With the league being quieter during the offseason, it’s a great time to look back at last season and evaluate what could be better for the following one. For the Ottawa Senators, it’s pretty simple. Last season, the expectations were for them to make a postseason push after completing the rebuild. Given this has failed, it’s a rinse-and-repeat scenario for this season.
The Senators have made some promising additions with the signing of Vladimir Tarasenko and the acquisition of Dominik Kubalik and other assets in the Alex DeBrincat trade. This is great, but it’s also important to look within at the players on the team who are expected to step up. Every team has its bounce-back candidates, and it’s no exception for the Sens. Luckily, they are in good hands on a team that is considered to have a bright future. In this article, I will look at players who are the likeliest to bounce back this season.
Thomas Chabot
The first candidate may come as a surprise for many 一 and rightfully so. Thomas Chabot put up 11 goals and 41 points in 68 games, which are great statistics for a defenseman. However, it’s not always about the statistics.
Ever since Chabot has come into the league, he’s played with a kind of swagger and confidence that many young defensemen aspire to have. Fans first saw it when he played in the World Junior Championship for Canada in 2017, where he was named tournament MVP despite his team losing the gold medal game. When he made the Senators roster full-time for the 2017-18 season, they saw him put up big numbers and take up important ice time with the Senators.
So when Chabot signed his eight-year, $64 million contract in September 2019 after finishing his sophomore year with 14 goals and 55 points in only 70 games, it showed that Senators management believes he is the guy to lead the defense. After all, he did establish himself as a top-pairing defenseman early on, so he deserves the money. Plus, he can really impress the crowd with some big goals from time to time.
However, maybe he had too much weight on his shoulders at the start of this season. There is no questioning his game-changing ability, but he didn’t seem confident in his own end 一 a trait you don’t want to see in your top-pairing defenseman. He is also more of a ‘transporter’ than a ‘puck mover,’ which has caused him some trouble with zone exits at times.
Luckily for him, Chabot now has some valuable help with the acquisition of Jakob Chychrun and the emergence of Jake Sanderson. Maybe taking some of the load off will help him regain the on-ice confidence that makes Senators fans choose to put his name and number on the back of their jerseys. If there’s someone that can bounce back on this team, it’s him.
Mathieu Joseph
For the second likeliest candidate on this list, we turn to a player the Sens acquired in a trade rather than a homegrown draft pick. One day before the trade deadline in 2022, they sent Nick Paul to the Tampa Bay Lightning in return for Mathieu Joseph and a fourth-round pick.
Related: Revisiting the Joseph and Paul Trade One Year Later
For general manager Pierre Dorion, this move was seen as an opportunity to give a younger player who has always been caught on a roster filled with talent the chance to succeed. And in the 11 games he played in the 2021-22 season, he was promising. He put up four goals and 12 points in only 11 games to earn himself a four-year, $11.8 million contract.
Last season, it seemed like Joseph couldn’t find his footing. While injuries didn’t help, he still only put up three goals and 18 points in 56 games for a Senators team that desperately needed production from its bottom-six group. The Laval-born winger has the speed and the offensive skill set to perform when given the chance, but he wasn’t able to prove it. Expect the Stanley Cup champion to bounce back this season with better support around him.
Anton Forsberg
The last candidate on this list is neither a drafted nor a traded player. On March 17, 2021, Anton Forsberg was claimed off waivers by the Senators from the Winnipeg Jets. This was the third time that he was claimed in the span of two months. The Jets had claimed him from the Carolina Hurricanes, who themselves had claimed him from the Edmonton Oilers. This was a lot of movement in such a short period of time, but he’s finally found a place to call home.
In his first full season with the team, Forsberg put up solid numbers on a Sens team that once again missed the playoffs. In 46 games, he put up a .917 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.82 goals-against average (GAA). This performance earned him a three-year, $8.25 million contract.
Last season, Forsberg struggled to regain his form and was plagued with injuries 一 a recurrent theme for Senators goalies. He was one of the seven goalies to suit up with the team as he put up a .902 SV% and a 3.26 GAA in the 28 games he played in. This season, he’ll have less weight on his shoulders with the arrival of Joonas Korpisalo. This is a solid tandem to push the Sens back to the postseason. Throughout his career, he has shown that he always perseveres, so expect to see his numbers bounce back.
The Expectations
Overall, the upcoming season will be a big one for the Senators in an Atlantic Division that is setting up to be a bloodbath. The Detroit Red Wings and the Buffalo Sabres are looking like candidates to take up playoff spots while the Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins all look to regain a playoff spot this year. But if all the candidates on this list bounce back for the Sens – which certainly isn’t unlikely – the chances will be on their side.
