The Ottawa Senators are under new ownership as the 2023-24 season gets underway in a couple of weeks.
That fixes the malaise in the owners’ box, but does nothing to help the on-ice product.
For now, the Senators leadership at general manager and head coach appear to be secure, but new ownership may take a dim view of mediocre progress.
It’s been six seasons since the Senators made the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Six long seasons.
In the off season, the Sens picked up Joonas Korpisalo as their new number one goalie.
“He’s got size, he’s athletic, he’s powerful, he’s played in the playoffs, he’s won a series,” general manager Pierre Dorion said. “I think we’re really comfortable moving forward now with our goaltenders.”
Korpisalo signed a five-year deal as a free agent this off season, and rejoins former Columbus Blue Jackets teammate, Anton Forsberg, in the net this season.
“We go a long way back,” Korpisalo said. “When I first came over to the U.S. we played together in the minors in Cleveland (American Hockey League) for a couple of years. We won together there and then we spent some time in Columbus. So, we go a long way back and we became friends immediately when we met each other. I’m super happy we created this tandem again.”
The Alex DeBrincat experiment came to an end in the off season when Ottawa traded him away to the Detroit Red Wings for Dominik Kubalik and prospect Donovan Sebrango.
The Sens also added Vladimir Tarasenko who was traded to the New York Rangers ahead of the deadline last season, and performed well enough there but ended up on the outside with the Rangers’ cap woes.
The issue with Chychrun is whether he can stay healthy for an entire season. Perhaps with a better lineup around him that will be easier this season.
The Senators are slated to bring three prospects to the Ottawa bench this season. Forwards Ridly Greig and Egor Sokolov are looking to ice in Ottawa this season after playing most of the 2022-23 campaign with the Belleville Senators of the AHL.
Greig iced 20 games in Ottawa, and Sokolov saw five games in Ottawa.
“He (Sokolov) plays with emotion and drags others into the fight with that emotional investment in the group and he’s an ultimate human being and humanitarian,” coach David Bell said. “We should be proud as an organization to use him as a model of how our players should act at the rink and in the community.”
Jacob Bernard-Docker skated in 19 games with Ottawa, with the balance in Belleville last campaign.
“Jacob plays a simple and responsible puck-moving game” Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said. “He’s readily proved himself to be a reliable defender by playing on the penalty kill and in key matchup roles. We’ve been pleased to see him gradually improve throughout his time with the organization.”
Somehow it doesn’t feel like a major shake up in Ottawa. Korpisalo in net an even trade with the goalies of the last two seasons. He has been saddled with poor rosters in Columbus, and his time in Los Angeles with the Kings is a wash given the short tenure. Korpisalo’s success is based on the roster around him. Otherwise, that five-year deal is gone in a puff of smoke.
Tarasenko will need to ramp up his game after disappointing 2022-23 season, hampered by trade rumors all year.
The concerning part of the off season was the trade of DeBrincat who had flatly stated he would not re-sign after the end of the new season. Have to wonder why that was made clear so early.
The Eastern Conference is not getting any weaker year over year, and the Senators may not have kept pace to break to the six-year drought in the playoffs.
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