What story lines are you looking forward to most this season?

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:Trying to move the 'prospects' talk here. Anyway:

Formenton, Brannstrom, Norris, Brown, Davidsson, Abramov the six prospects I'm looking at following the most in Belleville this season. Should be interesting to see what happens with the goaltending down there too. Veronneau, Balcers, Chlapik likely the first call-ups or at least have the edge in making the team out of camp, and it's hard to see Batherson as anything but a lock. On top of that, Carcone, Parker and Gruden could turn some heads and Szwarz/Rodewald can score some goals. Definitely going to be competitive in Belleville.

I hope Formenton can put it together offensively at the NHL level, he's got ridiculous speed, but can his hands catch up. Someone here said similar last season and it was bang on.

I'm so curious to see some of the rookie tourneys and see some of these guys in action like Davidsson and Norris and to see if Brown has put in the effort needed to come in in tip top shape and take advantage of being a huge call up.

All of this is very exciting to me, actually. The Sens games will be fun to watch - because they'll bring top levels of competitiveness.

PTFlea wrote:

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:Trying to move the 'prospects' talk here. Anyway:

Formenton, Brannstrom, Norris, Brown, Davidsson, Abramov the six prospects I'm looking at following the most in Belleville this season. Should be interesting to see what happens with the goaltending down there too. Veronneau, Balcers, Chlapik likely the first call-ups or at least have the edge in making the team out of camp, and it's hard to see Batherson as anything but a lock. On top of that, Carcone, Parker and Gruden could turn some heads and Szwarz/Rodewald can score some goals. Definitely going to be competitive in Belleville.

I hope Formenton can put it together offensively at the NHL level, he's got ridiculous speed, but can his hands catch up.   Someone here said similar last season and it was bang on.  

Sounds like me, but not sure if I’m the one that said it on this site. I like saying it for players that are blessed with elite speed, but have just average hockey sense and skill.

Lagoon wrote:

PTFlea wrote:

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:Trying to move the 'prospects' talk here. Anyway:

Formenton, Brannstrom, Norris, Brown, Davidsson, Abramov the six prospects I'm looking at following the most in Belleville this season. Should be interesting to see what happens with the goaltending down there too. Veronneau, Balcers, Chlapik likely the first call-ups or at least have the edge in making the team out of camp, and it's hard to see Batherson as anything but a lock. On top of that, Carcone, Parker and Gruden could turn some heads and Szwarz/Rodewald can score some goals. Definitely going to be competitive in Belleville.

I hope Formenton can put it together offensively at the NHL level, he's got ridiculous speed, but can his hands catch up.   Someone here said similar last season and it was bang on.  

Sounds like me, but not sure if I’m the one that said it on this site. I like saying it for players that are blessed with elite speed, but have just average hockey sense and skill.

Pretty sure it was Prags that said it.

Throw in a top-three pick in this year's draft and the Sens will be well on their way. Just not sure I can handle a Hoberg-Nilsson tandem next season. Hoping Gustavsson or D'Accord can show some positive signs this year.

I tend to agree with ev, I think the team finishes in about 10th in the east next year and whatever young goalie has some of the workload becomes starter, but we'll see

PTFlea wrote:I tend to agree with ev, I think the team finishes in about 10th in the east next year and whatever young goalie has some of the workload becomes starter, but we'll see

There’s a huge question on our goal tending past Anderson. No one has a proven track record. And our closest top G prospect in Gustavsson had a hard time in NA last year.

I don’t see us making that much headway as 10th in the east but it’s not impossible either. A lot of factors will have to fall into place.

I think it is crazy to assume we can leap frog 6 teams in 2020-21 when most of them have made much better progress, can actually sign players and will probably be 10-15 points ahead of us standings wise in 2019-20. That is how bad we will be this year. And that is a lot of ground to cover from this year to next. Written down, it actually is unrealistic. We aren’t Colorado.

Lagoon wrote:I think it is crazy to assume we can leap frog 6 teams in 2020-21 when most of them have made much better progress, can actually sign players and will probably be 10-15 points ahead of us standings wise in 2019-20. That is how bad we will be this year. And that is a lot of ground to cover from this year to next. Written down, it actually is unrealistic. We aren’t Colorado.

