Well Sens’ fans, after an excruciatingly long wait, the Senators are finally back. Timmy superstar Stuetzle gave us a nice warm up at the World Juniors and fans are READY to see some Senators games once again. With that said, many people’s predictions have been all over the place for the team. Brady Tkachuk says the team is aiming for a playoff spot, whereas many in the media have already written this season off and relegated the Sens to last place in the North Division. I’m not so sure about that, but only time will tell. With that said, I’d like to give three bold predictions for the 2021 Ottawa Senators season.
- At least one of Tkachuk and Dadonov will score 30 goals
The Ottawa Senators have not a 30 goal scorer in years. They’ve had players come close like Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, Kyle Turris, Anthony Duclair and others, but nobody has scored 30 goals for the Senators since Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza both did it in the 2011-12 season. I think it’s safe to say the Senators are due. With this prediction I’m banking on Tkachuk’s development and the skill of Dadonov being placed in a bigger role. Both players have been consistent 20 goal scorers in their careers and even with the shortened season, the Canadian division is the perfect storm for at least one of them to hit 30. You heard it here first, one of these players is setting a career high in goals this year, book it.
2. One of the tier 2 prospects will get traded
This one will depend on a few different factors. Also, to clarify, the tier two prospects are the likes of Josh Norris, Erik Brannstrom, Logan Brown, the kind of players who project as very good NHL pieces, but are a tier below the blue chippers like Tkachuk and Stuetzle. This prediction will also depend on who’s available. Everyone has seen the Dubois rumors out there and I’m not predicting the Sens will trade for him, but I think we see a package of some of these players shipped out to bring in some top tier NHL ready talent.
The Senators can only roster so many players and a certain point there isn’t enough room for all the prospects in the system. If the team wants to be a contender sooner than later they’ll need to add some more top tier talent. You have to give something good to get something good and I think these prospects might be the cost of doing business.
3. The Senators finished 5th in the North Division
We’re going to upset a lot of Montreal Canadian fans with this one. With that said, perhaps my boldest prediction of the three, the Sens will surprise a lot of people and finish the season ahead of the Habs and the Winnipeg Jets. There are just so many external factors in what figures to be a crazy season that anything can happen really. The Habs are an ok team that might be slightly overrated because of their upset in the return to play bubble. If one or two of their top players were to go down with an injury or contract Covid-19 they will really struggle. The Jets are also a team on the decline in my opinion and with good young players Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic wanting out, who knows what the Jets season will look like.
With so many wild cards at play here, if everything goes right I would not be surprised at all to see the Sens finish 4th or 5th in the North Division in this wild season.
There you have it, my three boldest predictions for the 2021 Ottawa Senators’ season. What do you think, do any of these have a chance of being true? What are your boldest predictions for the franchise this season? You can let us know down below in the comments or on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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