On one of the recent Senators regional broadcasts, Bruce Garrioch first noted that teams were calling on winger Drake Batherson. He doubled down on that news by mentioning it again in one of his more recent pieces.
The combination of the team’s struggles and a general manager who is new to the role is the perfect storm for other organizations kicking tires and trying to take advantage of the situation.
That teams would be interested in Batherson is not a surprise.
The Senators are pressed against the cap ceiling and could use some cap flexibility — especially when Shane Pinto’s suspension concludes in January. They must create the space necessary to bring him into the fold.
Batherson is in the third year of the six-year contract he signed in September 2021. His $4.975 million average annual value is attractive for a player who was almost a point-per-game in 2021-22. If not for the actions of a minor league goaltender, he would have been an All-Star. Last season, he cracked the 20-goal and 60-point thresholds for the first time in his career.
If you believe there is a chance that you can land a 25-year-old winger, you make a call. By no means is Batherson untouchable, but the likelihood of making a hockey deal involving him at this juncture of the season that significantly improves the Senators’ short and long-term interests is remote.
It is the kind of shakeup that should occur during the offseason. But, hypothetically, when or if the organization decides to move a piece of its young core, it would probably be in their best interests to do it after these players have had a chance to play for a new head coach.
Batherson has been an intriguing player from an analytics perspective.
Of the skaters who have played more than 100 games over the last four seasons, only Brady Tkachuk, Claude Giroux and Tim Stützle have averaged more points per 60 minutes of ice time than Batherson.
Giroux: 2.97
Tkachuk: 2.77
Stützle: 2.75
Batherson: 2.53
After a strong showing this preseason, Batherson got off to a slow start. In his first seven games, he failed to record a goal and had a lowly three assists. Over his last 12 games, the script has flipped. Batherson has scored seven goals and added four assists. Evolving-Hockey’s data shows Batherson’s 1.26 goals per 60 across all strengths represents a career-high and his 2.51 points per 60 is the second-highest rate of his career - trailing only his impressive 2021-22 season (3.03).
Using the eye test, a commonly held belief is that Batherson’s not a good defensive player.
Hockeyviz’s isolated five-on-five numbers cast him in a better light and comes off way better than we give him credit for.
On a terrible defensive team, Batherson is league-average and interestingly, a lot of the damage (read: volume highlighted by the colour red) seems to be done on the other side of the ice that he is not responsible for. It’s not just some small blip on the radar either. Over the last two seasons, Batherson has been slightly better than average.
Put in contrast with Ottawa’s two big offseason additions in Dominik Kubalik and Vladimir Tarasenko, Batherson looks golden.
The Senators give up less when Batherson is on the ice than Kubalik or Tarasenko.
According to Evolving-Hockey’s ‘wins above replacement’ (WAR) metric, Kubalik’s been Ottawa’s least valuable player. With four goals and five points in 19 games, he has been a resounding disappointment. Tarasenko’s offence has at least helped mitigate some of the defensive concerns, but with a WAR of zero, his overall contributions have been at a replacement level.
Fortunately when it comes to trading Batherson, the Senators “have zero interest in going that route” according to Garrioch.
Deservedly so. Selling Batherson now when veteran wingers like Kubalik and Tarasenko are on one-year deals just does not make a ton of sense. It would create a third hole in the middle six that would need to be filled. If credible internal options were coming up through the ranks, maybe we could have that discussion. Those prospects don’t currently exist, however.
The best thing the Senators could do is exhaust the markets for Tarasenko and Kubalik. Both players have skill sets that could help more talented clubs who could make up for their defensive deficiencies, but as this team is currently positioned, Ottawa’s not a great fit for either player.
Should the Senators continue in their struggle to pick up wins, they should aggressively be looking to sell on Tarasenko while he’s putting up points. He is protected by a full no-trade clause, which is pretty sweet because if the Senators wanted to move him, it means it would be difficult to lose the list of teams that he cannot be traded to.
News from the Board of Governor’s Meeting
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas reported from the NHL’s Board of Governor’s meeting in Seattle. Friedman spent a good portion of the segment sharing news on the Senators.
“Yes, Tom Conroy is one of the people who runs Climate Pledge Arena for the Kraken. He used to be a Senators employee for, I think, 28 years. So, they know him and they went… Cyril Leeder especially, he’s here with the Senators. He knows him and they were here to see him. Not only to look at the arena, but get some ideas on running it, especially if it’s downtown as is the hope in Ottawa.”
The NCC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Senators-led Capital Sports Development Inc. in the summer of 2022 - setting the stage for an arena and mixed-use development at LeBreton Flats. At the time, the NCC revealed in its press release that it was looking to reach a long-term land lease on the acreage at LeBreton flats.
The sale of the Senators and its dragged-out process put the arena issue on the back burner. Now that the long-term stability of the franchise has been secured, it was only a matter of time before the downtown arena issue reappeared.
A lot of work needs to be done to secure a deal and have the arena be realized, but if Michael Andlauer and Leeder are in Seattle getting inspiration on how to build and integrate a modern arena with a city and its surrounding area, that is encouraging news.
Friedman was not done with the Senators, however.
“(Andlauer) talked about some things like the GM search. He said nothing’s imminent, but reiterated his point that he prefers the two-headed monster like he had in Montreal with Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes. He also said he hears the frustration of the fans when it comes to things like the head coach, but it’s clear that the Senators have a process. As we’ve talked about, they don’t want to react. The players have said to them, there’s too much craziness in the market. I just think Andlauer wants to do things properly and set a tone for the way the franchise is going to be run.”
It makes sense for the Senators to look at hiring a general manager who is not Steve Staios. For the same reasons that the Senators should not put Daniel Alfredsson in a coaching role, it does not make sense to put Andlauer’s handpicked guy to run the hockey operations department in a position where he may need to be relieved of his job. Putting another person in that role creates a buffer and gives Staios more long-term job protection.
It promotes stability from the top down and that is a point of emphasis for the organization. Which leads to the coaching position. It is a bit staggering to hear that ownership and management continue to allow D.J. Smith to lead this team through the remainder of the season.
Adversity and circumstances have negatively complicated the Senators’ start to the season, but their underwhelming play through the quarter mark of the season has been resoundingly awful. Should it continue, Smith needs to be held responsible.
The players may be affording Smith a lifeline, but the longer this drags out, the more it makes me believe the Senators have someone earmarked for the position. He may just not be available at this point of the season.
Sens signed VT as free agent. So no egg on face from trading something for him. he's not making a difference and at 5 mil, they need the cap space in my opinion.
Struggling to remember. If I do I will let u know