a mentor to the younger players and to take the spot of a younger player that simply wasn’t ready to make the jump to the NHL just yet.

When the Senators signed Ennis I was expecting the small forward to carve out a nice spot for himself on the fourth line and provide DJ Smith with a fourth line that he could put out there and trust. Well, that has not been the case throughout the early goings of the season.

Ennis is currently averaging just over 16 minutes per game, which is almost one minute more than his career average, and over seven minutes more than he was averaging last season in Toronto. Clearly coach Smith values him and considers him to be one of his regular top-9 forwards and a consistent powerplay guy.

If that is the role the Senators and Smith have in mind for Ennis throughout the season, then Ennis is going to have to start playing much better. The fact that the 5’9″ forward is trying and playing hard on a nightly basis simply cannot be enough to justify this level of ice-time and usage.

I’ve watched Ennis repeatedly get destroyed and absolutely manhandled along the boards both in the defensive and offensive zones. Yet, the coach continues to put him out there. If the coach is going to continue to rely on Ennis this much, Ennis is going to have to start winning more puck battles than he loses. And for a forward of his size, maybe he should just start paying attention to what Jean-Gabriel Pageau is doing and start doing that!

Oh, and Ennis’ team-worst -11 is going to have to start getting a lot better. I could understand the coach using Ennis this much if he was a staunch defensive forward, but the fact that he has been on for goals against 11 times more than goals for is not encouraging.

Simply put, he needs to be better.

Home/Editorials