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Breaking Down the Centre Position for The Ottawa Senators

By Mat Anctil

SECAUCUS, NEW JERSEY - OCTOBER 06: With the third pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, Tim Stuetzle of Mannheim of Germany is selected by the Ottawa Senators at the NHL Network Studio on October 06, 2020 in Secaucus, New Jersey. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
SECAUCUS, NEW JERSEY - OCTOBER 06: With the third pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, Tim Stuetzle of Mannheim of Germany is selected by the Ottawa Senators at the NHL Network Studio on October 06, 2020 in Secaucus, New Jersey. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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   Hey Senators fans the 2020 draft is upon us I’d like to talk about the three areas that need improvement

The first area we need to talk about is the forwards and centre depth. There’s going to be fierce competition coming into the 2020/21 season. First trying to solidify a number 1 center we currently have Artem Anisimov, Chris Tierney, Colin White and recent 3rd overall pick Tim Stuetzle.

With Tim Stuetzle coming to Ottawa we don’t know quite yet if he will be playing centre when he makes the jump to the NHL as early as this season. Artem Anisimov was solid for the Senators last season, finishing with 15 goals and 20 points in 49 games but he can’t be relied upon heavily if the Senators want to find success this season.

Back to Tim Stuetzle, if he ends up being a centre at the NHL level he immediately steps in as the 1C, but Pierre Dorion hinted at helping him ease into the position by starting on the wing. Many scouts are stuck on Stuetzle as a centreman or a winger, so I don’t think many know which position he could eventually cement himself at. He has all the tools to become a top centreman though, he has great speed, agility, work ethic, all important aspects of the game for a centreman.

One of the veterans of the Ottawa Senators since the Erik Karlsson trade has been Chris Tierney. He has 11 goals 26 assists for 37 points plus a powerplay goal. He is the most accomplished on an honestly weak center core.

Ridly Greig, the 28th Overall pick in the draft is also a centreman, while he’s 3 to 4 years away from making an impact at the NHL level, he could be a pivotal 3C in the future for the franchise.

The last center I’ll talk about is Colin White, I’ll give White the benefit of the doubt as he was injured a bit last season. He had 7 goals 16 assists for 23 points.  White will look to rebound from what was an off-year after the contract signed last season for 5-years at $28.5 million, the team and fans were expecting more. A bounceback season for White is hopefully in order or his contract might start to worry Pierre Dorion.

Finally I’d like to talk about face-off percentage for the Ottawa Senators. No one player is above 54.5%. The Senators leader last season was Chris Tierney at 51.18%, while this isn’t a concern right now after more of the teams prospects graduate to the NHL, they should have no lack of talent.

"Hopefully one of our prospects such as Josh Norris could help shore up center position. Possibly a draft pick could help fill in the gap left in the center position. We have many who can help us for years to come. Next time I’ll talk about Ottawa’s forward depth. Catch me on twitter @senfan111 catch you fans very soon."

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