OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators can be excused for looking forward to the end of this calendar year.
If Queen Elizabeth II were a fan of this team, she would have termed 2018 in Ottawa Annus Horribilis, Latin for “Horrible Year.”
While Ottawa’s franchise instability was a running joke for the rest of the country, within the National Capital Region this was a painful 12 months of lurching from criminal charges to embarrassing viral videos to the trade of the most talented player in Senators history… oh, and they played hockey, too, finishing 30th of 31 teams in the season that ended in early April.
The fall season has been slightly better, but clear-thinking fans understand that a stable of young prospects will only carry the Senators so far in what is going to be a long and painful rebuilding process. Without further preamble, here’s a rundown of 18 developments, both good and bad, from 2018.
1. Trade-deadline fire sale
It could have been worse. Erik Karlsson was atop the trade deadline leader board until the deadline passed (the relief of Senators fans was short-lived). As it was, the Senators moved several veterans who had been part of their playoff run the previous year. Dispatched were defenceman Dion Phaneuf, forwards Derick Brassard, Nate Thompson, Chris DiDomenico and prospect Vincent Dunn.
Among the incoming was goaltender Filip Gustavsson, acquired from Pittsburgh in the Brassard trade. “Gus” is now considered by many to be Ottawa’s goalie of the future.
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2. Biggest deal
So long, EK65. On the first day of training camp, media and fans were stunned to learn that Karlsson and forward Francis Perron had been traded to the San Jose Sharks for Chris Tierney, Dylan DeMelo, prospects Rudolfs Balcers and Josh Norris, and draft picks.
3. It’s so hard to say goodbye
The two-time Norris Trophy winner, still in his prime at 28, was visibly shaken at his farewell press conference.
“I wish we were standing here in different circumstances,” Karlsson said. “It’s an emotional and sad day. I don’t think that I’ve ever in my wildest imagination thought that I would ever leave this place. But, unfortunately, we’re here under these circumstances and, again, that’s not something I’m going to go into detail about.”
4. Karlsson goes one on one
In an interview with Sportsnet’s Christine Simpson a few weeks after arriving in San Jose, Karlsson said that extension negotiations with Ottawa didn’t progress very far.
“Yeah, they did (make an offer). I don’t think it ever got to the point where I had an option to sign anything; it never even got close to that. And even if I would have signed, they probably would have traded me anyway and I would have been somewhere else.”
A source close to the Karlssons said that a lack of a no-trade clause was a major stumbling block in the preliminary offer.
5. Social-media meltdown
In a story that spilled over like raw sewage from the 2017–18 season, the Karlssons sought an order of protection against Mike Hoffman’s fiancé, Monica Caryk, in June. Melinda Karlsson, Erik’s wife, alleged that Caryk had wished death upon her and her unborn child, and had posted hundreds of other negative and derogatory statements online. (Caryk has vehemently denied the allegations.)
Within a week of the story breaking in the Ottawa Citizen, Hoffman was traded to San Jose before getting flipped again to Florida.
6. More bad news
The Karlsson/Caryk circus was preceded by the Buffalo arrest of Senators assistant general manager Randy Lee on harassment charges. Lee, accused of making lewd comments and touching a 19-year-old hotel shuttle driver, was eventually suspended by the Senators and ultimately resigned in August. The matter is still before the courts.
7. ‘Rest’ is history
Very rarely does an NHL general manager grumble about the team’s coach in a public forum. When he does, it usually means the coach is on his way out the door. So it was that eyebrows were raised to hear Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion say this about his head coach a few days after the 2017–18 season ended: “‘Rest is a weapon’ – if I hear that one more time I’ll go crazy.”
The reference was to one of Guy Boucher’s pet phrases for explaining why the Senators were not skating on a particular day, because “rest is a weapon.” After the 30th-place finish, that phrase was terminated. Boucher, however, was not — at least, not yet. Boucher was allowed to finish out the remaining season of his contract, but part of the agreement for him staying was that the Senators would develop their young players and practise more in 2018–19.
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8. Draft Kings
Between 2010 and 2014, the Senators took a lot of swings and misses in the first round of the draft. Think: Stefan Noesen, Matt Puempel and Curtis Lazar. That has turned around in recent drafts with the selections of defenceman Thomas Chabot (18th overall, 2015), centre Colin White (21st overall, 2015) and winger Brady Tkachuk (fourth overall, 2018).
With Karlsson gone, Chabot was handed the keys to the Ottawa blue line, and has been among the league leaders in defenceman scoring through three months. Tkachuk was brilliant early, though he hit a slump in early December. White surged to No. 1–centre duties when Duchene suffered a groin injury Dec. 6.
