During the Senators' struggles last season, one common refrain for frustrated fans was that they wanted to see Tim Stützle get some development time at centre. With the Senators playing games whose outcomes simply determined how low the team would finish in the standings, fans were clamouring for him to get a shot.
Stuetzle has looked decent at centre by the eye test. It is impressive to see the numbers. I think part of that could be that Paul is way better on the wing than at centre. It will be interesting to see how this goes as the sample size gets bigger.
It makes sense that Batherson and Stuetzle would work well together. They have great chemistry on the PP. If Batherson leaves the Norris line that takes away a lot of playmaking. I don't know who slides in there to make things work. It becomes a bit of a robbing Peter to pay Paul situation.
At some point in the future if the Sens have Paul-Pinto-CBrown as their nominal 3rd line (win practice DJ would give those guys lots of minutes) then I think we are looking at a strong team.
Top six candidate I can see in the pipeline include: Sokolov, Jarventie, Greig, this year's 1st rounder. Time will tell how all these things work out, but the future does look promising for the Sens forward corps.
Another benefit of Stützle to centre would be White to the wing. I understand there will be a discussion about buying out White this summer, with this being the last year they can do so at 1/3 the cost, but there are some arguments for not buying out White.
White was on an 18 goal pace last season, playing 3rd line minutes mostly with Nick Paul and Evgeny Dadonov, which was slightly better than his 16 goal pace in his rookie season. White has shown he can score. There's no reason to think he can't get 20+ playing 2nd line minutes with better offensive players. Also, he's Chabot's best friend, which isn't a huge consideration, but is still something to consider if they decision is close to a coin flip. I believe it would have to be a distinct advantage for them to buy out White, and if it isn't, they won't.
Jarventie is just 19, and has 9 points in 19 games playing against men in the AHL. He's off the his second WJC, and could very well be the final piece to the Sens top6.
I'm probably a bigger White supporter than most, but most of the value that he brings pertains to his defensive aptitude. If the future is Stützle, Pinto and Norris down the middle, you're hopefully looking at three guys with defensive upside -- lowering the need for White.
If White's playing right wing, you're essentially devaluing his best asset (defence) and probably looking at less offence because of it. With the money that is earmarked for him in the final three years of his deal ($4.75M, $4.75M and $6.25M), the question becomes, "Can you buy him out at 1/3 the cost and reallocate that money on better players?"
Feels like it's easy to yes to that question, but given how we've seen this organization try and supplement what's already here while whiffing in the process, maybe it's easier said than done.
Stuetzle has looked decent at centre by the eye test. It is impressive to see the numbers. I think part of that could be that Paul is way better on the wing than at centre. It will be interesting to see how this goes as the sample size gets bigger.
It makes sense that Batherson and Stuetzle would work well together. They have great chemistry on the PP. If Batherson leaves the Norris line that takes away a lot of playmaking. I don't know who slides in there to make things work. It becomes a bit of a robbing Peter to pay Paul situation.
At some point in the future if the Sens have Paul-Pinto-CBrown as their nominal 3rd line (win practice DJ would give those guys lots of minutes) then I think we are looking at a strong team.
Top six candidate I can see in the pipeline include: Sokolov, Jarventie, Greig, this year's 1st rounder. Time will tell how all these things work out, but the future does look promising for the Sens forward corps.
Well written, thank-you for this.
Another benefit of Stützle to centre would be White to the wing. I understand there will be a discussion about buying out White this summer, with this being the last year they can do so at 1/3 the cost, but there are some arguments for not buying out White.
White was on an 18 goal pace last season, playing 3rd line minutes mostly with Nick Paul and Evgeny Dadonov, which was slightly better than his 16 goal pace in his rookie season. White has shown he can score. There's no reason to think he can't get 20+ playing 2nd line minutes with better offensive players. Also, he's Chabot's best friend, which isn't a huge consideration, but is still something to consider if they decision is close to a coin flip. I believe it would have to be a distinct advantage for them to buy out White, and if it isn't, they won't.
Jarventie is just 19, and has 9 points in 19 games playing against men in the AHL. He's off the his second WJC, and could very well be the final piece to the Sens top6.
I'm probably a bigger White supporter than most, but most of the value that he brings pertains to his defensive aptitude. If the future is Stützle, Pinto and Norris down the middle, you're hopefully looking at three guys with defensive upside -- lowering the need for White.
If White's playing right wing, you're essentially devaluing his best asset (defence) and probably looking at less offence because of it. With the money that is earmarked for him in the final three years of his deal ($4.75M, $4.75M and $6.25M), the question becomes, "Can you buy him out at 1/3 the cost and reallocate that money on better players?"
Feels like it's easy to yes to that question, but given how we've seen this organization try and supplement what's already here while whiffing in the process, maybe it's easier said than done.