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A few days ago, I outlined the Senators' defense and how the look would look like come the beginning of the season barring any other moves. ICYMI, I'll drop the link below. Now, I'd like to switch gears and look at the offense, and see what Ottawa has at the moment, and what my opinion would be on line pairings. I'm going to do something a little different however. This time around, I'll give my opinion of the line pairings we could see deployed on Day 1, and the reasoning behind it. Before all that though, let's see what pieces we are working with. The Ottawa Senators' roster on offense looks like this:
1. Jason Spezza
2. Bobby Ryan
3. Milan Michalek
4. Chris Neil
5. Kyle Turris
6. Clarke MacArthur
7. Zack Smith**
8. Erik Condra(just signed a two year deal today.)
9. Cory Conacher
10. Colin Greening
11. Matt Kassian
12. Jim O' Brien( Don't see him on the roster, however.)
13. Mika Zibanejad *
14. Jean-Gabriel Pageau *
Notes:
-You may see that I have two asterisks next to Zack Smith. The reasoning behind it is because his name has been floated around in a trade possibility for quite sometime now. The most common one being linked to a possible trade between Edmonton and Ottawa. The most common thing I've heard is a Hemsky-Smith trade; however, once again, this rumor has been floating around for quite sometime now, so I'm not sure if this move will ever be triggered or not. I do believe Ottawa is trying to shop Smith nonetheless.
-You will see simply one asterisk between my last two players on this list which are, Mika Zibanejad and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Although, they are listed as AHL players on the roster, I think that their play last season did more than just give Ottawa the reason to promote them full-time to the NHL roster.
- There are obviously more players that can be included on this list as we know that Ottawa does an exceptional job with their prospects so you can see any of the young players from Binghamton make the move at any moment. These are just the NHL-ready players at the moment in my opinion.
With that being said, let's take a look at what I believe we will see come Day 1 of the season barring any further moves:
Michalek-Spezza-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris- Pageau
Conacher-Zibanejad-Neil
Kassian-Greening-Condra
Now, for some thoughts:
1st Line: Michalek-Spezza-Ryan
Basically, the line you'd expect to see deployed. Ottawa's top paid forwards/ best forwards are expected to tack on the heaviest minutes against the opponent's top lines. Also, this is basically the same line we've seen for the past couple of seasons other than the significant change of former Captain, Daniel Alfredsson who is now replaced by newly acquired winger, Bobby Ryan. This will be the line that will come out when Ottawa is seeking the most offense. However, the loss of Alfredsson is a HUGE one. Bobby Ryan has big shoes to fill as he looks to fill in the shoes of an icon in Ottawa. I'm curious to see how this line plays defensively and if they can stay healthy. We know that the past couple of seasons Spezza and Michalek have been taken down with injuries and it's hurt Ottawa to an extent, but Head Coach, Paul MacLean was always finding ways to continue to win. Alfredsson was a great defensive player as well, as him and Condra were great penalty killers. Alfredsson brought this line together. It'll be interesting to see the chemistry between this line. Keep a close eye on them.
2nd Line: MacArthur-Turris- Pageau
I may get some reactions on this line, but hear me out on it. Clarke MacArthur is a proven scorer but has been on the decline the past few seasons. Jean-Gabriel Pageau emerged against Montreal in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs recording his first career NHL hat-trick. There's some guy whose name is Kyle Turris on this line as well. I think all of you know him as well. I don't need to say anything else on him. So why am I saying that two players that have been on the decline should be considered Top 6 forwards? Bottom line, Paul MacLean will make it work! Since MacLean made his coaching debut and came to Ottawa two seasons ago, he has made a roster full of young talents believers! I also believe that this line will supplement the first line quite nicely as well. Murray wanted to address the scoring need this offseason, and hauling in Clarke MacArthur will help this second line a lot.
3rd Line: Conacher-Zibanejad-Neil
The almost Calder Line! GM Bryan Murray has made it clear that he'd like to see Zibanejad play Center this season. Cory Conacher is rebounding off a solid rookie season last year, and is looking to make a bigger impact this season. Conacher, who had a great start to the season last year, slowed down the second half of the season before being traded from Tampa Bay to Ottawa in exchange for netminder, Ben Bishop at the trade deadline. Neil is a solid third liner and he is proven to have success when paired with Zibanejad so it would make sense to pair him with Zibanejad and ride the wave. He is also a good addition to the forecheck as he brings in his solid, gritty play, and hard hits to the table. Also, would you really want to see Neil and Kassian as wingers on the 4th line? I didn't think so. This combination would make the most sense, in my opinion.
4th Line: Kassian-Greening-Condra
To be honest, I hope that Ottawa can make a move to bring in another bottom six player to replace Kassian because I don't think it's bearable to watch him anymore. On the other side, you have two great penalty killers in Greening and Condra. With Alfredsson gone, Condra is now the team's top penalty killer and Ottawa did a great job in re-signing him before he made it to the arbitration hearing. He's a very important piece in this lineup. The only reason why I have Condra on the 4th line is simply because of his success with Colin Greening. Also, you'd tend to assume that he'd be getting most of his minutes from the penalty kill. I look at Condra as the anchor of this line and his presence adds some much needed defensive help on this line, and aside from Kassian, it really isn't a bad line overall. Then again, that is without Kassian, and as of now he still wears an Ottawa uniform, so they are stuck with him. There could also be the possibility of seeing Zack Smith on this line in place of Kassian, but that's if Ottawa doesn't move him by that time.
There you have it, this is my look at the Ottawa offense. I really think Ottawa has something great here especially with the additions of Bobby Ryan and Clarke MacArthur. From the first line all the way to the fourth line, they can all play. I'd like to see Murray bring in a bottom six forward, mostly to replace Kassian, but this lineup isn't too bad, and once again if we don't think it'll work, watch Paul MacLean make it work!
Here's the link to my previous blog, where I take a look at Defense -- http://antoniosantiago15.blogspot.com/2013/07/looking-at-defense_10.html
Thanks for reading!
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