▲ 54 r/OttawaSenators
Sources confirm that Ottawa is acquiring William Eklund from San Jose.
https://xcancel.com/reporterchris/status/2069522757390393669
no word on return
u/DJSTEVEINNIAMIXX — 13 days ago
▲ 6 r/OttawaSenators
Dream Scenario - How we could be a better team next year
I might be delusional but after listening to 32 Thoughts - Freidman mentioned theres stirrings that some big things are coming with with offersheets - and Ottawa is not done. I think theres a few possibilities we could do (Dorofeyev, trading for Kyrou etc). But the crown jewel is Robertson (his girlfriend is from Ontario, i swear Im not delusional). For everyone saying Americans dont sign in Canada - I think its a particular kind of American, but they're not all the same - do we really thing Sanderson would do what Brady just did? I cant see it.
Dream Scinario:
Robertson offersheet 14x7 - 100pt player when healthy, top 5 goalscorer in the league. This is a huge upgrade in terms of our finishing - something this team has always lacked. I think hes a better player than Brady in almost every metric besides physicality and puck protection.
This would cost 4 1sts (our own), from 2027-2030, but since we have a 1st in 2029 from Florida, we'd be without a 1st for 3 years - not terrible. We could then use our picks this year (9th/32nd) to either restock the cupboards (probably smart since we'd be dumping all our futures), or use them to trade for a 2nd line winger if FA doesnt work out).
Next, we'd have to then sign someone like Marchment to a 5x5 - I think he's likely going to get more than this, so we might have to look elsewhere - but you'd want a guy in a similar level. Someone who can slot into the 2nd line, but doesnt need to be a star or anything.
Spence signs 5x5. Solidify our D - We dont really have the luxury of adding to this position anymore. We have what we have (I wanted to stand-pat here anyways as Im the #1 Spence truther).
you'd then have to do some cap wrangling to get G/Leevi signed, but the framework is there.
That would give us:
Robertson - Stu - Bath
Marchment - Cozens - G
Foegele - Pinto - Amadio
4th plug - Halliday - Greig
Sandy - Spence
Chabot - Zub
Kleven - Yak
Thats a better team than last year.
Our cap would be absolutely fucked going forward but unfortunately thats what happens when your cost controlled captain leaves suddenly. Our only option at this point is going all in and seeing if we can get there in the next few years. Everything has been accelerated. The timeline has completely shifted. Its time to put all the chips down.
u/DJSTEVEINNIAMIXX — 14 days ago
▲ 41 r/OttawaSenators
What can we learn from the Canes - Drafting / Free agents
The Canes just won it all and smoked every team that they faced - losing 3 games all playoffs. Unlike most teams after their cup wins, they have all their picks, and 13m in cap space - Insane. They have the most regular season wins + playoffs in the entire league for the past 8 years, still have a fantastic prospect pool, and have some of the cheapest, best value contracts in the league - and they are by no teams a FA destination.
They are going to be a top team for many more years; truly an anomaly in professional sports - I cant think of a comparable off the top of my head. Best managed team in sports IMO.
How do they do it? They draft/sign free agents entirely on upside. A heavy analytic focused team, nobody in their line up is any sort of analytic dog. Eric Tulsky looks for undervalued players around the league who excel in tilting the ice, and signs them for cheap when they are overlooked (an anti-Ken Holland/Steve Yzerman, if you will). They are one of the smallest teams in the league, bucking the trend of only rostering and drafting huge players.
Their drafting is also abnormal. They hold onto their picks and make smart drafting decisions looking for the most upside with each pick. The Canes have selected 2 forwards over 6 feet in the past 3 years (out of 16 picks). A really nice set of players (Cerrato, Ryabkin, Artamonov, Poirier, Nadeau, Unger-Sorum, Perron - all standouts). Thats 7 forwards that are tearing up their respected leagues due to them being overlooked (in large part due to size), and scooped up by the canes.
The Sens on the other hand have selected 2 forwards under 6" in the last 4 drafts (12 picks). The only forward that has any promise is Halliday.
Beyond that, we have selected countless big d men with zero offensive output, drafting for floor instead of ceiling (Gabriel Eliasson, Nordberg, Ben Roger). Actually, even thats not true because the hit rate on big defencman who cant generate offensively selected in later rounds is astronomically small (https://xcancel.com/FowleBall15/status/2065657132901691694/photo/1). Its not a stretch to say we've been a bottom 5 drafting team since 2020.
The canes are a bottom 10 team in both height and weight (we're top 5). Theres just no hard and fast rule that you need size to win in this league. Skill, transition and chance generation reign over everything, and we need to start drafting for it. Practically every one of their best players all playoffs is undersized (and signed to an incredible contract because of it).
Oh, also, sign Spence long term for cheap - Its exactly what Tulsky would do.
u/DJSTEVEINNIAMIXX — 21 days ago
▲ 30 r/OttawaSenators
State of our Prospect Pool - NHLe
I was just looking around hockeystats.com and noticed they now have a prospect tool, where you can look at all the prospects in our system and see how well they fair against their ppers in terms of production/age. This is obviously flawed in many ways, especially since this is only looking at offensive production and not defence - but its still an interesting tool to check how well our system stacks up against our counterparts (info on how it works: https://hockeystats.com/draft/guide). Keep in mind the model also factors in the consensus scout predraft rankings, weight and draft age.
It also puts in to perspective some of our deeper prospects and how unrealistic it is to think they will make a difference in the future, considering how middling their production is at their age and development arch (Montgomery, Moore, etc.)
Unsurprisingly - the Ottawa prospect pool is super bleak! For years we have drafted low ceiling, high floor players in the later rounds, and it shows in the numbers. For a team that needs offensive generation, we're not going to find it in our farm system.
I suspect Yak will be a full time NHLer next year (Halliday as well, which is why he doesnt show up), so we better draft some offensive diamonds in the rough - otherwise the only way we improve on that end is getting lucky in trades / FA.
We can also look at our close competitors and see how their pools stack up against ours (unsurprisingly, we're in a worse spot)
Buffalo:
Mtl:
Detroit:
I suspect this will rub some people the wrong way who are averse to these models (infamously it was not high on Brady/Sandy - its been adjusted quite a bit since then so who knows what itd say now), which is fine. Still interesting to look at and run some comparisons. Its a model so its flawed and is often wrong, but it still offers some data points that add value.
edit: Also, its insane how weak our forward prospect pool is. now that Halliday is up, we have no one.
u/DJSTEVEINNIAMIXX — 1 month ago
Belleville Sens sign forward Luke Mistelbacher to AHL contract for 2026-27
Anyone seen this guy play? Undrafted 20y/o who has been top 5 in goals in the WHL for the last 2 years. Seems like a good gamble. From my understanding, since its an AHL contract he has no obligation to the senators, but its still good to have him around the organization where they can have a closer look at the guy, and likely sign him to a 2-way deal if they're impressed with what they see. Hes on an ATO for the rest of the season in Belleville.
here the summary on Elite Prospects:
"A skilled shooter, Mistelbacher curls pucks around sticks and fires, turns tricky passes into powerful snappers, and has a knack for always being open. His offensive game is built around his shot, relying on pop-out actions in the slot and working give-and-gos in transition". -EliteProspects 2025 NHL Draft Guide
u/DJSTEVEINNIAMIXX — 3 months ago