Ottawa Senators

Before this past weekend, the Ottawa Senators had not lost more than two consecutive regulation decisions in 2013. On the other side of the weekend, they have suddenly dropped four in a row, with the latest two falters coming against surefire playoff no-shows in Buffalo and Florida.

Granted, Florida Panthers netminder Scott Clemmensen stood out with 40 saves Sunday night, effectively preventing his team from worsening its posture as the flimsiest defense in the Eastern Conference. But if one is to pronounce Ottawa’s 2-1 drawback just “one of those nights,” then one of those nights could not have come at a worse time.

Not only are the Sens riding a four-game pointless skid in the standings, but each of their top three scorers has been kept pointless even longer.

Productive veteran blueliner Sergei Gonchar has gone arid in his last six outings while scoring co-leader Kyle Turris has been stuck on an identical 22 points for the last five. Ageless captain Daniel Alfredsson, third on the team with 20 points in 2013, has been scoreless for the past six games.

Could it be that Alfredsson is naturally on the decline? Or is it just a case of the adversity from the protracted absences of Milan Michalek (knee) and Jason Spezza (back) catching up with him in the homestretch?

In recent years, Alfredsson has been linked off and on with Michalek and Spezza. The three arguably spelled the difference in Ottawa’s 2012 playoff qualification when they easily constituted three of the team’s top four producers, combining to score 96 of the team’s 243 goals.

This year, though, Spezza has been out since Jan. 27, while Michalek has been sidelined since March 8.

In the absence of one, Alfredsson had a five-game production drought spanning February through March 3. In the absence of both, he mustered a 3-4-7 scoring log in seven outings between March 11 and March 23 but has been held scoreless since then.

The untimely nadir of Gonchar’s season has coincided with Alfredsson’s, and its effect on the Senators may be the exploitation of another key injury.

Gonchar has stepped up as a point-based playmaker since Erik Karlsson went down on Feb. 13 with a season-ending Achilles ailment. En route to the 2012 Norris Trophy, Karlsson had led the team with 59 assists and placed second with 78 points, behind Spezza and just ahead of Michalek and Alfredsson.

Prior to his injury, Karlsson had a 6-4-10 scoring log in 14 games. After Karlsson went on the IR, Gonchar brooked a long bout of frostbite with zero points in his next eight games between Feb. 16 and March 2.

Gonchar immediately thawed out—and then some—with a 10-game scoring streak, accruing 15 points, including 14 assists, in that span. But now he has relapsed to utter barrenness, cultivating nothing in his last six ventures.

More critically, it is starting to cost the Senators for the first time all season.

Ottawa’s current skid began with a 4-0 home shutout at the hands of the provincial rival Toronto Maple Leafs. A healthy Karlsson, Michalek and/or Spezza might not have been able to do much about that, but they could have stopped the bleeding before it even started on the road.

Through the first week of April, the Sens have dropped a 3-2 decision in Boston, a 4-2 upshot in Buffalo and, most recently, Sunday’s bout in Florida. That lone multi-goal slip was decided when the Sabres scored twice in a span of 12 seconds late in the third period.

It doesn’t get much easier in the immediate future. Immediately on tap, there are still another four consecutive games away from Scotiabank Place, where the Senators are a delectable 13-3-3 in contrast to their 6-10-3 road record.

They will have to reverse this trend without fail, as they drop in on Tampa on Tuesday and then fly to the mid-Atlantic for back-to-back bouts with the Flyers and Devils.

At least that will be followed by a merciful two-day hiatus before the finale of their regular-season road itinerary in Boston. Ottawa will subsequently play five of its final six regular-season games at home, including four in a row.

The homestand should help, provided there is a roster raring and able to pounce and keep up the dominance at Scotiabank Place. The question, though, is what exactly will the implications be?

Up to this point, the Senators’ valiance has been enough to keep them in a footrace for fifth place in the East with the Maple Leafs. Even with their recent slump, they are still lodged in sixth place and trail Toronto by merely two points.

The trouble is that they only lead the stealthy New York Rangers and New York Islanders by the same margin. The Rangers retooled admirably at the trading deadline, and both New York teams are off to a 3-0-1 start in April.

With a four-point edge over the Devils, the top non-playoff team as of Monday morning, the Senators can at least put a python’s squeeze on their postseason endeavor with a head-to-head win at New Jersey Friday.

