Ottawa Senators preview: Darkest before the dawn

OTTAWA, ON - MARCH 29: Ottawa Senators celebrate their win after overtime National Hockey League action between the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators on March 29, 2018, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images /

Strengths

Corner Stone

There isn’t much to be excited about regarding the Ottawa Senators. Mark Stone is one of the very few bright spots on an otherwise unimpressive roster. Despite missing 24 games last season, he picked up 62 points, just two off his career high. Stone has quietly accumulated four consecutive seasons with at least 20 goals.

Since entering the league full-time (2014-15), he ranks 11th among forwards with at least 3,100 five-on-five minutes in relative CorsiFor percentage. Stone also ranks 10th in the NHL during the same span. Oh yeah, and he’s going to hit the free agent market in under 12 months. Stone’s about to get paid and probably about to have a career season.

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Youth

The Senators are going to have a younger team this season. It’s probably not as young as it should be, but for the first time in a while, Ottawa has some young players to be excited about. White should get his first full NHL season and will hopefully have a consistent role. He was one of the best players on an awful AHL team.

Tkachuk has a great chance of making the NHL roster, though that says more about the Senators than him. NHL expectancy has him at just 25 points, but he should get plenty of opportunities to have success. Chabot should be getting top pairing minutes, so get used to seeing a lot of him.

The Senators won’t have many things going for them, but at least their youth should (finally) be getting some long overdue chances.

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