The thing is they will need to sign some external players as there is a ton of money coming off the books. I think there’s a bunch of teams we’ll be better than in a few years. This is assuming we get a top 3 or so pick this year. Otherwise it will take longer.

Ev wrote:

Lagoon wrote:I think it is crazy to assume we can leap frog 6 teams in 2020-21 when most of them have made much better progress, can actually sign players and will probably be 10-15 points ahead of us standings wise in 2019-20. That is how bad we will be this year. And that is a lot of ground to cover from this year to next. Written down, it actually is unrealistic. We aren’t Colorado.

The thing is they will need to sign some external players as there is a ton of money coming off the books. I think there’s a bunch of teams we’ll be better than in a few years. This is assuming we get a top 3 or so pick this year. Otherwise it will take longer.

Come on Ev. Name the last external impact player we’ve signed. We aren’t signing any differences makers as long as Melnyk owns the team in my opinion. Nobody wants to play for him when they have a choice, or they aren’t trying to salvage their career. Those kind of players don’t jump us 6 spots in the standings in a year. I can’t fathom how you think they can go from basement to playoff contender even with our natural prospect progression in one year under Melnyk from 19-20 to 20-21.

Even if we get a top 3 pick I don’t think they make the kind of impact on their first year that makes us close toa playoff contender. No one comes to mind in recent NHL memory that took a team that was bottom dwellers(which is what we will be) to being in a race for a playoff without already having a stron core of great players. This team is too inexperienced and young. Not to mention there’s bound to be some lows in all these prospects trajectory to achieving their potential.

Flo The Action wrote:Even if we get a top 3 pick I don’t think they make the kind of impact on their first year that makes us close toa playoff contender. No one comes to mind in recent NHL memory that took a team that was bottom dwellers(which is what we will be) to being in a race for a playoff without already having a stron core of great players. This team is too inexperienced and young. Not to mention there’s bound to be some lows in all these prospects trajectory to achieving their potential.

The Avalanche did it in 2018, but I mentioned them as a caveat a couple posts ago. We aren’t the Avs. I wish we were. We sure have set them up for dominance though, so we have that.

Lagoon wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:Even if we get a top 3 pick I don’t think they make the kind of impact on their first year that makes us close toa playoff contender. No one comes to mind in recent NHL memory that took a team that was bottom dwellers(which is what we will be) to being in a race for a playoff without already having a stron core of great players. This team is too inexperienced and young. Not to mention there’s bound to be some lows in all these prospects trajectory to achieving their potential.

The Avalanche did it in 2018, but I mentioned them as a caveat a couple posts ago. We aren’t the Avs. I wish we were. We sure have set them up for dominance though, so we have that.

They had been building through the draft for a while then.

Lagoon wrote:

Ev wrote:

Lagoon wrote:I think it is crazy to assume we can leap frog 6 teams in 2020-21 when most of them have made much better progress, can actually sign players and will probably be 10-15 points ahead of us standings wise in 2019-20. That is how bad we will be this year. And that is a lot of ground to cover from this year to next. Written down, it actually is unrealistic. We aren’t Colorado.

The thing is they will need to sign some external players as there is a ton of money coming off the books. I think there’s a bunch of teams we’ll be better than in a few years. This is assuming we get a top 3 or so pick this year. Otherwise it will take longer.

Come on Ev. Name the last external impact player we’ve signed. We aren’t signing any differences makers as long as Melnyk owns the team in my opinion. Nobody wants to play for him when they have a choice, or they aren’t trying to salvage their career. Those kind of players don’t jump us 6 spots in the standings in a year. I can’t fathom how you think they can go from basement to playoff contender even with our natural prospect progression in one year under Melnyk from 19-20 to 20-21.

Not that we'd get high impact FAs (wouldn't bet on it) but they will need to do something and hopefully we have a partner or new owner in place by then or the following year.

This season will tell a lot for a few players but I think the current group they have can all get a lot better in time for next year + the addition of a Matthews type prospect reminds me of the Leafs a few years back.

Goaltending will be the question mark.

This is a big year for the organization to see what they have in some highly touted prospects. Batherson, Brannstrom, Brown, Wolanin, Davidsson, Abramov etc. etc. - there will be storylines a plenty that will flow directly into how well Ottawa transitions to a crap team to what they will become in a couple of years.