But due to circumstances beyond their control, they may be forced to settle for eighth place and an unenviable first-round date with the powerful Pittsburgh Penguins.

Unless otherwise indicated, all statistical information for this report was found via nhl.com

The Ottawa Senators aren't the best team in the NHL, but their consistent success and the character they have shown after losing so many of their top players to injury has made them the best story of the 2013 season.

Head coach Paul MacLean has done a masterful job with this Senators team, whose depth has been tested in a major way because of all the veteran players missing a lot of games with injuries.

Many of the team's young players (several of whom began the year in the AHL) have been forced to play much larger roles than anticipated before the season, but that hasn't stopped Ottawa from winning games and holding onto a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Here's a list of notable players who have missed time this season due to injury.

In mid-February, when reigning Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson joined No. 1 center Jason Spezza on the long list of injured Senators who would be out of the lineup for a long time, many people expected Ottawa to plummet down the standings and fail to make the playoffs.

Not only are the Senators still winning games and likely headed for the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference (they are six points ahead of Carolina, Toronto and New York), they are having success in one of the most improved and competitive divisions in the league, the Northeast.

Very few teams, if any, would compete for a playoff spot in a tough division after losing their two best defenseman, two best forwards and No. 1 goaltender.

MacLean's system, which is based on fundamental, responsible defensive hockey is very tough for opponents to play against. His players are physical with their opponents, they block shots to help the goaltenders and they protect the puck well to avoid costly turnovers.

Ottawa is 8-6-5 against teams currently in a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and nine of those 11 losses were by only one goal, in overtime or in a shootout.

MacLean is putting his players in roles that they are comfortable in, which is one reason why the Senators rank first in goals against (without their two best defenseman), 11th in powerplay success (despite the fact that the team's three best offensive players have missed a significant amount of games) and second in penalty killing.

However, the most impressive part of MacLean's coaching performance this season has been his ability to motivate his players and convince them that they can be competitive and make the playoffs without the team's four best skaters. This is not an easy thing to do, especially in a locker room that has a lot of young players who have not achieved much success at the NHL level.

MacLean has also gotten a lot of production from players who have very little NHL experience and would probably be in the AHL if the Senators did not have so many roster holes to fill because of injuries.

In his first year as an NHL head coach, MacLean helped the Senators go from last place in the Northeast Division to second as the team finished the 2011-12 season with a 41-31-10 record (92 points). Ottawa earned the eighth seed in the playoffs and almost upset the first-place New York Rangers in the first round but lost in Game 7.

For his tremendous coaching performance, MacLean was nominated for the Jack Adams Award last season along with Ken Hitchcock of the St. Louis Blues and Rangers head coach John Tortorella, but he did not win as Hitchcock won the trophy for the first time.

MacLean will certainly be a finalist this season, and unless his Senators fall out of the playoff race, it wouldn't a huge surprise if he took home the award in 2013 by a wide margin.

There are many deserving candidates for the Jack Adams this season, but MacLean is the clear favorite right now. Injuries have decimated his roster and prevented him from having his full lineup for most of the season, but MacLean's team is still one of the toughest in the league to beat.

If Ottawa makes the playoffs, MacLean would be the easy choice for the Jack Adams voters.

Nicholas Goss' Jack Adams Award Rankings (as of March 20)

1. Paul MacLean (OTT)
2. Joel Quenneville (CHI)
3. Bruce Boudreau (ANA)
4. Mike Babcock (DET)
5. Michel Therrien (MTL)

Nicholas Goss is an NHL lead writer at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter. He was a credentialed reporter at the 2011 Stanley Cup Final and 2012 NHL playoffs.

Ottawa Senators forward Kaspars Daugavins attempted one of the most creative shootout moves we have ever seen during Monday night's game versus the Boston Bruins, but he was unable to score and earn his team an extra point in the standings.

The decision to use this move in an important game will certainly be debated quite a bit over the next few days, but to score on a quality goaltender such as Tuukka Rask, it helps to be creative when coming up with a good shootout move.

To Daugavins' credit, the move was effective because he had Rask moving the wrong way, but the Boston goaltender was still able to make a phenomenal pad save. If Rask isn't 6'3", he probably doesn't make this save.

