What a disappointment this team has been after the offseason they had. The Ottawa Senators have gotten off to a horrific start to their season as they currently sit in last place in the Atlantic Division, and only two points above being the worst team in the entire NHL.
What a dreadful season it has been for Ottawa. Not only are they one of the worst teams in the Atlantic Division, but they also are one of the worst team in the entire NHL as they are only two points above the Anaheim Duck for last place in the entire league. And, when you are being compared to the obviously tanking Anaheim Duck, you know you’ve had a terrible start.
Plus, the comparison is even worse when you look at the busy offseason the Senators had. They are supposed to be in a playoff race, not a race to draft Conor Bedard with the 1st overall pick!
GM Pierre Dorian and the rest of the Ottawa upper management thought that this was the year that the Ottawa Senators would finally end their years-long rebuild and push for a playoff spot, which is why they splashed their cash and draft capital to bring in Claude Giroux, Alex DeBrincat, Derrick Brassard, and Tyler Motte.
This was supposed to be the season of change and culture growth, though those offseason moves have completely soured in Dorian’s mouth as he now looks at a complete mess.
Not only are the Senators looking at cap-hell as they have underperforming, massively paid superstars on their roster, such as Thomas Chabot, Travis Hamonic, Cam Talbot, Erik Branstrom, but they also have limited draft capital as they traded away some valuable picks to acquire DeBrincat.
Sure, they can always shed some of their depth players for some assets at the deadline, which is actually quite easy to do as many teams overpay for otherwise unremarkable players, but those issues are not what concern me the most. No, what concerns me the most is how demoralizing this season is on the players, coaches, and management.
It’s extremely tough to mentally overcome such a horrible start when all the offseason predictions and expectations were that the Sens were supposed to make a playoff push. And, with a lot of these players having never played in a playoff game, it makes finding the fortitude and mental strength that much more difficult.
In other words, this bad start might only hurt a playoff experienced team (ie: Pittsburgh, Boston, Washington, Colorado, Tampa Bay), but it could destroy a team with zero playoff/winning experience to fall back on (ie: Ottawa).
But maybe I’m just overplaying how poorly a start this has been for the Sens. Afterall, the St. Louis Blues were the worst team in the NHL by Christmas in 2018/19 season and they ended up winning the Stanley Cup that year.
Though, I have a sneaking suspicion that won’t be the case for this Ottawa team.
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