Ottawa Senators

When trying to predict each division and how it will play out, the Northeast might be one of the toughest. Every team in the Northeast has improved, and it is always one of the most competitive divisions in the league. With three of the original six, interdivision games are always packed with their large followings.

So how does this division play out? Where do the Senators fit?

When looking at the division as a whole, everyone has improved or remains a top-notch squad. The Boston Bruins—defending Stanley Cup champions—will remain a top contender in the East as they recently inked Brad Marchand to a new contract and even improved by signing Joe Corvo.

Buffalo, despite years of fiscal conservatism, went on a shopping spree. Buffalo signed Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino and traded for Robyn Regehr. Coupled with budding youngsters Tyler Ennis and Tyler Myers, the Sabres are ready to improve on their 96 points from a year ago.

Montreal, with good health, will improve this season. With Andrei Markov and emotional leader Josh Gorges back on the blue line, the Canadiens should be much better defensively. Lars Eller, Mathieu Darche and P.K. Subban continue to progress into solid NHL players, providing the Canadiens with some solid young pieces. But is that enough to compete in the Northeast? I see them taking a step back from their 96 points from a year ago.

Toronto has continued its overhaul in the last couple of seasons under Brian Burke. New additions Tim Connolly, Matt Lombardi, Cody Franson and John-Michael Liles will undoubtedly improve the overall quality of this squad. With continual progress from Nazem Kadri, Joe Colborne, Tyler Bozak, Luca Caputi, newly re-signed Luke Schenn and goalie James Reimer, the Leafs should be a lock for the playoffs and will improve upon their 85 points from last year.

So now we come to the Senators. Most analysts, prognosticators and fans alike would predict them to be at the bottom of the standings. Let us look as to why that is.

The Senators had 74 points last season and were eight games under .500. Can they improve on these numbers when every other team in the division improved as well?

The Senators will field a very young team that will use this year to build a strong nucleus. They still have some solid veteran players who will provide some scoring, including captain Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek. Personally, I think Michalek is ready to break out and have his greatest statistical season this year as long as he stays healthy.

Other than those three scorers at the top, the Senators are a little thin. They have some solid role players like long-time tough guy Chris Neil but not much depth in the organization. 

As I said, they will have a very young team. Looking at their roster breakdown on their website shows that there are possibly as many as 19 players who are age 25 or younger.

The Senators will struggle this season. With Alfie coming back from a tough offseason, they will look to have some trouble putting the puck in the net. Last season they had the worst goal differential in the league (outside of the Northwest division), and I don’t see that improving this year with the increased firepower in the division.

That being said, in a year or two, with some great progression from their youngsters and a solid draft this past season, the Senators could be on the brink of something great...just not in 2011-2012.

Prediction: 30-45-7, 67 points, No. 1 pick in the NHL 2012 Draft.

This season for the Senators is one focused on retooling the franchise and rebuilding a once proud franchise back to respectability. With a 38-year-old captain (soon to be 39 later on this year), many fans wonder how much longer Daniel Alfredsson will remain with the Senators.

Alfredsson has been a Senator his whole career. A 15-year NHL career, he has had many personal accolades and accomplishments.

Alfredsson has played in many All-Star games, been a runner-up for multiple NHL Awards and is the longest standing captain in the NHL (since 1999-2000). He also reached the 1,000-point milestone 11 months ago. Alfredsson is such an iconic presence in Ottawa that the 10th of April is officially 'Daniel Alfredsson day'.

At nearly 39 years of age, Alfie is clearly not part of the rebuilding process. That being said, his abilities would definitely be welcomed by other NHL teams looking to bolster their scoring on the wing.

Could the Senators trade him for draft picks as a rental and have him return if they so desire?

Alfredsson signed a four-year contract with the Senators before the 2008 season, meaning he will be a free agent at the end of next season. I am sure Alfredsson would love one more kick at the can with another squad for his swan song playoff push.

It would help the Senators tremendously in their rebuilding process as they would net some solid players and draft picks in a trade.

This situation is eerily similar to that of Mats Sundin in 2007-08. The Leafs wanted to trade Sundin to a contender at the trade deadline in order to garner some draft picks, but Sundin stated that he would not waive his no-trade clause and didn’t believe in being a ‘rental player’.

