Yahoo Sports Who Deserves Credit For The Ottawa Senators Being Back In A Playoff Spot?
Now that the Ottawa Senators are in the thick of a playoff race with 35 games remaining, it's interesting to note the roster changes this year over last.
The most notable change is the addition of Travis Green as Head Coach and Mike Yeo and Nolan Baumgartner as his assistants, along with the retention of Daniel Alfredsson. The Sens have been no stranger to the injury bug this year and the coaches have kept the group rolling.
Artem Zub has missed 15 games.
Linus Ullmark has played less than half the games to date.
Anton Forsberg has missed significant time.
Jacob Bernard-Docker is on LTIR
Noah Gregor and Mike Amadio have both missed 10+ games
David Perron has only played ten games
Now Josh Norris, Nick Jensen, and Jake Sanderson are banged up. And still, the Senators are in a wildcard playoff spot as of this article.
So, clearly, the coaches and their systems need to take a bow. Dealing with significant injuries to key personnel plagued the previous coaching staff.
But if the Senators continue their trajectory and finish in a playoff spot at season's end, who will deserve the lion's share of the credit?
Who's team is this?
Michael Andlauer?
He certainly hasn't disappointed in his 17 months on the job. It's his team on paper, but is it his fingerprints on the roster?
Steve Staios?
He has had one trade deadline, two coaching changes, one free agency season, one draft and a season and a half at the helm. He has upgraded the goaltending position, balanced the right side of the defence, and added depth forwards and a couple of nice prospects to the pipeline.
For obvious reasons, his most significant free agent signing, David Perron, hasn't been able to have an impact.
We've already noted the impact the coaching staff has had.
In fairness, the lion's share of any team accomplishments should go to the players.
That said, have we missed anyone?
As you further examine the roster, of the 30 players who've played for the Senators this season, 22 came to the organization via the draft, trade or free agent signing of the former regime led by Pierre Dorion. That represents nearly 75 percent.
Dorion's isn't the most popular name in the mind of Senators fans these days, with a first-round pick still to be forfeited while everyone is trying to move forward.
However, Sens Nation thought the new ownership group would have to tear things down the studs and start over. The belief was that things were so bad and so toxic that the core needed to be broken up, and talk of trading key pieces was floating around the social media sphere.
The best thing the new regime did in moving forward was try to salvage everything it could from what was already here, before making sweeping changes.
Perhaps everything in the previous regime wasn't all wrong, but it had the wrong hood ornament on the potential freight train we are seeing emerge from the ruins.
Before the Senators are likely to drink from hockey's holy grail, there will surely be more changes.
It will, however, be a while before this truly becomes Steve Staios' team.
Got a comment on this story? Leave us a note below and join the Hockey News' fan forum, the Ottawa Senators Roundtable. Be sure to bookmark The Hockey News Ottawa for more stories like this.
Related: For the Second Time In Four Months, Ottawa Senator Veteran Claude Giroux Has His Car Stolen
Related: The One Move The Ottawa Senators Must Avoid In Their Crowded Goaltending Room
