The Stanley Cup playoffs are upon us and for the 4th year in a row, the Ottawa Senators will be watching from home.
That doesn’t mean there’s nothing for Sens fans to root for, though. Almost every playoff team has a former Senator or two and, in what has become a sort of annual tradition among fans, many are hopping on bandwagons hoping to see Craig Anderson, Mark Stone, or Jean-Gabriel Pageau hoist the Stanley Cup.
But why should we have to accept these scattered alumni playing various roles across the league? It’s a scientific fact that the Ottawa Senators were the most fun team to watch in hockey this season, so why not share some of that wealth?
With that in mind, I am introducing a fantasy draft for playoff teams where each of the bottom eight playoff teams gets to rent a Senator for the duration of their playoff run. This will help close the gap between teams, while also carrying some of the Sens’ good vibes from this season into the playoffs.
First, a few ground rules: we’ll factor injuries into the equation to some extent so guys with long-term injuries like Derek Stepan, Austin Watson, and Joey Daccord will be ineligible. We can disregard some of the more minor late-season injuries though, as will become apparent early on. Any players committed to the World Championships will be eligible to be picked, as in this scenario they wouldn’t be sitting at home otherwise.
Finally, this is a rental situation for the duration of this year’s playoffs only. While potential talent and contract status are no doubt crucial to actual team building, they can be disregarded here. We’ll also be doing the draft in typical fashion with the worst team picking first and working our way up.
With that settled, let the draft begin. The Montreal Canadiens are on the clock.
All stats via Evolving-Hockey unless stated otherwise.