This turned into a media frenzy and Sundin was lambasted for not helping out the Leafs rebuilding plans. Unfortunately, one of Toronto’s all-time greatest Leafs left on a sour note.

So we return to Alfredsson—who is in a similar situation to Sundin in 2008—who has a decision to make. The 2011 Senators seem to be in a similar situation to the 2007-08 Leafs where they are focused on rebuilding and not foreseen to be a contender.

Although this is not the final year of Alfredsson’s contract, he could still attract many buyers at the deadline and could easily retire at season’s end. If Ottawa waited until the end of the 2012-13 season, Alfredsson would probably have little to no value at the age of 40.

So what should Alfredsson and the Ottawa brass do?

Well personally, I believe that Alfredsson should waive his no trade clause if the Senators want to deal him at the deadline. The Senators would receive much compensation for Alfredsson’s rental services, and would continue to help the franchise that he helped bring such success.

Ottawa fans would be overjoyed, and he would never be seen in a negative light in Ottawa as he always did what was best for the franchise. It would be a typical win-win.

So how will this situation unfold in the nation’s capital? Grab some popcorn and get ready to watch the season play out.

Jason Spezza, as we all know and love (or hate), has skills that very few possess in this league. He has hovered around the one point per game average for his career (526 GP, 532 PTS). But what can we expect from him this coming year?

Reports have stated that Spezza has been working with Sidney Crosby's fitness guru Andy O'Brien. If there is one thing that I have always admired about Crosby, it is the amount of work he puts in to continually improve his game.

This has been a worry of mine in regards to Spezza for some time now. Spezza has relied on his impressive skills for most of his career, and has yet to come to camp in tip-top shape.

Maybe this year is different.

This is not the first season that Spezza has worked with O'Brien (he did so last year as well), but they are focusing on Spezza staying lower when he skates. This type of extreme fitness regiment can definitely improve his health and keep him off the sidelines this season (Spezza has missed 42 games in the last two seasons).

It is vital for Ottawa to have a healthy Spezza this season. Moreover, he needs to tighten his defensive play, and working with O'Brien should increase his stamina and energy which are vital on defense. The past three seasons combined Spezza is minus-21. With further work, he shouldn't be such a negative player.

What do I expect from Spezza?

Well I feel that there will be some sort of renaissance with the Senators, and especially Alfie and Spez. Spezza is still only 28 and in the prime of his career. I feel he will take much more of a leadership role, and will have a very successful offensive and defensive season.

Projection: 80 GP 29 G 59 A 88 PTS plus-7 13 Power-Play Goals 

Remember when the Ottawa Senators were the class of the Northeast, let alone the class of the Eastern Conference? Probably not, due to the fact that the Senators are now set for a major rebuild.

Ottawa is entering the 2011-12 NHL campaign with very low expectations in competing for the Northeast Division, let alone competing for a playoff spot. The rebuild is on in Ottawa, and it is getting done the right way. 

General manager Bryan Murray identified that the team he had last year was not able to compete for a playoff spot. Instead of trying to pull the Brian Burke rebuild, Murray has stocked up young players, and has actually used his first-round draft picks to start a rebuilding process.

Murray has also developed some key pieces to the future of the Senators by going to the farm system and having rookies such as Forwards Bobby Butler, Peter Regin and Erik Condra play some big minutes in the NHL last year.

Ottawa finished 13th last year in the Eastern Conference and drafted highly-touted center Mika Zibanejad sixth overall. The Swedish native is a hard-working center, and is a perfect piece to the puzzle for Ottawa's future plans.

The Senators have a very weak forward group. Jason Spezza, easily Ottawa's most-talented player, has very little to support him and Ottawa's offense. Milan Michalek is not the player to run a second line, and captain Daniel Alfredsson looks to be at the end of his career due to nagging injuries.

With a defense led by third-year player Erik Karlsson and Chris Phillips, who had a minus-35 rating last season, and a goaltender who can only do so much in Craig Anderson, goals will be easy to come for opposing teams. 

Ottawa finishing last in the Northeast could come to no surprise for Hockey fans around the league, let alone fans in Ottawa for years to come.

