Three Quick Fixes For The Ottawa Senators After Opening Weekend

Opening weekend turned out to be better than anticipated for Ottawa Senators fans

The team began the 2020-21 season with a Friday-Saturday doubleheader against the Toronto Maple Leafs, posting an impressive 5-3 win on opening night, before posing a valiant effort in a 3-2 loss in the ladder. There were many highlights for fans such as the play of Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk and Matt Murray, as well as the first NHL goal for Tim Stützle.

While the team has looked better on-ice than even the most pessimistic of fans could’ve predicted, there are still some obvious tweaks that the coaching staff can make to even further improve the young team’s play just a couple of games in. Here are three that the Senators should explore before hosting the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.

Re-distributing Ice-time

While it’s only been two games, the Senators‘ bottom-six and especially the fourth line, has looked inconsistent. Austin Watson and Cedric Paquette are both averaging nearly nine minutes of time at even strength. That could probably be halved. Watson has made an effort to impose himself on the ice, which has been admired by some fans, but it’s Paquette in particular who has struggled.

That was highlighted by a couple of lazy penalties this weekend. Easing the role of these players could give some more time to the young faces in the top-six, which has looked very dangerous so far for the Senators. They should be doing more to assure that their best players are being maximized. While it’s understandable that D.J Smith sees a big role for some of the guys further down the line-up, they shouldn’t be in the same realm of 5v5 ice-time as somebody like Evgenii Dadonov.

The third line of Nick Paul, Chris Tierney and Connor Brown was a stand-out on Friday, with a 5v5 expected goals share of over 60% for all three players. However, they all fell to the other end of the spectrum on Saturday, each coming in at under 30% of the xG share. This was essentially due to an uptick in the performance of Toronto’s best players Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, showing that this line could still face problems when matched up against the league’s elite.

D.J Smith should look for some more in-game changes in that regard, to make sure his new checking line isn’t completely chasing the game at all times. He should perhaps give his top lines a chance to match-up against each other, to give the third-line a break.

Oh, and let’s keep Colin White in the fold. He wasn’t great on Saturday, but it’s certainly more beneficial to the development of the player to battle it out and prove his long-term value, as opposed to giving the minutes to someone who won’t be in Ottawa next season, like Artem Anisimov.

Stop The Power-play Drop Pass

This is likely more of a job for Jack Capuano, Davis Payne and Bob Jones to work out. Either way, the drop pass zone entry on the power-play has to stop. It’s become far too predictable and ineffective.

This is something the Senators have done with frequency since D.J Smith took over. Coincidentally, the team has always found itself at the bottom of the league in terms of conversion on the man advantage. The theory behind the play is interesting, as it’s meant to confuse coverage for opposing defenders, but with some legitimately skilled forwards now on Ottawa’s top two units, it’s not something they should be constantly looking to do.

By adding Drake Batherson and Evgenii Dadonov to the top unit, the Senators boast one of the AHL’s premier players on the man advantage over the past couple of seasons, as well as one of the best half-wall guys in the NHL. In two games, both have looked comfortable at 5v5 or 5v4 in gaining controlled zone entries due to their high IQ and creativity. This is a luxury the Senators should be using way more.

If they really want to focus on controlled entry, perhaps adding Tim Stützle into the PP1 mix could work, as a player of his speed and deceptiveness could be effective. Even if the Senators want to revert back to the traditional dump-in, Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson offer a blend of size and speed that is key in puck retrieval.

D.J Smith said that the team’s power-play shouldered a lot of the blame for their loss on Saturday, even though a lot of the mistakes really come down to coaching. The team has more options here that would be less frustrating than continuing the current course. The power-play clearly hasn’t been working for some time now, so let’s change it up.