After the game, there were many different opinions on Daugavins' move. Senators head coach Paul MacLean was not upset with Daugavins' decision, while Bruins forward David Krejci, who scored the shootout winner, wasn't too impressed (via Ian Mendes of Sportsnet):

MacLean didn't have an issue with the shootout move from Daugavins. Called it entertaining and him just attempting to score.

— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) March 12, 2013

David Krejci on the Daugavins shootout attempt:"I wouldn't like it if someone on my team tried that move."

— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) March 12, 2013

This wasn't the first time that Daugavins has used this move in a real shootout. He also tried it in an AHL game back in 2010 and was successful.

If the Senators end up missing the playoffs by one point, this could be a moment that people look back at and wonder what would have happened if Daugavins chose a more traditional move in this shootout.

However, the Senators did earn a point after blowing an early 2-0 first period lead, and currently sit in sixth-place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 13-8-5 record (31 points). They are five points above the ninth-place Winnipeg Jets.

The victory helped the Bruins improve to 17-3-3, and they are one point behind the Montreal Canadiens for the top spot in the Eastern Conference and Northeast Division.

Whether or not you agree with Daugavins' decision to try this creative move, the real problem here is the fact that the NHL uses a silly skills competition like a shootout to award important points in the playoff race, but that's a debate for another time.

Did you like Daugavins' move, or was it a poor decision? Please share your opinion in the comments section below.

Nicholas Goss is an NHL Lead Writer at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter. He was a credentialed reporter at the 2011 Stanley Cup Final and 2012 NHL playoffs.

The Ottawa Senators are confounding a lot of expert analysis.

After seeing Jason Spezza get sidelined with a back injury, Milan Michalek go down with a reported lower-body injury and Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson go out with an Achilles tear, the Senators saw Craig Anderson go down with a sprained ankle.

Surely, the Senators were about to go down with a thud.

How could this team possibly compete with the best teams in the Eastern Conference?

With Daniel Alfredsson becoming a free agent at the end of the season, surely the Senators would be ready to move their leader and pick up some decent players or a few prospects for him.

That scenario may well come to pass, but it appears to be on hold right now. The Senators have been playing winning hockey despite these injuries, and general manager Bryan Murray and head coach Paul MacLean are thinking about getting back to the playoffs and not selling assets.

If the Senators remain a playoff team for the foreseeable future, they are not going to move Alfredsson or any other players prior to the April 3 trade deadline. The Senators have five other players who will be free agents at the conclusion of the season.

But if they can't keep up their current pace, Murray and MacLean may come to the conclusion that they can't stay in the playoff picture. If that happens, Alfredsson is most likely going to be a hot commodity.

Alfredsson, 40, is getting paid just $1 million this season, but he is carrying a cap hit of $4.875 million since he is in the last year of a four-year, $19.5 million deal, according to CapGeek.com.

Since the $64.3 million salary cap doesn't become reality until next season, there are a number of teams that will have room to add Alfredsson to their roster. CBSSports.com has reported that the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins are both interested in Alfredsson.

The Bruins are off to a stellar start, but they often have a hard time turning offensive opportunities into goals. The Penguins don't have that problem, but they would like to find a winger to put opposite James Neal and next to Evgeni Malkin—although he is out with concussion symptoms—and Alfredsson could fill the bill.

In a recent Hockey Night in Canada roundtable discussion, columnist Elliotte Friedman said the Senators would be looking for draft picks if they decide to move Alfredsson.

Friedman said the Senators will not just move Alfredsson for the sake of moving him. They have to get valuable picks for him and they are not going to just take anything.

In some ways, the Senators would be able to get more for Alfredsson the longer they remain in contention because he has greater value to them. Once the Sens fall out of the race, Alfredsson will still be the face of the franchise but he won't have as much on-ice value.

So even though they don't want to move Alfredsson because keeping him gives them a better chance to win now, he may not have the same value later in the year.

If the Bruins, Penguins or any other teams were to make the Senators an offer that included a player and two draft picks, Murray would have to give it serious consideration.

HNIC analyst and former NHL player P.J. Stock explained that the Senators may soon find themselves in a position of being forced to make a move with Alfredsson. "Of course you don't want to move him," Stock explained, "but you have to move him."

It's clearly a fluid situation and while the Senators want to keep the longtime star, they just might have to make a move.

Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson spoke out on Friday about the gruesome left Achilles injury he suffered against the Pittsburgh Penguins last week. He essentially implied that Penguins forward Matt Cooke knew what he was doing when he jammed his skate into him—then backtracked slightly.

