Ottawa Senators' 2008-09 Season Preview

Many people would argue that the Ottawa Senators' window of opportunity to win the Stanley Cup is rapidly closing. Some would even suggest that the team is on the verge of missing the postseason for the first time in over a decade.

One thing is for sure—eight players that were part of the first-round drubbing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins will not be suiting up for the Sens when they open their season in Stockholm. 

Given that, the team went out and signed Jarkko Ruutu and Jason Smith. Both of these signings were made by GM Bryan Murray to address the need of grit and leadership in the Sens' locker room.

Up front, the team will heavily rely on Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley to shoulder the offensive load. There's no question that the big-three will put up big numbers, but it is hard to say whether their supporting cast can do the same.

The team avoided arbitration when they re-signed Antoine Vermette to a two-year deal only weeks ago. During the team's downward spiral at the end of last season, Vermette was one of the lone bright spots for the Senators. Vermette is expected to centre the second line and will be looked upon—once again—to have a breakout season.

Ottawa has a solid group of players, but their problem will be providing secondary scoring behind the top line. Veteran Mike Fisher and sophomore Nick Foligno will have to deliver a more offensive output, while other role players will have to chip in as much as possible to light up the board in the Nation's Capital.

On defense there are some real question marks. Long-time Senator Wade Redden decided to take his show to Broadway, leaving the team without a legitimate number-one defenseman. Albeit, Redden's last two seasons were average at best—but the Senators now have to find a player from within the organization who will be able to quarterback power plays and put up numbers.

The rest of the defensemen carry a physical presence—especially Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, and the newly-acquired Jason Smith.  With the signing of the veteran Smith, the team is expected to gain plenty of hard work and leadership. Between Volchenkov and Smith, the Senators have two of the top three shot-blockers from a year ago.

Brian Lee and Lawrence Nycholat are likely to make the jump and become mainstay NHLers in the fall. Both are coming off strong campaigns in Binghamton, and will contribute offensively from the back-end.

With those five names listed, there is one spot remaining on defense. Andrej Meszaros has yet to sign a new contract, and the season is right around the corner. Although Christoph Schubert is a natural defenseman who can fill in the sixth spot, don't be surprised to see him on up on left wing next season.

In between the pipes, we have Martin Gerber and Alex Auld. This is by no means an elite tandem, but hopefully the signing of Auld makes for healthy competition in training camp. Keep in mind that Gerber's contract is up at the end of the season, and if he has a sub-par year the Sens won't hesitate to replace him going into the 2009-10 season.

Though the team's roster will not be finalized until the end of training camp, one can speculate what it will look like:

LW                                             C                                              RW

D. Heatley                     J. Spezza                         D. Alfredsson

N. Foligno                    A. Vermette                         M. Fisher

J. Ruutu                         C. Kelly                              C. Neil

C. Schubert                D. McAmmond                       S. Donovan

                      LD                                        RD

              A. Volchenkov                     C. Phillips

                  B. Lee                            J. Smith

               L. Nycholat                             ?

                                         G

                                    M. Gerber

                                     A. Auld

As it stands, Meszaros is not under contract, so I technically can't add him to the depth chart. If "Meszy" were to play elsewhere this season, Schubert would drop back to the blue line, leaving an opening at the forward position.

Other candidates to make the team out of training camp: J. Winchester, C. Bass A. Nikulin, I. Zubov

Statistically speaking, here's how I think the points will spread:

Name                                                 G             A            P

D. Heatley                                 51         50        101

J. Spezza                                  29         69         98

D. Alfredsson                              40        57         97

A. Vermette                               29         42         71

M. Fisher                                   25         31         56 

N. Foligno                                  19         26         45

B. Lee *                                    10         31         41

C. Kelly                                     17          23        40

D. McAmmond                             12         16         28

A. Volchenkov                             6           19         25

C. Neil                                        12         12         24

C. Schubert **                            9           14         23

L. Nycholat                                  7           16         23

J. Ruutu                                      10          10         20

C. Phillips                                    4            15         19

J. Winchester ***                        3            15         18

S. Donovan ***                           6            10         16

J. Smith                                      2             9          11

C. Bass                                       1             3          4

A. Nikulin                                     1             3          4

I. Zubov                                      0             2          2

* - If Meszaros returns to the lineup, there's no question he will be playing in power-play situations. He will put up 11-34-45 if he plays, where I would see Lee drop to 7-24-31 while playing less minutes.

** - If Meszaros doesn't re-sign, Schubert will suit up as a defenseman. Therefore his numbers would decrease due to the lack of opportunities to the area of 5-10-15.

*** - Shean Donovan re-signed in the offseason to a two-way contract. Although it is unlikely, Donovan could be seeing time in Bingo if the team feels Jesse Winchester can add offense to the big club.

Both Alexander Nikulin and Ilya Zubov are expected to fill in during the event of an injury. In that case, the point totals for these two above could be an accurate prediction. However, if one of these guys can manage to earn a spot out of training camp, their numbers will increase.

As you can see, it's evident that the Senators' organization has its work cut out for it. The team's fans are hoping that the offseason additions in the grit and leadership category will show in the win column in the race for the postseason.

Final prediction: 40 wins, 31 losses, 11 overtime losses (91 points, eighth in the Eastern Conference). First-round elimination in seven games.