2012/13 Lineup

Seriously, with half of our defense being new guys/ rookies, a basically 5 day training camp and no exhibition games, I expect a lottery pick. That's my realistic expectations.

LeKid wrote:Seriously, with half of our defense being new guys/ rookies, a basically 5 day training camp and no exhibition games, I expect a lottery pick. That's my realistic expectations.

Not sure how that's gonna work with the 14 other teams who sucked last year in there -and you have to have faith in Mac, Spezza, Karlsson, Michalek, etc. What's wrong with a top 4 of Methot, Karlsson, Phillips, Gonchar anyway? Or am I being too optimistic? We're missing Cowen, that hurts a lot, but Lundin will be back soon.

We lost Kuba and Cowen. Philips to me is not a top 4 anymore.
Penalty kill is what concerns me the most. Methot, Philips...then who? Gonchar can PK some bit... he also turns 39 in April. Kuba was playing in all situations last year and I don't think his minutes will easily be replaced.
We need to get a good top 4D. If Toronto gets Luongo and Montreal plays like they are supposed to, I think we go 10-12th ish in the East. I expect a bounce back from Tampa, Buffalo (Ryan MIller mostly)

Spezza, Karlsson, Anderson means we will be in the mix. I thought Phillips rebounded well last year. Still 2nd pair imo

That said I think we do something to shore up the D.

I think we just end up inviting some vets to training camp to battle it out for the bottom few spots. I'd love a top-four guy, but it's more likely that Sens management bring in 2 or 3 guys to fight with Wiercicoh, Benoit and Borowiecki for the last few spots.

We had a lot of question marks heading into last season, and we still have a bunch this season. At least we shouldn't have to worry about goaltending, even if struggles.

We don't know how Karlsson will do points-wise with a different D partner. We don't know how Phillips will look, especially given the long layoff. We don't know how Wiercioch/Borowiecki will adjust to the NHL. We don't know how Latendresse will fit in and we don't know if Regin will stay healthy, etc.

Lots of question marks that just can't be answered yet…we'll need a few games to assess the situation properly. Of course, in a 48-game season, a few bad games off the hop can really hurt playoff chances, so here's hoping we get some guy roaring out of the gate. I expect big things from Spezza, Turris, and Karlsson.

SpezDispenser wrote:

NEELY wrote:Jbo... meh, maybe. It's an option but they need help on the blueline right now and it has to be long term because after this season Gonchar is gone as well.

It doesn't have to be long term right now, there's tons and tons of time to replace Gonchar and then Phillips. People are overreacting right now.

We'll get someone in the summer who can fill one of the voids, the other ones will come internally.

If you are moving a piece like Bishop then yes, it has to be something you can hang your hat on for a few years. If they want a short term solution you may as well sign a guy like Campoli or Huskins for the very short term. Huskins would be a decent fit on the bottom pair for 1/2 a season.

tim1_2 wrote:We had a lot of question marks heading into last season, and we still have a bunch this season. At least we shouldn't have to worry about goaltending, even if struggles.

We don't know how Karlsson will do points-wise with a different D partner. We don't know how Phillips will look, especially given the long layoff. We don't know how Wiercioch/Borowiecki will adjust to the NHL. We don't know how Latendresse will fit in and we don't know if Regin will stay healthy, etc.

Lots of question marks that just can't be answered yet…we'll need a few games to assess the situation properly. Of course, in a 48-game season, a few bad games off the hop can really hurt playoff chances, so here's hoping we get some guy roaring out of the gate. I expect big things from Spezza, Turris, and Karlsson.

Right now it looks like the PK is going to struggle and the team may very well get pushed around in it's own end again.

stempniaksen wrote:I think we just end up inviting some vets to training camp to battle it out for the bottom few spots. I'd love a top-four guy, but it's more likely that Sens management bring in 2 or 3 guys to fight with Wiercicoh, Benoit and Borowiecki for the last few spots.

Probably the way to go and like I mentioned above Huskins might be a guy they can bring in to round out the bottom spot. Big body with experience who knows his role, can work the PK, and yes is an Ottawa boy. Otherwise I think you are fine having one rookie in the lineup and one being a healthy scratch, or Huskins being in and out of the lineup rotating with a rookie.

If it looks like this...

Methot/Karlsson
Phillips/Gonchar
Weircioch/Huskins
Benoit

That's probably good enough to do the job for this season. You want a guy who can come in and just do what is asked, Huskins may be the guy.

NEELY wrote:If it looks like this...

Methot/Karlsson
Phillips/Gonchar
Weircioch/Huskins
Benoit

That's probably good enough to do the job for this season. You want a guy who can come in and just do what is asked, Huskins may be the guy.

No spot for Borowiecki in your lineup. With the aforementioned questions surrounding defensive toughness, I wouldn't be surprised to see Borocop in the lineup ahead of either Wiercioch or Benoit. That said, Wiercioch has probably had the better season so far.

Borowiecki has been a PIM machine so far, whether you consider that good (toughness) or bad (lack of discipline). Not sure if the AHL tracks blocked shots, but Borocop is decent at that, and that's another area where our current D corps could be lacking. Methot is a serviceable shot-blocked as well.

No doubt but I think everyone knows Wiercoich is ready for the next step. Boroweicki hasn't had the best year but it hasn't been bad either. I also don't see how you can tell a guy like Benoit "too bad" although he makes 300,000 K in the AHL so it's tough to feel bad for him in that respect.

I still think you need to sign a reliable plug for the bottom pairing, someone who can come in and out of the lineup. Hell, even at playoff time you will need a guy like that with some experience.

