The Ottawa Senators entered the 2023-24 season with the single goal of advancing to the postseason for the first time since 2017. They added an established starting goalie in Joonas Korpisalo, a proven sniper in Vladimir Tarasenko, and locked up a key piece of their blue line in Jake Sanderson.
But the early results have been less than encouraging in Canada's capital. To some extent, they've been downright bad. The Sens are .500 through their first 20 games, sporting a 10-10 record that has the franchise in the basement of the Atlantic Division. The good news is, Ottawa has played, on average, 2-6 less games than any team in the Eastern Conference, and will likely climb up the standings as they get back to a level playing field. The bad news, of course, is the way the club is playing.
Special teams hindering Senators in 2023-24
At 5-on-5, the Senators are actually playing pretty good hockey. The team scores 3.45 goals per game, which is upper echelon in the National Hockey League. Only five teams can boast more goals per game this year. On the defensive side, the story is a little different, with Ottawa giving up 3.25 per game — good enough for 18th.
The goaltending has been up-and-down, with both Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg looking like completely different goalies depending on the night. The play between the pipes has been overall inconsistent, although it looks like Forsberg may be emerging as the starter after a fantastic two-game stretch in wins over the Seattle Kraken and New York Rangers. He shut out the former by making 39 saves in a 2-0 victory, and followed it up with a 33-save gem against the latter in an impressive 6-2 win on Tuesday night. He'll get the nod against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night as he looks to keep the hot streak going.
So, with the team scoring goals and starting to get better than league average goaltending, what's holding them back? That would be a lowly 17.6 powerplay percent coupled with a brutal 73.5 percent on the penalty kill. A top PP unit that boasts Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris and Jake Sanderson should not be having this much trouble scoring with the extra man. The Sens rank 24th in the league on the man advantage, despite having scored the sixth most goals and throwing the ninth most shots of any team at the net.
The penalty kill is even worse, the 73.5 percent clip good enough for 28th in the league. To make matters worse, Ottawa is the most penalized team in the league, with 14.2 minutes in the box on average. They can't stay out of the sin bin, and they can't kill penalties. That's a losing recipe, and quickly needs to change if this club hopes to compete for a postseason berth all year.
While the top-six remains strong, general manager Steve Staios could look to add another middle-six forward who can effectively kill penalties. Although a few names come to mind, including Anaheim Ducks' Adam Henrique, a relatively cheap option who could improve the Sens' bottom-six — at a reasonable price — is Minnesota Wild forward Brandon Duhaime.
Wild's Brandon Duhaime an effective penalty killer
Duhaime has been in the Wild organization for his entire career, being drafted by the team in the fourth-round of the 2016 NHL Draft. He's made a career as a solid bottom-six player, capable of playing physical, forechecking hard, and, yes, killing penalties. Here's what The Athletic's Chris Johnston had to say about the 26-year-old while ranking him No. 21 on his first trade board of the season:
“A hard-hitting depth forward who can chip in the odd goal, Duhaime is one of the few pending UFAs the Wild can put on the market if they become sellers. The 2016 fourth-round pick has spent his entire professional career with the organization but is likely pricing himself out of Minnesota with free agency on the horizon. Duhaime possesses the kind of tools that appeal to teams gearing up for a long playoff run. A strong skater with size at 6-foot-2, he brings energy at the bottom end of the lineup and is an experienced penalty killer.”
Making just $1.1 million this season, Duhaime wouldn't break the bank and could immediately slot in on the fourth line, as well as the penalty kill. The Senators would love another scoring forward, but the need is more for one who can bring energy and make a difference on the PK. Depending on how the next few weeks and months go in Minnesota, Duahime could be a player that becomes expendable ahead of unrestricted free agency next summer.
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