Midseason Report: Ottawa Senators

Ottawa Senators (12-16-5, 29 pts): Ottawa was supposed to be making a turnaround this season after a disappointing finish to the ’07-08 campaign. Instead of improving, the Senators have put together one of their worst starts in recent history, despite having some very talented players on their roster.

About the only players who are playing anything like they should be on this team are the big three on Ottawa’s first line. Jason Spezza (13-12-25), Dany Heatley (16-16-32) and Daniel Alfredsson (9-20-29) are the only forwards on Ottawa with double digit assists or goals, and have accounted for nearly half of the Senators’ 92 goals. With only one other player, Nick Foligno, having 5 goals, the Sens have limped their way through the opening stages of this season, fielding an offense which has scored less goals than every team except the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Senators have been just as bad on defense as they have been on offense. Offseason pickup Filip Kuba has 21 assists and a +8 rating, but the rest of the defensive corps has been absolutely anemic. Veterans Chris Phillips (-15) and Anton Volchenkov (-13) are off to terrible starts, while Martin Gerber and Alex Auld both have played poorly enough that it appears that neither of them want the starting job.

Current League Rankings

Goals - 29th
Goals Against - 13th
Powerplay Goals - T-20th
Powerplay Percentage - 15th
Shorthanded Goals - T-12th
Penalty kill percentage - 12th