Projecting every NHL team’s chances of hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2019
The 2018-19 NHL season is coming up. How does your favorite team stack up when it comes to taking home the Stanley Cup?
The offseason August dead zone is the worst time to be a hockey fan. Hockey withdrawal is in full effect and the season still isn’t close just yet — there’s not even any news to pass the time. However, it is the time to officially start looking ahead to next season, and what better way than to rank each team’s chances at taking home the Stanley Cup in 10 months?
Keep in mind that this is not a rankings prediction. If a team is 20th on the list, that doesn’t automatically mean the prediction is for it to miss the playoffs. This list ranks each team’s chances of going all the way to win the Stanley Cup, taking in more factors than just regular season performance.
31. Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators, an organization ablaze. If you’re not a Senators fan, allow me to set the scene for you. Imagine your favorite team going through a rebuilding process, but also try to imagine that everything around you is on fire and it progressively just keeps getting worse than you ever thought possible. Welcome to life as a Senators fan. Every team around the league can look at themselves with confidence and pride and tell themselves, “At least we aren’t the Senators”.
Last season the Senators finished 30th in the league with 67 points, a 31-point drop off from the previous season when they finished second in the Atlantic and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, and it realistically could get even worse next season.
Why they could win
Last year the Vegas Golden Knights had the worst odds of all 31 teams to win the Stanley Cup before the season started, and they made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before bowing out to the Washington Capitals in five games. Even though they came close and didn’t quite win the whole thing, they proved that nothing is impossible in the NHL and you cannot reasonably predict what will happen with each team before you see what they are like on the ice.
If the Senators end up keeping Erik Karlsson, they might not be the worst team in the league. They’re also not entirely devoid of talent with the likes of Matt Duchene and Mark Stone, along with plenty of young talent. It’s a massive reach to say they’ll even come close to playoff contention, but nothing is impossible.
Why they won’t win
Now, back to reality. The Ottawa Senators are nowhere near what the Vegas Golden Knights were when they started last season. This entire organization is in utter shambles from the top down, and that’s being kind. Everything from an assistant general manager being arrested, turmoil between players in the locker room, fans boycotting the team, one of if not the worst owner in the league, and the whole organization bleeding millions of dollars, it’s all a total mess.
Karlsson will be gone eventually — whether by trade before the season starts, the trade deadline, or free agency he will not be staying with this organization with how they’ve treated him. Starting goalie Craig Anderson wants to be traded, and to cap it off they have 10 contracts expiring at the end of the season that they would be foolish not to move for assets before they expire, because almost none of them want to come back to this mess if given the choice.
Yes, Vegas had the worst odds of winning the Stanley Cup last season like the Senators do now and made it to the finals, but all those players had chips on their shoulders and something to fight for. There is nothing of the sort in Ottawa, and there is nothing for these players to come together around like there was in Vegas.
Conclusion
A “successful” season for the Ottawa Senators is honestly just not coming in last place. There is nothing here that even suggests playoff contention as a possibility. A Stanley Cup this season for this team would be the single biggest miracle in all of sports history, and that is not an exaggeration. This is a disaster that has only begun to scratch the surface.
Well at least they have their first-round pick this year so they can have something to look forward to… oh, whoops; that’s gone, too. Senators fans, I wish that I could inspire some optimism for you, but I’ve got nothing. Prepare for a season of pain. I’m so sorry.