They have long since left school, but the young guns of the Ottawa Senators would make for a solid fraternity house.
Phi Beta Fear No Salary Kappa.
On second thought, frat houses have too many rules and silly traditions. The Senators young players prefer free expression, such as Drake Batherson blowing a kiss to Tim Stützle on the bench, a public demonstration of thanks for Stützle’s exquisite backhand pass through traffic for a power-play goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.
It is a candidate for goal of the year, the way Stützle "sold" a shot attempt on the forehand, only to wheel and spin and fire the back beauty to Batherson for the open one-timer.
"Backhand sauce, right on my tape," Batherson said. "I didn’t even want to celebrate – I wanted him to celebrate because of how nice a pass it was."
This is the essence of Ottawa’s youth corps – players like Stützle, Batherson, Brady Tkachuk and Josh Norris. Toss in Erik Brannstrom when he’s in the lineup. None of them older than 22. All of them get more joy out of their teammates' success than they do of their own.
Tkachuk had a similar reaction to Batherson when Stützle threaded a pass through a crowd to Tkachuk at the lip of the crease. Tkachuk was more excited about ‘Jimmy’s’ pass than his own goal.
Three of the young guns share the same house – Tkachuk, Norris and Stützle. On Monday, during Ottawa’s dominant home-ice effort against the Vancouver Canucks (44 shots on Thatcher Demko), head coach D.J. Smith put the roomies together as a line. Naturally, they scored on their first shift together. Their celly alone was worth the price of admission, if only there were admissions during these lonely nights at the rinks.
A while ago, I asked Tkachuk about life at home, during a pandemic, with Norris and Stützle.
"We have fun," Tkachuk said. "We laugh, we eat dinner. That’s it. We have a good time."
They have fun on the ice, too, which is part of what makes this young group so popular with the fan base, despite having a losing record. And the moves of Stützle at just 19 years of age are simply breathtaking. It’s not a stretch to suggest that when he matures, he will be the most skilled forward the Senators have ever known, more dazzling than Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson.
Now, rookie Joey Daccord is into the mix, a demonstrative, energetic presence in net, following an injury to struggling starter Matt Murray.
At 24, Daccord is a relative elder to the kids. But with just eight career NHL games to his credit, he is very much a part of this youth-driven initiative. In an emergency start, Daccord led his team to a 3-2 victory over the Leafs on Sunday, Daccord’s first NHL win.
"I think he brings a lot of confidence and a lot of swagger," Norris says, about Daccord. "I mean he’s not afraid to show that, either, and I think that’s important as a goalie. Goalies are different, some guys are a little bit more laid back and he’s more high-strung and I think we feed off of that.
"He’s played some good games for us ... he’s a really confident kid and like I said, it kind of breeds through our team."
On Tuesday, Daccord made an appearance on The Ray and Dregs Hockey Podcast and spoke about how every day is Kids Day at the Ex in Ottawa.
"Oh, we have a great time here. And there’s so much talent, and so much skill, I can’t wait – I think it's coming even in the next year or two where you’re going to see these guys that are already showing flashes. That is just next level talent and skill. The best part of all these guys, your Norris, Stützle, Batherson ... they’re just awesome people. So much fun to hang out with and hang around with. It really helps with the camaraderie, especially in the grind of a season.
"It makes you want to work hard and grow together. There’s only great things to come here in the future for the Ottawa Senators."
Daccord will start again Wednesday against the Canucks at the Canadian Tire Centre. Murray was not on the practice ice Wednesday morning. Filip Gustavsson will back up Daccord.
While Vancouver owns a 4-0 record against Ottawa this season, three of those wins came on the Senators first road trip of the season when their game and their roster was in disarray. The Senators are 5-1-1 in their last seven home games.
Murray update
Head coach D. J. Smith described Matt Murray’s status as "day-to-day." He is expected to be on the ice during the upcoming break. The Senators do not play again until Monday versus the incoming Calgary Flames. Murray, of course, left the ice during Sunday’s warmup against the Leafs. There has been no description of his injury, other than that he told Daccord to be ready in warmups as Murray was not one hundred per cent physically.
Injured backup Marcus Hogberg is also improving, skating on his own prior to team practices.