Depends on how you think Batherson etc will do this year and going forward. Then hopefully the addition of an elite forward at next year's draft and suddenly you're not really a team other teams like to play.

PTFlea wrote:This is a big year for the organization to see what they have in some highly touted prospects.  Batherson, Brannstrom, Brown, Wolanin, Davidsson, Abramov etc. etc. - there will be storylines a plenty that will flow directly into how well Ottawa transitions to a crap team to what they will become in a couple of years.

Depends on how you think Batherson etc will do this year and going forward.  Then hopefully the addition of an elite forward at next year's draft and suddenly you're not really a team other teams like to play.

I really think we need to add a legit top line C prospect. Even if it comes in the form of a trade(of course we don’t have much to trade right now to get that return. I have my doubts on Brown.

Both he and Abramov have a buck load of potential but question marks over their heads. I was watching clips of abramov and the talent is all there. He just needs to put some weight on and be able to play his game amongst NHL level talent.
If he can he could be a 1st line winger. That’s a big IF though. Looking forward to going to a few AHL games this year. They’re cheap so maybe I’ll make it a regular thing.

Would be nice to see Brown play with Abramov and develop some chemistry.

I see Abramov topping out as a 2nd liner. He's sort of like Brown in that he's in a boom or bust position. I watched that same YouTube video yesterday. He has a pretty lethal shot and is pretty shifty, but he is definitely small. Looks like the passion is there which is nice to see.

I also watched Brown's highlight clips and man can he ever stick-handle and pass. He certainly has all the tools to be a top-six forward in the NHL. I guess with him it's all about compete level and staying healthy. He looks prime to play with Batherson. Their chemistry (and friendship) is undeniable.

I think the biggest question marks will be Formenton and Norris. I am pretty high on Norris and can see the Sens developing him as a winger if they feel like Brown is a 1b and they target someone like Byfield in the draft. That would move White to 3C down the road. As for Formenton, I'd like to see how he responds to a full season of skating post injury and whether or not he has the hands to finish plays. I see him as a 3LW who can move into the top-six.

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:I see Abramov topping out as a 2nd liner. He's sort of like Brown in that he's in a boom or bust position. I watched that same YouTube video yesterday. He has a pretty lethal shot and is pretty shifty, but he is definitely small. Looks like the passion is there which is nice to see.

I also watched Brown's highlight clips and man can he ever stick-handle and pass. He certainly has all the tools to be a top-six forward in the NHL. I guess with him it's all about compete level and staying healthy. He looks prime to play with Batherson. Their chemistry (and friendship) is undeniable.

I think the biggest question marks will be Formenton and Norris. I am pretty high on Norris and can see the Sens developing him as a winger if they feel like Brown is a 1b and they target someone like Byfield in the draft.  That would move White to 3C down the road. As for Formenton, I'd like to see how he responds to a full season of skating post injury and whether or not he has the hands to finish plays. I see him as a 3LW who can move into the top-six.

If Norris and Brown pan out I could see them moving white to the wing. Formenton is likely that. Top 6-9- depending on if he can add some finish to his game.

Flo The Action wrote:

PTFlea wrote:This is a big year for the organization to see what they have in some highly touted prospects.  Batherson, Brannstrom, Brown, Wolanin, Davidsson, Abramov etc. etc. - there will be storylines a plenty that will flow directly into how well Ottawa transitions to a crap team to what they will become in a couple of years.

Depends on how you think Batherson etc will do this year and going forward.  Then hopefully the addition of an elite forward at next year's draft and suddenly you're not really a team other teams like to play.

I really think we need to add a legit top line C prospect. Even if it comes in the form of a trade(of course we don’t have much to trade right now to get that return. I have my doubts on Brown.

Both he and Abramov have a buck load of potential but question marks over their heads. I was watching clips of abramov and the talent is all there. He just needs to put some weight on and be able to play his game amongst NHL level talent.
If he can he could be a 1st line winger. That’s a big IF though. Looking forward to going to a few AHL games this year. They’re cheap so maybe I’ll make it a regular thing.

Would be nice to see Brown play with Abramov and develop some chemistry.

Why mess with chemistry though, brown and batherson have some serious chemistry going in the ahl, why not transfer that to the nhl?

Abramov has a great motor and is quite shifty, I like this kid.