General Sens Talk - Part III

[matchesmalone]

DeBrincat - Stutzle - Giroux
Tkachuk - Norris - Batherson
Formenton - Pinto - Joseph

Chabot - Zub
Chychrun - Sanderson

This team could be a legit powerhouse next year.

[matchesmalone]

Love the Chychrun add. And solid return. Sucks to be without firsts in two consecutive strong drafts in '22 and '23, but at least the '23 pick is protected. And DeBrincat plus Chychrun are worth it.

This team probably should have been a playoff team this year, if not for major injuries to Chabot, Norris and Pinto. Now with Chychrun, we're sure to be a playoff team next year and could maybe even win a round or two. Batherson and Stutzle will be just entering their primes. Norris is a little behind now because of the injury but should be not to far off. Chychrun, DeBrincat, Tkachuk, Chabot all in their primes. Pinto and Sanderson are emerging, and guys like Thomson, Greig, Sokolov seem not too far off. Not to mention a glut of promising young goaltenders.

[Stylizer]

I've retired as a Sens fan.

[matchesmalone]

Love it. Lehner has ever so gradually and quietly emerged as one of the absolute best keepers in the league. We've always all known he is a bit of a wildcard, but when you're that good you can say whatever you want. Good for him.

[Jasmine]

As @FriedgeHNIC reported a short time ago we can confirm NHL officials will reach out to Robin Lehner in the hopes of discussing his comments/concerns over medical treatment etc. in more depth. No further details on forum or timing for such a conversation as of yet. - Scott Burnside on twitter

[Jasmine]

Yeah some heads are most likely exploding this morning. Alain Vigneault is not having a peaceful breakfast as we speak. Nor are the Flyers big gums... and I imagine Bettman's phone is ringing off the hook.

I'm also assuming Vegas is not enjoying having one of theirs attacking the entire league, coaches, training staff etc....

[Josh]

Guys, did you see Lehner going after the NHL on his twitter page? https://twitter.com/RobinLehner

Yeah, the stuff in defense of Jack Eichel and speaking out against overuse of benzodiazepines? Good for him.

[Jasmine]

Guys, did you see Lehner going after the NHL on his twitter page? https://twitter.com/RobinLehner

[matchesmalone]

I've hardly watched any Sens (or NHL in general) this year. But it's pretty damn easy to get excited about the team right now. The first full seasons of Norris, Batherson, Stuetzle have been very inspiring, Brannstrom is showing signs of what we've hoped for from him. Down in the AHL, Sokolov and Crookshank emerged as legit NHL prospects. And of course, as soon as I started to give up on Gustavsson, he starts to emerge as something like what I always thought he might be.

Logan Brown is the one real dark spot, as I still had pretty high hopes for him coming into this season.

Some will be disappointed with the late season surge pushing us down the draft rankings, but I'm always going to come down on the side of winning culture over draft position,, and especially considering it isn't the strongest draft class this year. I strongly suspected the team would be much improved this year, and even despite the horrendous early season struggles, I knew it was just a matter of all the new players (rookies, trades and FAs) would take a while to gel. But I also knew that with the shortened season, there wouldn't be enough time to rally to make playoffs. I can't say I expected to end the season 7-2-1, but this was pretty much what I was expecting, and it's a great sign for heading into next year.

[Josh]

I'm pretty happy with the state of the team right now. Here's how I see 2021-22 shaping up, if no UFAs are kept, with questions in bold:

Tkachuk - Norris - Batherson
Stützle - Paul - C. Brown
Formenton - Tierney - Watson
Abramov/Jarventie/Greig - White/L.Brown - Dadonov/Pinto

Chabot - Zaitsev
Brannstrom - Zub
Mete/Sanderson - J. Brown/Bernard-Docker

Murray
Gustavsson

Tkachuk needs to get paid to get that team to the cap floor though. Batherson, Zub, Mete, and Gus are all due raises as well. Not sure about Logan Brown.