Maybe they even carry 8 d men and 13 forwards... wouldn't be the worst idea for the Sens all things considered.

stempniaksen wrote:I think we just end up inviting some vets to training camp to battle it out for the bottom few spots. I'd love a top-four guy, but it's more likely that Sens management bring in 2 or 3 guys to fight with Wiercicoh, Benoit and Borowiecki for the last few spots.

Yeah, something like that. Especially with Lundin back soon. Perhaps Boro makes it after all so we have some sandpaper on the 3rd pairing?

tim1_2 wrote:We had a lot of question marks heading into last season, and we still have a bunch this season. At least we shouldn't have to worry about goaltending, even if struggles.

We don't know how Karlsson will do points-wise with a different D partner. We don't know how Phillips will look, especially given the long layoff. We don't know how Wiercioch/Borowiecki will adjust to the NHL. We don't know how Latendresse will fit in and we don't know if Regin will stay healthy, etc.

Lots of question marks that just can't be answered yet…we'll need a few games to assess the situation properly. Of course, in a 48-game season, a few bad games off the hop can really hurt playoff chances, so here's hoping we get some guy roaring out of the gate. I expect big things from Spezza, Turris, and Karlsson.

We also didn't have and didn't need Latendresse last year, and almost the same can be said about Regin. Turris had a rough year because of missing camp and then having to learn a new system, new Conference, so I would imagine he will be even stronger this year (and he was pretty good last year). We will have one more player with a dangerous shot in Silfverberg -- and he is also very good defensively. The comparisons to a "young Alfie" are, of course, premature, but they are there for a reason.

Yes, missing Cowen hurts, but not Kuba. He is (was?) a good 2nd pairing guy but was playing top pairing minutes for us. While I don't think Methot is any more a top-pairing guy than Kuba, he is younger and does not have a history of hip/groin injuries.

Gonchar seems to have rebounded nicely (Sochi calling?), Phillips just needs to get a mental picture of Gary Bettman on every wrong-colored jersey out there and he'll be in beast mode.

Are we *really* worried about our third pairing? Seriously?

NEELY wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:We had a lot of question marks heading into last season, and we still have a bunch this season. At least we shouldn't have to worry about goaltending, even if struggles.

We don't know how Karlsson will do points-wise with a different D partner. We don't know how Phillips will look, especially given the long layoff. We don't know how Wiercioch/Borowiecki will adjust to the NHL. We don't know how Latendresse will fit in and we don't know if Regin will stay healthy, etc.

Lots of question marks that just can't be answered yet…we'll need a few games to assess the situation properly. Of course, in a 48-game season, a few bad games off the hop can really hurt playoff chances, so here's hoping we get some guy roaring out of the gate. I expect big things from Spezza, Turris, and Karlsson.

Right now it looks like the PK is going to struggle and the team may very well get pushed around in it's own end again.

I think Methot will be a huge upgrade over Kuba in that regard. Between him, Phillips and Borowiecki there's 3/4 of our two PK pairings. And just because he plays the right side I suppose Gonchar is the 4th. But I'm also not against giving Gryba a try out there, perhaps with Phillips.

We'll see. Like I think I have said 500 times now, this is the year to ride the momentum from Bingo and the guys that have been playing all season long. The excuse of "let him play a ton of games in Bingo" is out the door because they have all played a ton of games in Bingo.

We'll see though, interesting thought and talk for now.

wprager wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:We had a lot of question marks heading into last season, and we still have a bunch this season. At least we shouldn't have to worry about goaltending, even if struggles.

We don't know how Karlsson will do points-wise with a different D partner. We don't know how Phillips will look, especially given the long layoff. We don't know how Wiercioch/Borowiecki will adjust to the NHL. We don't know how Latendresse will fit in and we don't know if Regin will stay healthy, etc.

Lots of question marks that just can't be answered yet…we'll need a few games to assess the situation properly. Of course, in a 48-game season, a few bad games off the hop can really hurt playoff chances, so here's hoping we get some guy roaring out of the gate. I expect big things from Spezza, Turris, and Karlsson.

We also didn't have and didn't need Latendresse last year, and almost the same can be said about Regin. Turris had a rough year because of missing camp and then having to learn a new system, new Conference, so I would imagine he will be even stronger this year (and he was pretty good last year). We will have one more player with a dangerous shot in Silfverberg -- and he is also very good defensively. The comparisons to a "young Alfie" are, of course, premature, but they are there for a reason.

Yes, missing Cowen hurts, but not Kuba. He is (was?) a good 2nd pairing guy but was playing top pairing minutes for us. While I don't think Methot is any more a top-pairing guy than Kuba, he is younger and does not have a history of hip/groin injuries.

Gonchar seems to have rebounded nicely (Sochi calling?), Phillips just needs to get a mental picture of Gary Bettman on every wrong-colored jersey out there and he'll be in beast mode.

Are we *really* worried about our third pairing? Seriously?

You're only seeing the good sides though.
What if Greening and Michalek struggle and last year was a fluke? I'm not saying it will happen but just pointing out the good probabilities (Turris will be better etc) is incomplete analysis IMO.
Of course we should be worrying about the 3rd pairing, if our expectations are to make a playoff run. Our defense as it stands is barely playoff caliber, I would even say it's easily bottom 3 in the East. Imagine Methot is in the box for a penalty. you have Gonchar (39), Philips(35), Lundin(pretty meh) and 2 rookies.
Karlsson can PK just fine, but he will play less ES minutes if he does, which means our bottom 2 pairing that you don't really seem to care about will have to step up.
Bottom line: our D is not good enough for a playoff run without Cowen. We NEED another top 4 guy. BIG time.

Playoff run? Playoffs? I just wanna win a game!