Ottawa Senators: 5 burning questions for 2018-19 season
By David Rouben
2016-17 felt like it happened an eternity ago. After a bottom-dwelling season, what direction do the Ottawa Senators intend to go in 2018-19?
No team has had a worse offseason than the Ottawa Senators. They went into it having fractured their relationship with Erik Karlsson as a trade for him seemed imminent. Then, an ugly story between Karlsson and Mike Hoffman’s fiance surfaced, which forced the Senators’ hand into trading the latter. While they had to do it, getting Mikkel Boedker back for him was underwhelming, while the San Jose Sharks miraculously flipped him for a better package.
The Senators have already lost some key members of their recent conference finals run, and look poised to lose their biggest piece some time this season. This team is going to be bad, and having the Colorado Avalanche own their first-round 2019 pick adds insult to injury. So, what questions need to be answered and how can the Senators prevent themselves from gifting the Avalanche Jack Hughes?
5. What will come of Mark Stone’s arbitration hearing?
While all the talk around the Senators is, deservedly, centered around Erik Karlsson’s fate, they still have questions surrounding their best forward. Mark Stone had his best season, as he averaged over a point-per-game with 62 in 58. Had he not missed so much time due to injury, he could’ve contended for the Art Ross trophy.
Given the steep price teams have to pay restricted free agents, many believed that Stone was going to stay put. The only team that could’ve realistically paid his price without much consequence was the Avalanche, and they decided to stay put. But the Senators still had to go to arbitration with Stone, and neither side appears willing to budge:
While $9 million seems like an insane amount to hand over to Stone, he’s not at all wrong for wanting to play hard ball. He could soon become the face of the franchise, and the cap is only going to go up. He likely saw what Tom Wilson got paid and thought he was that much better than him, too.
If this doesn’t get settled amicably, there could be another disgruntled figure in the Sens’ locker room, and that’s the last thing this team needs right about now.