Canada's TSN broke the news of Karlsson's comments. The defenseman was clearly upset at the development that cut off his already lockout-shortened year prematurely, but did express some appreciation that Cooke reached out through text messaging:

He (Cooke) knows exactly what he is doing out there...That is why I am sitting here with leg in cast.

He has been after me before...At least he reached out, which I didn't expect. We're going to leave it at that.

Cooke did not face disciplinary action in this instance, and as Ian Mendes of Sportsnet tweeted, Karlsson refuses to believe that Cooke ultimately did it on purpose.

Senators team doctor Dom Chow performed surgery on Karlsson's laceration on Thursday, which will keep him sidelined for at least six months, according to Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen.

As TSN indicates, Cooke has had a history of being suspended for infringing upon the rules as far as hits are concerned. Most notably, he elbowed New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh in the head, which forced him to sit out the final 10 games of the regular season in 2011.

Prior to his injury on Feb. 13, the 22-year-old Karlsson was leading all defensemen in the NHL with six goals this season. Warren points out that many considered the prodigious Karlsson to be playing the best hockey of anyone in the entire league during the first four weeks of action.

It was a strong start for the budding star, who won the James Norris Memorial Trophy during the 2011-12 season as the NHL's best defenseman.

Karlsson was the No. 15 overall pick in the 2008 draft by the Senators, and has shown an outstanding ability to produce on the offensive end in his young, promising career.

He already had 10 points in just 14 games this year, and in his outstanding previous campaign, scored 19 goals and had 59 assists in 81 games.

The Senators have won their past three contests, but still rank just 26th in goals scored, which shows just how valuable Karlsson was. Ottawa also sports a league-low goals against average, giving up just 1.8 goals per game to date.

Craig Anderson is off to an incredible start to the 2013 season, but he suffered a scare in the Ottawa Senators’ game against the New York Rangers Thursday.

Rangers forward Chris Kreider was pushed to the ice when flying toward the Senators’ goal, and he careened into Ottawa’s star goaltender. Fortunately, no serious injury occurred, as Sportsnet’s Ian Mendes reported via Twitter:

Anderson has a sprained right ankle and is day-to-day.

— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) February 22, 2013

As the Associated Press reported (via ESPN), defenseman Erik Karlsson is already lost for the season with an injured Achilles' tendon. After this, losing Anderson would have been catastrophic for Ottawa. 

As the commentators in the video point out, Kreider is 6’3” and 226 pounds. The Senators are extremely lucky to be getting their goalie back soon after such a powerful player crashed into him.

Ottawa currently has 20 points and is seventh in the Eastern Conference. Anderson has been a crucial part of their success.

The 31-year-old’s 1.57 goals-against average and his .950 save percentage are both the best marks in the NHL this year. If he continues this pace once he is fully healthy, he will be up for multiple awards at the end of the season.

Once in the playoffs, a hot goaltender can lead a championship run, as Jonathan Quick and the Los Angeles Kings proved last season. At this point, no player in the league has proven to be more ready to unleash a similar streak than Anderson. 

With him between the posts, anything is possible for the Senators this season. The team’s fans likely cannot wait to see him healthy and back on the ice. 

Ottawa Senators star defenseman Erik Karlsson is out indefinitely after suffering a nasty leg injury on Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and his absence from the lineup will be a huge loss for the team and the NHL as a whole.

The reigning Norris Trophy winner was pinned against the boards by Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke, whose left skate came down on Karlsson's Achilles.

Unless something changes, the 22-year-old defenseman will miss the rest of the season as he recovers from surgery, according to Ian Mendes of Sportsnet.

Let's examine what kind of impact Karlsson's absence from the Senators lineup will have on his team and the league as a whole.

How the Injury Impacts the Senators

Karlsson scored 78 points in 81 games last season and became the league's best offensive defenseman.

Through 14 games this season, Karlsson already has 10 points (six goals, four assists) and his defense has improved mightily.

When the Senators lost No. 1 center and top forward Jason Spezza to back surgery earlier in the season, Karlsson was under pressure to be even more productive offensively. In the 10 games since Spezza left the lineup, Karlsson had five points (three goals, two assists) and played about 28 minutes per game.

Karlsson ranks in the top 15 in eight important statistical categories among defensemen.