Other kids have played well in spurts, including D-men Maxime Lajoie and Christian Jaros, and forward Drake Batherson, who was just sent back to AHL Belleville to gain experience.
Meanwhile, goaltender depth is getting to be a strength. At the AHL level, Marcus Hogberg (78th overall, 2013) has recuperated from an early injury and has been strong. Behind him is 20-year-old Gustavsson (see above), acquired from Pittsburgh. In the NCAA, 22-year-old Joey Daccord (7th round, 2015) has been outstanding for Arizona State.
9. Draft D’oh!
The Senators are in a rebuild and would certainly be in line for a shot at top prospect Jack Hughes… but they don’t have a 2019 first-round pick. The reason? Coming off a trip to the 2017 Eastern Conference Final, the Senators were in win-now mode when they traded away a first-rounder plus Kyle Turris (plus, plus) for Duchene.
They could’ve sacrificed their rights to the pick that became Tkachuk this past June, but instead chose to keep it and give the Avs their unprotected 2019 selection instead.
10. Did you see that?
Chabot showed off some ‘sick mitts’ in the Senators’ Oct. 6 win in Toronto against the Maple Leafs:
11. Bad video goes viral
In their wisdom, the Senators believed the best way to come out from under a summer tire fire was to put the unpopular owner in a video “interview” with journeyman defenceman Mark Borowiecki. The painfully awkward video was instantly panned by all who watched. The most memorable line came from Melnyk: “Right now, we’re kind of in the dumpster.” You don’t say.
12. Worse video goes viral
Quickly making people forget the September Melnyk video was the players’ Uber video that the Ottawa Citizen posted online in early November. In the video, several players, including pending UFA Duchene, were critical of assistant coach Martin Raymond.
“Marty Raymond, the only coach in NHL history to have the worst power play and worst PK within a calendar year,” Duchene said on the video.
Raymond was in charge of the PP in 2017–18, which wasn’t quite the worst, ranked 27th at 16.6 per cent. Raymond’s PK unit has been at or near the worst in the league this season. Duchene publicly apologized for his comments.
13. Surprising performances
In what was one of the most entertaining and satisfying victories of the new season, the Senators handled the Sharks 6-2 in Karlsson’s return to the CTC on Dec. 1. Karlsson was flying, as was his mane, but the Senators were determined and full value for the win.
A week earlier, Ottawa managed a rare comeback win on the road vs. the Flyers. Down 3-1, the Senators scored three times in the third period to win 4-3. That sparked a three-game winning streak, which also included a 3-0 shutout of the Rangers.
14. They said it
Tkachuk was quotable following his Nov. 15 fight on behalf of linemate and townhouse mate Mark Stone. After a punishing hit by Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader on Stone, Tkachuk dropped the gloves and then Abdelkader with a series of lefts and rights. His best punch was the day-after punch line: “I just thought that was a high hit, especially on my landlord. That’s me paying my rent for the two months I’ve been living there.”
15. But not really
During the pre-season, Ottawa players were seriously buying in to an us-vs.-them philosophy. You know the drill: “Nobody gives us a chance,” “We’ll show them,” etc. Sophomore defenceman Thomas Chabot said this about the low expectations: “Some people think we’re going to go 0-82 this year.”
16. Duchene delivers
Not to be outdone by Chabot’s goal-of-the-year contender, veteran centre Duchene demonstrated his hand-eye skills with this backhand beauty, batting the puck out of mid air in late November:
17. LeBreton calling…
For more than 50 years, the LeBreton Flats area, just west of Parliament Hill, has been sitting vacant, waiting for the National Capital Commission to open it up to development. That finally happened a few years ago when the NCC accepted proposals, and ultimately settled in January on the RendezVous LeBreton bid put together by John Ruddy of Trinity Developments and Eugene Melnyk, owner of the Senators.
18. … or Kanata 2.0
Sadly, the two partners have never been able to decide on the right mix of development around the proposed new arena for the Sens, and in late November the discourse blew up in a $700-million law suit by Melnyk against Ruddy. The suit came days after the NCC gave RendezVous an ultimatum of sorting out their differences by January, when the NCC next meets.
Ruddy responded on Dec. 18 with a counter-suit for $1 billion alleging that Melnyk’s suit is “meritless” and “scandalous.” Merry Christmas to all.
An agreement seems unlikely now that the lawyers are involved, but all bets are off as far as what will be announced in January by the NCC. There is a partnership of billionaires in Quebec who are dying to pick up the pieces of this failed bid. And if the development proceeds without Melnyk, he says he will keep the team in Kanata, where attendance has become an issue, partly due to backlash against his ownership.
