Pierre Dorion is confident in the roster he’s helped assemble.
The rookie Ottawa Senators GM spoke to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, revealing he believes his club is a playoff team.
“Without a doubt, and I know when you work for an organization you’re biased about your players because you drafted a lot of them and you’ve made a trade for a few of them,” Dorion said. “But, for sure, there’s no doubt in my mind that I think we’re a playoff team.”
Dorion is hopeful, as he should be.
The Senators, whether it’s correct or not, are in win-now mode. After finishing 11th in the Eastern Conference with a 38-35-9 record, Ottawa decided to press forward with its core group, making few changes, such as trading for Derrick Brassard and extending leading goal scorer Mike Hoffman. Dorion also signed depth pieces such as Chris Kelly and Mike Blunden. It was a small facelift for a team which seemed destined for wide spread turnover.
Instead, the Senators biggest changes came behind the bench. Bringing in a creative, inventive thinker as Guy Boucher was a shrewd hire. He showed great potential as a head coach during his two and a half season stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Not only was Boucher brought in, but so was former Stanley Cup-winning coach Marc Crawford as associate coach. It’s a promising duo for the Senators and a massive upgrade over Dave Cameron.
Will the coaching changes and small moves make much of a difference? Perhaps. Erik Karlsson is the best defenseman on the planet and single-handedly makes the Senators offense go. The defense is in decent shape with Dion Phaneuf, the unsigned Cody Ceci and Mark Methot. The forward group with Hoffman, Derick Brassard, Mark Stone, Kyle Turris, Bobby Ryan and Jean-Gabriel Pageau is also solid. Clarke MacArthur is reportedly healthy and his presence should give the Senators a nice boost. If Craig Anderson can stay healthy, he gives the Senators a chance to win every night. There’s some uncertainty for Dorion, but the parts for a playoff team are there.
With all that said, the Senators won’t make it back to the playoffs unless their special teams dramatically improve. Ottawa finished 26th with a 15.9 power play percentage. That’s an absurdly low number for a team with the game’s most dynamic defenseman. The Senators’ penalty kill was even worse, finishing 29th with a 75.8 kill percentage. You’ll be hard-pressed to qualify for the playoffs with such a low number. Adding Boucher and Crawford should change up the club’s stagnant approach – but that’s no guarantee.
Ottawa would also be wise to add some depth. The third and fourth lines, as is, are mediocre outside the center position. Curtiz Lazar is a former first-round pick, but he’s done next to nothing in terms of production at the NHL level early in his career. Zach Smith scored 25 goals in 2015-16 but did so on an unsustainable 20.7 shooting percentage. Chris Kelly and Chris Neil shouldn’t be counted on for anything as they near retirement age. If injury hits the top-six, yikes.
Dorion’s Senators have the right ingredients to return to the playoffs, but they’re nowhere near the place to do much more than that. Adding Boucher and Crawford will help, but unless special teams gets significantly better, 2016-17 could be more or of the same as the last.