Michael Amadio, Olle Alsing, and Marcus Hogberg should probably be kept in the fold, but aren't likely to be regulars.

Sam Reinhart would be a perfect acquisition. He'd slot into the top-six at C or RW.

[Josh]

Looks good to me. Interesting to see the goalies switching places. This season should hopefully provide some clarity on that front.

[matchesmalone]

My 2020/21 Top 20 Sens Prospects, with last year's ranking in brackets:

1. Tim Stuetzle LW/C (N/A) - Likely a future superstar. Projects as an 18-21 minute forward; possession monster, highlight machine, powerplay specialist. NHL-ready 2020.
2. Jake Sanderson LD (N/A) - Projects as a 23-26 minute workhorse. Will match against top scorers, kill penalties, provide a secondary powerplay option, consistently make controlled zone exits for and disrupt zone entries against. NHL-ready 2021.
3. Drake Batherson RW (2) - Still hasn't shown much at the NHL level, but he's left the AHL in his dust. Projects as a 17-20 minute winger who can play with skilled players or drive a secondary line, and make plays down low on a powerplay. NHL-ready 2020.
4. Erik Brännström LD (1) - Projects as a 22-25 minute defenseman who can control the tempo of the game, make plays out of the hotzone, and run a powerplay. NHL-ready 2020.
5. Josh Norris C (4) - Projects as a 17-20 minute hard-working, intelligent center who can play both special teams and in all situations. NHL-ready 2020.
6. Logan Brown C (3) - Projects as a top-two line center and powerplay specialist, although time is running out to get there. NHL-ready 2020.
7. Jacob Bernard-Docker RD (7) - JBD comes in at number seven for the third year in a row. Projects as a 20-23 minute puck-moving defenseman with secondary PP duties. NHL-ready 2022.
8. Shane Pinto C/RW (12) - Projects as a versatile power forward/grinder who can play center or wing on any of the top three lines. NHL-ready 2022.
9. Roby Jarventie LW (N/A) - Projects as a 15-18 minute power winger. Could be a gamebreaker with his combination of size, skating and goal-scoring ability. NHL-ready 2022.
10. Alex Formenton LW (13) - Projects as a 14-17 minute winger who could play on a PK and checking line, but also contribute offensively. NHL-ready 2021.
11. Ridly Greig LW (N/A) - Projects as a 14-17 minute grinder/agitator with some offensive upside. NHL-ready 2023.
12. Joel Daccord G (18) - Keeps moving up the rankings. Could be the real deal. NHL-ready 2023.
13. Lassi Thomson (6) - He's really been struggling this season. Something is amiss. Still time to get back on track but there is cause for concern. NHL-ready 2023.
14. Mads Søgaard (8) - Didn't blow anyone away with his D+1 season, but he's still a good prospect. We'll see what happens when he turns pro. NHL-ready 2024.
15. Yegor Sokolov RW (N/A) - An intriguing prospect. Needs polishing, but could be a force down low and around the net. NHL-ready 2023.
16. Tyler Kleven LD (N/A) - I'm not the biggest fan of this prospect. But he brings an element that our defense is lacking, so I hope he turns out. NHL-ready 2024.
17. Filip Gustavsson G (5) - He's still very young with a lot of upside. But he needs to turn this momentum around soon. NHL-ready 2024.
18. Vitali Abramov LW (15) - Has some offensive upside, but little margin for error. NHL-ready 2021.
19. Maxence Guenette RD (N/R) - He's putting up real numbers in junior. Could be a late round gem. NHL-ready 2023.
20. Angus Crookshank LW (14) - Projects as a feisty depth winger who can kill penalties, forecheck hard and contribute some offense. NHL-ready 2023.

[matchesmalone]

I just remembered I did these posts with my expectations for Sens' prospects this past season. Figured I'd see how they lived up.

