Still enjoying the season so far, Ottawa Senator fan?

SENATORS: A Week in Review is a weekly column looking back at the week in Ottawa Senators hockey written by OLMSports Dave Gross.

Feature photo Courtesy NHLI via Getty (Andre Ringuette)

Still enjoying the season so far, Ottawa Senator fan?

Quite the capper rolled in Friday evening when deputy commissioner Bill Daly revealed that, not only was Ottawa not landing the first pick overall in this summer’s draft, the club was – in fact – dropping two spots and will now pick at No. 4.

As Postmedia headline writers suggested: “Senators even suffer a loss in the NHL's draft lottery”.

So much for the magical promise of finishing second to last in the entire NHL.

The Rasmus Dahlin Dream?

Dashed.

Two or three as a strong consolation prize?

Forget it.

Which brings me to this – what’s the point in tanking anymore?

Gone are the days when you would dress your fifth-string goalie during the final week of the season to snatch last place overall, and nail down that guaranteed No. 1 draft selection.

The NHL adopted the lottery system back in 1995. Prior to that, if you were dead last, you were a sure shot to haul in an Eric Lindros, or Mats Sundin or (um) an Alex Daigle.

Best case scenario would have been for Ottawa to turn that 13.5 per cent shot at snaring the first overall pick into reality (duh). With Dahlin (the dyno defenceman, generational talent and slam-dunk choice as No. 1), the Senators would be in overdrive on the ‘3-5 year’ rebuilding plan. Now? Sit back and wait and pontificate as to who might help.

And even at that, given the tumble Friday, choice No. 2 or 3 also might be gone with the wind.

Also popping into mind this past week:

• Stop the presses if you’ve heard this one before: the Ottawa Senators’ coaching situation is fractious. GM Pierre Dorion meets with (current?) head coach Guy Boucher early this week to chew the fat. “We’re going to meet with Guy . . . and from there we’re going to see if we can find ways to improve next season and then we’ll make a decision after that,” Dorion told the media. Ottawa’s had six coaches in the last 10 seasons. This is nothing new.
• So, the Buffalo Sabres win the Rasmus Dahlin lottery. How good are the projections? At 6-2, Dahlin already has the size. He’s a superb skater and owns the Gretzky Factor: A sixth-sense type of ability to know where the puck is going before anyone else on the ice does. As one scout told The Hockey News – “Effortless skater, high-end puck skills. Great physical attributes. There’s nobody close to him – he’s No. 1, then there’s everybody else.” He’ll also likely go down in history as the guy who saved Sabres’ GM Jason Botterill his job.
• Takeaways from the Leafs/Bruins seven-gamer for Toronto? Mitchell Marner is a winner. Undeniably he was the Leafs’ best player throughout. He’s a little guy with a huge helping of desire. While a lot of the Leafs looked (at times) like they were skating in grog (or drinking it), Marner was slick, quick and gutsy. Ron Hainsey was also strong. Loved Kasperi Kapanen’s game as well and Zach Hyman played his typical Zach-Hyman game. Too many names to trot out for the ‘didn’t-like’ list to put in here. In the end, Boston’s experience played a role. The Toronto defence was as advertised – sloppy and positionally awful. If GM Lou Lamoriello doesn’t give Mike Babcock a couple of quality d-men in the off-season, this doesn’t turn around for the Leafs. Time is now to trade from that bevvy of beauties up front for some blueline help (. . . actually “time is now” was around last October when this puzzle first started presenting itself.)
• I’m not happy about it. In fact, it’s a dark smudge on the league, IMHO, but you must credit the job the entire organization’s done in Vegas. The idea that an expansion team can run roughshod over established franchises speaks to the fragility of the product in the National Hockey League. Still, if you watch Vegas play, you can see how they accomplish it – they treat the puck like Homer does a donut.
• As advertised: Winnipeg versus Nashville. Thrilling, smart hockey. With all due respect to the others chasing glory – this is representational of the Stanley Cup final. What we are watching is clearly a battle between the two best teams in hockey.

Playoff tip-ins: Predictions indicate that Ottawa will select between three wingers at the draft table: Andrei Svechnikov, Filip Zadina and Brady Tkachuk. If I’m a betting man (and I am, man, you should take a look at my star-studded fantasy baseball triumph of 1996 – Brady Anderson, Albert Belle, Jay Buhner. Zowee.), Ottawa nabs Tkachuk if he’s still around at No. 4 . . . This year’s finalists for the Jack Adams award are Colorado’s Jared Bednar, Boston’s Bruce Cassidy and Vegas’ Gerard Gallant. This is the biggest runaway win (for Gallant) since Hulk Hogan dropped the leg on Iron Mike Sharpe . . . Auston Matthews disappeared in that Boston set-to but he had help. The shadow cast by Zdeno Chara was immense . . . Ask Bobby Ryan about Chara’s presence. The Big Z hammered Ryan during last year’s spring showdown. Ryan was a bundle of bruises heading into the Rangers series . . . Thoughtful and fun radio. Two guys who get it done right consistently: TSN’s Steve Lloyd and Todd White – weekdays, 10-2 pm . . . Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand? Wow. Just wow.