With that being said, it's the nature of the business to sometimes start fresh, and if the rebuild is done right, Ottawa could be division champs in a couple of years. 

Zenon Konopka signed a one-year contract worth $700,000 with the Ottawa Senators.

After leading the league in both fighting majors and penalty minutes in 2009-2010 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Konopka signed a one-year deal with the New York Islanders prior to this season.

Konopka led the league in penalty minutes yet again during this past season as part of a hard-nosed Long Island team.

Ottawa already has two of the best fighters in the NHL under contract.

Matt Carkner is among the league's best with Ontario rival Colton Orr and unsigned free agent Steve MacIntyre, formerly of the Edmonton Oilers.

Carkner's punching power is incredible, strong enough to break the stone-hard face of Eric Godard.

Chris Neil is also among the best when dropping the gloves, despite being smaller than many of the fighters he takes on. Neil was ranked No. 13 in a countdown of the Top 15 Best Fighters in the NHL.

Journeyman enforcer Francis Lessard was called up by Ottawa in mid-February and played with the team until the season's end. His 24-game stint this past season was his longest since playing 62 games with the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2003-2004 campaign.

Lessard is another quality pugilist who has beaten elite fighters such as Shawn Thornton, Eric Boulton, Darcy Hordichuk, Kevin Westgarth and D.J. King.

Lessard may occasionally pick his spots and likes to unfairly get the jump on his opponent, but there is no denying his abilities as a heavyweight enforcer.

Adding middleweight Konopka to this bunch further ensures that no team will take liberties with smaller, skilled players such as Jason Spezza or Erik Karlsson.

Konopka is a firecracker who will not only be aggressive in his efforts to check, hurt, and intimidate the opposition, but will not let an opportunity to defend a teammate go past him.

If Konopka and Lessard want to push around the other team, there is little that can be done with Carkner and Neil backing them up.

Comparatively, last year's toughest team was the New York Islanders, who skated Trevor Gillies, Michael Haley, Matt Martin, and Konopka. Carkner is a slightly better fighter than Gillies, while Lessard and Neil are easily better than Haley and Martin.

With Konopka now on the Senators, it is unlikely the Islanders will be able to match that toughness.

Other tough squads from last season include the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks.

After Cam Janssen or George Parros takes on Matt Carkner, the Blues and Ducks don't have much in response to Lessard and Neil.

The Penguins have lost Mike Rupp to the New York Rangers and do not appear to be resigning Eric Godard. This leaves Deryk Engelland and Arron Asham as the Penguins' only protectors of players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

The Boston Bruins have much of the same roster intact as last season and would probably stand the best chance of handling themselves against the Senators, but only if Zdeno Chara is willing to drop his gloves.

Shawn Thornton can handle Carkner, Chara might be able to deal with Lessard, and Milan Lucic has beat Neil in the past. After that, Adam McQuaid and Konopka are fairly matched.

Of course, this depends on Chara dropping his gloves. In the case of rarities such as this, other teams in the league might also stand a chance, such as the Philadelphia Flyers.

Chris Pronger has picked up one fighting major in the past three years, but is certainly one of the most intimidating forces on the ice.

Throughout his career, Pronger has cleared his net by slashing and cross-checking forwards endlessly. He hasn't gotten away with it for being a Hall-of-Famer that is protected by linesmen and teammates.

After the whistle, if a player turns around to show his displeasure with Pronger, he simply gives another cross-check and stares. Nobody ever does more back to Pronger.

If somebody actually wanted to fight him, that would be the time to drop the gloves. Nobody does it.

Theoretically, Pronger could drop his gloves and take on a player like Chris Neil. Pronger knows how to fight, and would likely handle himself fine against Neil.

Jody Shelley is one of the league's best fighters, is afraid of nobody, and would easily fight Carkner in an effort to defend his teammates.

If Matt Walker were dressed as the Flyers' sixth defenseman instead of Andreas Lilja (which would be likely against a tough team such as Ottawa), him and Lessard would produce an even fight.

Wayne Simmonds, Scott Hartnell, or even Zac Rinaldo or Tom Sestito (the two players who may likely replace Dan Carcillo on the fourth line) could handle Konopka.

All of these circumstances are hypothetical and could certainly change depending on where free agents such as Steve MacIntyre, Eric Godard and Eric Boulton end up next season.