Brannstrom and Logan Brown will at least get some long looks I'm sure. I said before I'd start to worry if Brown doesn't get upwards of 30 games, but on second thought, I'd be quite worried. He needs to see at least 30+ NHL games, and should do a point per game at the AHL level. For Brannstrom I'd like to see at least .75 in the AHL, and upwards of 30 NHL games would be nice, but I'm not as worried about it as with Brown.

Brown didn't get his 30 games, but I'm not sure what to make of it. I honestly didn't watch a ton of Sens games last year (busy watching junior and Europe), but Brown's analytics are solid (although very sheltered). He did break a p/g in the AHL though. Brannstrom was around .85 p/g, and he did play 30+, but he was the one who probably should have had more time in the AHL; I guess the Wolanin injury threw a wrench in the works.

I'd like to see Abramov up near a point per game and be a catalyst on the PP. Chlapik needs to show he has the skillset to be a significant offensive threat at this level and to contribute in all situations. Would be great to see Formenton over .75 p/g but also playing a checking/energy role and contributing on the PK.

Chlapik and Abramov were passed over by younger, better prospects and didn't quite meet expectations. Don't think we can quite call Abramov's .80 "up near a point per game". Formenton was around .87 p/g - well above expectations.

Looking across the pond, there are likely four defensemen on Ilves who will start ahead of Lassi Thomson on the depth chart, but they're short on the right side so he'll get plenty of opportunity and no reason he can't be the third overall minute defenseman and second or third powerplay option by season's end. Would be surprising to see him pass Laaksonen for the top pair right spot though. 20-25 points is more than reasonable expectations. And unless something goes wrong, Finland's top pair for WJHCs is all but set as Heinola-Thomson.

After a strong start, Thomson slowed down (and I believe had an injury?), and finished with just 13 points in 39 games. He did have a pretty good showing at WJC though, and he was indeed Finland's most used defenseman, averaging 17:11 per game vs. Heinola's 16:53.

At UND, Bernard-Docker is locked in as the number one defenseman by now, and should be a leader on both special teams and in all situations. 30+ points isn't outside the realm of possibility, but 25 would be a safe bet. He should be a lock for Team Canada, but gonna be very tough competition for a top four position, as always.

Tychonick should have no problem beating out Casey Johnson for the third pair LD, but he's likely stuck there behind Poolman and Kiersted all year, barring injuries. We should be satisfied with 10-15 points and hope for a big breakout in his junior year.

Their top two center positions look set, but there are holes on the wings. Thanks to Pinto's versatility, he'll be able to move between a wing in the top six, and centering the third line. He should have a legitimate shot at a bottom role for USA Hockey. He's obviously behind Turcotte, Zegras and Drury at center. His main competition for a spot will be from Beecher, Wise and Moynihan.

What do you know, JBD with 25 points on the nose, and he was Canada's second most used defenseman (18:58) after Bowen Byram (19:37) and ahead of Ty Smith (17:28).

Tychonick was indeed in the 10-15 point range (11), but it wasn't enough for UND management, who recruited Kleven and Sanderson from NTDP, effectively pushing Tychonick out.

Pinto obviously behind Turcotte, Zegras and Drury at center? Kevin, you idiot. Pinto's 18:05 per game was first among centers (ahead of Drury's 17:44) and second on the team among forwards only to Nicholas Robertson (18:16).

Looks like Crookshank is set to be the man for UNH in all situations. Will be fantastic for his development, but not much offensive support so 25-30 points would be a win.

He finished with 22 points, but his goal total was up from 10 to 16.

[Matt the Aussie]

Agreed, this is an amazing trade. Essentially a free swing on a 2 time champion goalie. He will certainly have a chance to prove his doubters wrong after a sub-par year.

[matchesmalone]

Great trade by Dorion. This is a 26 year old two-time Stanley Cup winner. If he can get his career back on track this could be an enormous steal. But even if not, it's not like we gave up the farm.