Between the retirement of longtime franchise player Daniel Alfredsson and the firing of head coach Paul MacLean, it was an eventful first half of the 2014-15 season for the Ottawa Senators.
On the ice, the club has relatively played up to expectations with 40 points in its first 39 games. The team has gotten reliable production of its top players — Bobby Ryan, Erik Karlsson, and Craig Anderson — but the group is still early in its development phase with plenty of young players throughout their roster.
Under new coach Dave Cameron, they have adopted a more aggressive style that better fits what management was looking for out of their group.
Team Record: 16-15-8 (11th in Eastern Conference).
Goals for: 103 (21st in NHL)
Goals against: 107 (15th in NHL)
Power Play: 16.5 percent (21st in NHL)
Penalty kill: 82.6 percent (10th in NHL)
Pre-season Cup odds: 66/1
Current Cup odds: 100/1
Best surprise: The development of Mike Hoffman. Sure, Mike Hoffman had produced at the AHL level – 30 goals in 51 games last season – but his breakout has to be a pleasant surprise for the Senators. Entering the 2014-15 season, Hoffman had just three career goals in 29 NHL games and now he’s easily on pace to exceed the 20-goal mark with 13 goals in 36 games. He’s been a very valuable player, as indicated by his plus-18 rating. Yes, plus/minus is a flawed metric but relative to his own team, the plus-18 largely stood out in comparison to his teammates.
Grade: B+.
Biggest disappointment: The coaching of Paul MacLean. Considering that MacLean won the Jack Adams award as coach of the year just two years ago, it was a bit stunning to see him ousted after 27 games this year. But inside the industry, this was expected to happen quite some time. There had been rumblings of internal issues between MacLean and GM Bryan Murray because management was displeased with MacLean’s coaching style and communication with his players. The team was among the league’s worst in shots allowed and they were frequently committing too many turnovers.
Grade: D.
Forwards: The Senators have gotten solid production out of some of its top forwards (Kyle Turris, Ryan, Clarke MacArthur) but overall the group is still mediocre at best. They rank in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference in goal scoring. There is plenty of promise throughout the roster with ascending players such as Alex Chiasson, Mika Zibanejad, Mark Stone, Hoffman, and Curtis Lazar, but they’re a relatively young group that is at an early stage in their development. They need to show improvement at playing without the puck and in their defensive zone coverage.
Grade: B-.
Defence: This group still needs some work. Erik Karlsson is an elite playmaker from the back end but the team still needs to improve play in their own zone. Young players such as Cody Ceci, and Jared Cowen have not progressed at the level some may have expected within the Senators organization, but again they’re still very young players and that comes with ups and downs.
Grade: C-.
Goaltending: Senators starter Craig Anderson has been terrific. After a decline in production in 2013-14, Anderson is back to performing at an extremely high level. His .929 save percentage is among the best in the league. Backup Robin Lehner’s play hasn’t stood out but the team is comfortable with him filling in behind Anderson. This is one of the strength’s of the roster.
Grade: A-.
Coaching: It’s tough to evaluate Cameron. He has only coached 12 games (5-4-3) since MacLean was fired. He’s a first-time head coach that is still adjusting to his new role. It would be unfair to assign him a grade based on an extremely limited sample.
Grade: Incomplete.
Overall: Grade: C.