One certainty is that Neil, Konopka, and Lessard form the toughest fourth line in the entire NHL. Having Matt Carkner behind that tandem is like backing up ancient Sparta's army with an F-16 fighter jet.

When the NHL season begins in October, nobody in the Senators' dressing room will have to play with fear of being run over or bullied.

Regardless of whether or not the Senators are No. 1 in the toughness department, their season will certainly be far more entertaining to watch that last year's thanks to the signing of Konopka.

As the 2011 edition of the NHL Entry Draft has come to an end there is one team that really beat out the rest of the league this weekend and that would be the Ottawa Senators.

After a troubling year that saw a perennial playoff team fall to the bottom 10 in the league the Sens held the 6th overall pick in this year's draft, but it was not only their smart drafting that put them leaps and bounds ahead of last year, a few trades helped them out as well. We'll take a look at just the first round where the Senators did most of their damage.

Let's take a look at what the Sens did this weekend starting with their draft picks. The Senators had only one glaring organizational need which was upfront. They are set in net with Craig Anderson for a few years and Robin Lehner will come with time while on defense they already have Erik Karlsson, Jared Cowen and David Rundblad.

1st Round: 6th Overall - C Mika Zibanejad - Djurgarden, SEL

GP: 25 G: 5 A: 4 P:9 PIM: 2

In the No. 6 slot the Ottawa Senators picked up an offensively powered center with great size 6'2", 190 lbs. and has already played a full year against men in the Swedish Elite League. Mika is a big strong power forward with great hands and skills for someone of his size. He uses his size effectively to ward off defenders and is very difficult to knock off the puck. This kid is going to look real good in a Sens uniform after some North American experience in Binghamton.

Zibanejad was the Senators first step in restocking their offensive cupboard. He also has solid understanding of his defensive responsibilities as a center and makes a strong effort to play sound two-way hockey.

1st Round: 21st Overall - RW Stefan Noesen - Plymouth Whalers, OHL

GP: 68 G: 34 A:43 P: 77 PIM: 80

Continuing to add to their forward prospects the Senators took a kid from Texas at No. 21. The report on Noesen is that of a big time competitor with great hands and playmaking abilities. He's known around the OHL as being a big game player, something every team needs. He's a great two-way hockey player and is always the hardest backchecker on both ends of the ice. His hockey IQ is off the charts and he has the skill to go with the smarts.

Has decent size listed at 6'0", 190 lbs. He is a great pick although his speed is somewhat questionable as he has used his decision making and quick hands to overcome his skating shortcomings.

1st Round: 24th Overall - LW Matt Puempel - Peterborough Petes, OHL

GP: 55 G: 34 A: 35 P: 69 PIM: 49

The Senators completed their first round forward lineup by selecting a right winger whose name lends to his skills as Puempel pumps the puck past goaltenders at an alarming rate. Puempel slid down the draft rankings after having a season ending hip injury that required surgery just 55 games into the OHL season. Puempel has decent size at 6'0", 196 lbs. and is not afraid of going to the net when needed. Puempel has a top-end shot and can pass the puck through traffic with ease and makes his linemates better.

Puempel is probably the most natural goal scorer in the draft his NHL comparison would be Michael Cammalleri, Puempel just knows how to score.

Honourable Mentions:

Shane Prince - The Senators selected a kid from their own backyard with the last pick in the second round. Prince had 88 points in 59 games, he's an elite puck distributor and has blazing speed. He got glowing reviews from Ottawa 67's GM and CHL legend Brian Kilrea about his work ethic and how he makes his teammates better.

Trades:

Ottawa trades their two 2nd round picks for Detroit's 1st round pick and select Matt Puempel

Ottawa trades their 3rd round round pick for to Columbus for Nikita Filatov

Bryan Murray was a busy man in the first round of the NHL draft, picking up some great prospects and restocking his forward cabinets, but my favorite was the Filatov trade. Acquiring Nikita Filatov a former number one overall pick for only a third rounder is a low-risk, very high reward move. Filatov will be a top six forward in Ottawa which he was not in Columbus, he has high-end skill and is only 21 years old. The Senators by far were the winners of the 2011 NHL Draft.