Brannstrom continues to sit
Defenceman Erik Brannstrom hasn’t played since the 7-1 loss in Edmonton March 10. Brannstrom played 18 minutes in that game and was minus-3. Brannstrom has appeared in 14 of Ottawa’s 32 games.
At 21, Brannstrom needs to play, but Smith said it would be up to general manager Pierre Dorion if he wants to send Brannstrom down to the AHL for games with the B-Sens. Christian Wolanin has been in the lineup recently ahead of Brannstrom. Wolanin, who turns 26 on St. Patrick’s Day, needs to dress in 16 of the Senators’ remaining 24 games or else he would be declared an unrestricted free agent.
Smith said Brannstrom needs work on his defensive game.
"It’s the very same thing Wolly struggled with, it’s closing guys in the D-zone," Smith said. "You have to be able to stop the cycle in this league, if not you spend the entire game in your zone. Both of them break the puck out well. I think the biggest thing for young defencemen is being able to break the cycle."
"Wolanin has played well," Smith said. "He’s moved pucks and done some good things."
Watson the warrior
Smith says winger Austin Watson is as tough a player as he has ever coached. Tkachuk calls Watson the "ultimate warrior."
Safe to say the Senators, to a man, were in awe when Watson took a puck to the throat from a Nate Schmidt shot in Monday’s game and quickly returned to the ice and right back on a penalty kill. Watson said he was fortunate that the puck hit his collarbone first, before veering across his throat and leaving a welt.
"Different guys bring different things to the table," Watson said. "For me, I can’t guarantee I’m going to score you a goal every night, or even every other night. But I can guarantee I’m going to work as hard as I can, that I’m going to block shots and be physical. Those are things within my control."
Watson said that while he doesn’t do these things just to earn praise, "at the same time, that’s what a team is all about, guys sacrificing different parts of their game, their life, for the benefit of the team.
"When guys take notice of guys doing different things, like blocking shots or making good puck decisions, or willing to throw their body around ... it really builds that team chemistry."
Coaches love players like Watson, and Smith is no exception.
"When it comes to shot blocking and his ability to do anything for the team – those are the kinds of guys you win with," Smith said. "That’s a great guy Pierre brought in to show guys just how hard you have to play in order to win hockey games. Not everyone is going to score goals but there’s other parts of the game that have to be played that hard. The games are that close. For me he is one of the guys who has come in here and really upped his compete level."
Paul earns draws
Though he plays left wing more than centre, Nick Paul has become a key faceoff performer for the Senators. In fact, at 54.5 per cent, he ranks 22nd in the NHL.
An imposing six-foot-three and 225 pounds, Paul uses force in the faceoff dot.
"Hard on my stick, get low to the ice, I’m very low over the dot so when I pull through either my hand’s breaking or my stick’s breaking," Paul says. "That’s the kind of mindset I’m going on.
"Just try to power through the dot. It’s working so far. Wingers are helping out, coming in to win the 50-50 battles."
Paul says he feels good about his night once he is productive on faceoffs.
"For me it dictates my whole game," Paul says. "If I’m not doing well I start thinking about it and it gets kind of in my head. But when you get in a groove you start feeling it and you feel good. And you start with the puck which is huge."
Paul said ex-Senators centre Jean-Gabriel Pageau taught him how to tie up opposing centres. And retired centre Chris Kelly went to Belleville as a Sens development coach and inspired Paul to get good at faceoffs.
"If you want to get a spot in the NHL, you can start as a draw guy," Kelly told him. "You can get called up to the fourth line but if you win all your draws in important situations, it can buy you some more ice time. I kind of focused on that and said, this is another tool I can add in my bag. I started working on it ... I want to be the guy who’s out there on those key draws."
Paul, 25, is a wonderful story about a late bloomer earning success in the NHL after 217 games in the minors, at AHL Belleville and Binghamton. He has clearly earned the trust of Ottawa’s coaching staff.
"D.J. knows I’m a player that he can put on the fourth line, first line, second line, defence, net, in the stands," Paul says, exaggerating to make a point. "No matter where he puts me I’m going to do it to the best of my abilities and I’m not going to complain or get too excited about it. I know my job."