As the league's leading goal scorer among defenseman and the best power-play quarterback in the game, the impact that Karlsson's absence from the lineup will have on the Ottawa offense will be massive.

The team ranked 20th in goals scored and 17th in power-play percentage going into Wednesday's game, and you can expect the Senators to plummet further down the rankings in both categories without Karlsson.

Unfortunately for the Senators, there is absolutely no way to replace Karlsson, especially since the team's second-best offensive defenseman, Jared Cowen, is also injured and hasn't played yet this season.  

There's no other defenseman in the league with the same offensive skill set and the ability to put up points as consistently as Karlsson does while also playing almost 30 minutes each night.

Replacing his scoring production from the blue line will have to be a group effort, and veteran defensemen Sergei Gonchar, Marc Methot and Chris Phillips will have to step into a larger role and become more aggressive offensively.

Now that the team's three best offensive players are injured (Spezza, Karlsson and Milan Michalek), the Senators will have to rely even more on star goaltender Craig Anderson to carry the team.

Anderson is a top Vezina Trophy candidate through the first quarter of the season, but having to bail the team out while its offense struggles to score goals will be a difficult challenge for the 31-year-old netminder because he now has to play without his two best defensemen (Karlsson and Cowen). This team will now go as far as Anderson takes them, and that's a lot of responsibility to put on one player.

Senators general manager Bryan Murray has two options to consider with Karlsson injured. He can trade draft picks and/or a top prospect for a top-four defenseman and try to contend in the Eastern Conference even though his two best players may not return until next year, or he can let the season take its course and focus on 2013-14.

Playing for next season is the best option because it would be foolish to rush Karlsson and Spezza back to the lineup when the team would only have a small chance of winning a round in the playoffs.

Murray should keep his valuable assets, such as draft picks and prospects, and prepare for the 2013-14 season with a healthy team that's capable of winning the Northeast Division.

How the Injury Impacts the NHL

Karlsson is a generational talent as a premier offensive defenseman, and he's one of the few blueliners that does something every night that makes you jump out of your seat. He is by far the most exciting defenseman in the world, there's no debate.

His skating, ability to join the rush and score goals and overall playmaking skills (passing, vision, hands) make him must-see TV each night. Karlsson is the kind of player that fills seats at every arena because his offensive ability is so fun to watch.

Fans love to watch games with lots of scoring, and there are few players in the NHL capable of creating more goals than Karlsson.

From a discipline perspective, don't expect this incident to result in a suspension or any changes to current rules.

Cooke has quite a reputation around the league, and was once one of dirtiest players in the game. Following his incident with Boston Bruins center Marc Savard during the 2009-10 season and his lengthy suspension at the end of the 2010-11 season, Cooke changed the way he played; to his credit, he wasn't disciplined once last year.

Cooke was actually the Penguins' nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy last season, which seemed impossible just a few years ago.

The actions leading up to the injury aren't anything the league is trying to take out of the game. It was a normal hockey play, and unfortunately it resulted in a devastating injury for not only the Senators, but the league as a whole.

Was Cooke intentionally trying to injure Karlsson? The video evidence doesn't show any malicious intent, but only Cooke can answer this question with any certainty.

At the end of the day, Karlsson's loss is a massive one for the entire league. Any time a young, exciting superstar is unable to display his fantastic talents to hockey fans everywhere because of an injury, it's a sad time for the sport.

Nicholas Goss is an NHL Lead Writer at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.

The Ottawa Senators' great start to the 2013 NHL season has taken a back seat to the news that top-line center Jason Spezza will be out for quite some time while he recovers from back surgery (via Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun).

After losing their best forward, several Senators players will need to step up and help give the team some added offensive production during Spezza's absence.

Ottawa currently ranks fifth in goals scored and sixth in power-play percentage, but maintaining this level of success won't be easy without the team's most skilled center.

Let's look at four players who must play a larger role with Spezza out of the lineup.


Kyle Turris

Young star Kyle Turris will likely become the team's No. 1 center while Spezza is injured, and if the 23-year-old forward continues to play like he has through seven games this season, head coach Paul MacLean will be a very happy man.

Turris will likely see an increase in ice time during 5-on-5 situations and on the power play, and he's certainly capable of excelling in a larger role.

He leads all Senators forwards with four goals and seven points, and is the team's best playmaker with Spezza unable to play.

