The goaltending situation

Talking Senators
Sep 7, 2018 · 6 min read

Many questions still remain as the Senators enter a rebuilding season without their 2019 first round pick. It’s time to evaluate some of the players worth to the team and decide whether they should remain during the rebuilding process.

This week, I will be giving my opinion on why the Senators should keep J-G Pageau for the rebuild, I’ll also be evaluating the pros and cons of signing Ryan Dzingel to a long term contract.

Can Anderson have a bounce back season after a disastrous 2017–18 season?

While many players on the Ottawa Senators have targets on their backs to be traded before the end of this upcoming season, there’s one player in particular who I believe should remain for the long run.

J-G Pageau

Jean-Gabriel Pageau after scoring the tying goal in game 2 of the eastern conference semi-finals against the Rangers.

Another hometown player, Pageau knows how to get to the dirty areas and score clutch goals for his team in pressure situations. A perfect example of this could be his 4 goal performance against the Rangers in the 2017 playoffs. Pageau also recorded a hat-trick against the habs in the 2013 playoffs. Players like Pageau are hard to come by in today’s NHL, a player who can do it all, kill penalties, score goals, play under pressure.

The one knock about Pageau is his size but he more than makes up for it with the energy he brings to the ice every shift he plays. He’s fast and solid on his skates.

Pageau is the perfect example of a third line center but Ottawa currently has him slotted as the second line center right behind Duchene, unless someone like Logan Brown or Colin White can step in and take that top 6 spot. Ideally one of these prospects plays second line center and Pageau can drop down to the third line where he belongs and thrives.

Keeping Pageau in a Senators uniform also means he can be a mentor for the younger guys coming up. In many cases, forward prospects need to develop their defensive game, what better player to teach them than Pageau. He’s always been praised for his defensive game and awerness.

Also, when injuries occur, Pageau has proven he can play a top 6 role. When Turris was injured for the remainder of the 2015–16 season, Pageau played as a top 6 center alongside Stone and Smith and finished the season with a respectable 19 goals and 43 points.

With that said, Pageau should remain with the Senators for their rebuilding stages. He can mentor the younger players, he also shows a lot of heart in his game which could influence the newcomers.

Ryan Dzingel

Ottawa Senators Left Wing Ryan Dzingel after a whistle during second period against the Bruins

I’m a huge Dzingel fan but unfortunately his contract expires after this season, alongside the likes of Erik Karlsson, Matt Duchene and Mark Stone to name a few. It’s unlikely Ottawa re-sign all of these players with a tight budget in place. Now, we must ask ourselves the following question, Should Dzingel be in Ottawa long term? Let’s make a pros and cons list and also evaluate how much Dzingel could be asking for in his next contract.

Pros: Dzingel is blazing fast, which translates really well to today’s NHL. He’s also a breakaway machine but often misses those chances. The Senators are in a clear need for top 6 players and Dzingel fills that need. He’s proven he can score after posting a career high 23 goals and 41 points last season. His point totals have increased in every season since becoming a full time NHLer. Dzingel shot a career high 16.9% last season, his career average is a respectable 14.2%.

Cons: Dzingel only has 2 years of full time NHL experience under his belt and committing long term could turn out to be a mistake. Dzingel would get paid like a top 6 player but with the likes of Brady Tkachuk and Alex Formenton coming up as left wings as well, Dzingel could get bumped down the lineup. Probably the most obvious con would be giving the money to a more important player like Karlsson or Stone and trade Dzingel at this year’s deadline.

A player like Ryan Dzingel could command north of 4 million a season. I would say around 4.5 million depending on how he plays this season. At this point, with Tkachuk coming up, if getting rid of Dzingel means we can sign more important players, I’m all for it. A guy like Alex Formenton will be NHL ready in the next two years and will replace Dzingel’s speed, I also believe Formenton will be a more complete player than Dzingel, not to mention he will be on a cheap entry level contract.

Craig Anderson

Senators goalie Craig Anderson

After his amazing play in the 2016–17 playoffs, Craig Anderson was rewarded with a two year $9.5 million contract. Now, that contract looks terrible and the last thing Ottawa needs is another bad contract.

Last season, Anderson posted a poor .898 save percentage as well as a 3.32 GAA. Those numbers will not help Ottawa contend for a cup anytime soon, let alone a playoff spot. Anderson needs to bring his save percentage to at least a .915 for Ottawa to even be competitive. Anything under that won’t cut it.

We must also keep in mind that Anderson is 37 years old and unfortunately, he’s slowly declining. Although, history does show that Anderson has a bounce back streak going after every bad season.

The Sens also have Mike Condon, who also seems to be on yet another bad contract for the Sens after regressing his numbers last season. He’s signed for the next two years at an AAV of $2.4 million. Both Condon and Anderson are signed through the 2019–20 season. Both need to step up for a young Senators squad this year.

Nonetheless, help is on the way in the form of swedish goaltenders Filip Gustavsson and Marcus Högberg but they are still a couple of years away from starting in the NHL. If Gustavsson can’t translate his game to the NHL level, the Senators run into trouble. Dorion will have to turn to the free agent or trade market for capable goaltenders.

It was rumoured in late June that Craig Anderson wanted out of Ottawa. Anderson recently spoke to media expressing his love for Ottawa and how he’s been with the franchise for the last 8 years. He then mentioned all the drama that came with last season and how it needs to end, he’s too old for that. So clearly, the drama needs to stop for Anderson to want to stay in Ottawa for the entirety of his new contract.

Hopefully Ottawa’s goaltending situation clears itself up sooner rather than later. So far, Gustavsson has shown some promise to be Ottawa’s goalie of the future. He won a silver medal along with the best goaltender award at the U20 WJC this past season. He also put up a .918 save percentage in 22 games in the SweHL with Lulea, which is not small feat for a 19 year old.

Final Thoughts

These are just my thoughts on certain players. I would obviously love to keep all the core players but somethings has to change. I believe Pageau needs to remain with the Senators if they are to ever contend for a cup because players like him are hard to come by. Like I said, Pageau shows heart and he gives it his all every shift. Now for Dzingel, I’d be okay trading him as long as it gives us future assets and is also allows Dorion to re-sign more important players on the roster.

On my next article I will be covering my thoughts on Mark Stone and his new deal, how much I think he’s worth. Also I’ll be talking about training camp and who I think will surprise the coaching staff.

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