New in Town: Ottawa Senators

Oh, how the perceived-to-be-mighty have fallen.

At this time last year, the Ottawa Senators were aiming to recreate the magic of a postseason run that had them a game away from the Stanley Cup Final. This season, they’ve already waived the white flag.

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After trading the best blue-liner in Senators history, the team’s outlook is firmly on the future, however uncertain it may be. Because as it stands right now, the rebuilding Senators are without a seat at the table for night No. 1 of the 2019 NHL Draft.

But the team does have a high selection from 2018 suiting up this season, as well as a pair of players it received in return for its star defender.

The snake: Chris Tierney

After a career year from a depth position with the San Jose Sharks, the man nicknamed ‘Cobra’ is set to take on an expanded role with the Senators.

When Tierney was originally acquired from Ottawa, Jean-Gabriel Pageau had the inside track as the club’s second line centre. But with Pageau suffering a torn Achilles in training camp, Tierney steps into the top six by default.

Unfortunately, even a repeat of Tierney’s career-best 17-goal, 40-point season with the Sharks last year won’t provide sufficient value from the second-line centre position.

Instead Tierney will have to chip in other ways, and namely on a penalty kill which ranked sixth-worst in the NHL last season. Tierney topped all Sharks’ forwards in shorthanded ice time in San Jose last season, while also potting a pair of goals while down a man.

The man of opportunity: Dylan DeMelo

Despite appearing in 63 games for San Jose last season, Dylan DeMelo ranked last in time-on-ice among the eight defensemen that saw action.

If more ice is what DeMelo desires, however, he will surely find it on a young and inexperienced Senators defensive unit. Given the nature of Ottawa’s defense entering this season, it’s likely that he will receive top-four minutes. Whether that’s a good thing or not is to be determined.

In a division that has no shortage of offensive talent, how DeMelo holds up as a top-four defender is one of many questions facing a blue line now without the mega-talent that more often than not provided the answers.

The chip off the old block: Brady Tkachuk

The single-best reason to visit Canadian Tire Centre, or at least flip on the television to watch the Senators this season, is the team’s first-round pick from the 2018 NHL draft, Brady Tkachuk.

Now, the father-son comparison for second- and third-generation players is often overdone, but in the case of the Tkachuk’s, it’s warranted.

Both Brady and brother Matthew in Calgary have clearly taken after Dad:

And much like his father, he can also put the puck in the back of the net.

Now that it is confirmed that the scrappy forward will be on the team’s opening night roster, we can start wondering how long he will stay in the big leagues.

My guess is that he won’t go anywhere, anytime soon.

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