Turris will have to improve his faceoff percentage because winning 48.8 percent of draws isn't good enough for a first-line center.

For the Senators to maintain their impressive power-play success this season they need Turris to win the majority of his faceoffs. Spezza is the only Ottawa player ranked in the top 25 in faceoff percentage.

This is a great opportunity for Turris to prove that he can perform at a high level as one of the most important players on the team—and for the Senators to compete for the Northeast Division title, he needs to play at an all-star level.


Mika Zibanejad

Asking a 19-year-old center to play an important role in the team's offense and the power play isn't an ideal situation for a playoff contender, but the Senators don't have a choice.

Zibanejad has only played in two games this season, but he does have two points (a goal and an assist) and has received 3:05 of power-play time.

The Swedish forward has all the tools to be successful at the NHL level. He has a powerful shot, great passing skills, a high hockey IQ and is capable of impacting the game physically in all three zones.

Zibanejad has already shown in his brief NHL career (11 games) that he has the level of maturity needed to succeed at such a young age.

He is now under a lot of pressure to reach his potential and prove why he was the No. 6 pick in the 2011 draft, but Zibanejad has the talent and mental toughness needed to become a valuable part of this team.


Jim O'Brien

After spending most of his professional career in the AHL, 24-year-old center Jim O'Brien has played in all seven games this season for the Senators and is quickly becoming an important part of the team's fourth line.

O'Brien has scored three goals and has played over 10 minutes in six of Ottawa's seven games. He's a physical player who is responsible defensively and is also a good penalty killer.

As a player motivated to keep his spot on the team and not get sent back down to the Binghamton Senators, O'Brien brings some needed determination and intensity to the Ottawa lineup.

He's one of the toughest players on the roster, but with Spezza missing a few months recovering from surgery, O'Brien will have to make a bigger impact offensively as one of the team's healthy centers.

If O'Brien is able to add some scoring depth to the Senators, he will become a very important part of the team and won't have to worry about being demoted to the AHL.


Sergei Gonchar

The Senators blue line will need to be more productive offensively with Spezza's scoring absent from the lineup, and veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar's role will become even more important as a result.

We know that reigning Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson is going to score points on a consistent basis, but the only other Senators defenseman capable of performing at a high level offensively is Gonchar.

He has four points (one goal, three assists) through six games, and as expected, he's also getting a lot of power-play minutes.

Gonchar is also in the final year of his contract, so he certainly doesn't need any more motivation to have one of his best offensive seasons in recent memory.

Nicholas Goss is an NHL columnist at Bleacher Report, follow him on Twitter.

Jason Spezza hasn't played for the Ottawa Senators since Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, Senators fans will fear the worst, as Spezza will be having surgery on his back.

UPDATE: Friday, Feb. 8, at 12:16 p.m. ET by Brandon Galvin

Encouraging news for Ottawa fans as Jason Spezza (back) hopes to return to action before the season ends, according to OttawaCitizen.com's Wayne Scanlan. 

---End of update---

UPDATE: Friday, Feb. 1 at 7:42 p.m. ET by Tyler Conway

Good news is coming out of Ottawa regarding Spezza's status. According to Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun, the star center underwent successful surgery on his injured back:

While the Senators will certainly be treading water while their star recovers, it's undoubtedly good news that all went as planned. If his recovery goes well, Spezza could be back in time for the playoffs.

---End of update---

From Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun:

This is a catastrophic loss for the Senators.

Spezza was brilliant for the team last year, scoring 34 goals and adding 50 assists. His 84 points were his highest point total since the 2007-08 season and were a major reason the Senators made it into the playoffs and nearly upset the New York Rangers in the first round (he had three goals and two assists in the series).

Ottawa has come out of the gate hot, winning five of its first seven games and tied atop the Northeast Division with 11 points. This will surely quell some of that momentum.

Injuries are nothing new to Spezza. He missed 42 games between the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, somewhat dampening the bright career of the star center. But when he is healthy, he is a star—Spezza has four seasons with 80 or more points and four seasons with 30 or more goals.

And at age 29, he still has plenty of good hockey left in him. Unfortunately, staying healthy now seems to be a major hurdle. He's entering the "injury-prone" realm.

If Ottawa can tread water and remain in the playoff picture, the team should be able to make a late run when Spezza returns and be dangerous come the playoffs. But make no mistake about it, this is a major loss for the team.