2023-24 Ottawa Senator Player Evaluations: Who Improved, Who Regressed?

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Now that the dust is about to settle on a disappointing Ottawa Senators season, it’s time to determine who took a step forward, who maintained their game, and who took a step back.

IMPROVED

Drake Batherson – Career highs in goals/points, significant improvement in +/- with play away from the puck, and being a constant threat in the o-zone with elite puck handling. It’s easy to say that he leads the way in the happiness file.

Shane Pinto – He made the most of the final 41 games after serving his suspension. He nearly equalled his 82-game point total in half the games and his +/- is evidence of his two-way game. This kid is a stud.

Jake Sanderson – After a solid rookie season that placed him sixth in Calder voting, he backed that up with an even better sophomore season. Point totals aren’t what he is all about, but he is now the alpha on the D-Core. Make no mistake about that.

Mathieu Joseph – He finally stepped out of Nick Paul’s shadow this season with career highs in points and games played. His speed was evident, and his $2.95 million cap hit for the next two seasons is no longer a concern.

Ridly Greig – Though his production tailed off after the Morgan Reilly incident, this season has to be seen as a step forward for him, where he has established himself as a full-time NHLer. His +/- is probably too good to be true, but all signs point to a solid career, filled with opponent’s wrath.

Parker Kelly – After a dismal season last year, there was nowhere to go but up. That said, expect the Senators to qualify him and possibly give him a two-year extension if the money is reasonable. He’s an NHLer, though the Senators should also view his performance as an outlier.

Jacob Bernard-Docker – The Senators know more about JBD now than they did when he didn’t make the team out of training camp. He can play in the league. His offensive production was a bonus and his defensive awareness and shot blocking came in handy. He has another year on his deal to show he is an everyday player.

MAINTAINED

Brady Tkachuk – This is still the unquestioned leader. He put himself in the line of fire in the media to defend his coach and teammates. He had a career high in goals (two goals more than last year) and was still excellent, but he didn’t elevate from last year.

Claude Giroux – He may not have matched his point totals from last season. Very few did. This is a heart and soul guy who showed up every night. A great wingman for Brady and a deserving Masterton nominee.

Artem Zub – Aside from Giroux, the Senators don’t have a more consistent player. Night in and night out, he plays at a high level. He didn’t improve this season, but he’s the least of the Senators’ worries.

Jacob Chychrun – Up until the coaching change, he would have been in the IMPROVED category. He was a workhorse during the team’s run-in with the injury bug and played a ton of minutes. Not sure what drove the decline in +/- but he played every game which he has only done once before back in the 56 game Covid season.

Erik Brannstrom – With the point totals, games played and +/- being almost identical to last season, he is what he is after 266 career games. He can play in the league. As an RFA with arbitration rights, it’s hard to see how this will play out for him.

Thomas Chabot – This might seem like a friendly rating. However, he had the same PPG pace as last season with a better +/- and he struggled with the transition to the right side. When healthy, he is the best offensive defenseman on the team. He just hasn’t elevated his game.

REGRESSED

Tim Stutzle – Not for a lack of effort, but things just didn’t fall into place for him. He hasn’t learned how to leverage his speed to the fullest. Stutzle had less than half of his goal total from last season. That said, Nathan MacKinnon had a subpar fourth season in the league. When it clicked, he never looked back.

Josh Norris – It’s hard to know if he was ever truly healthy this season, but he never found his A game. Hopefully, the surgeon got it right and he can return to what he was.

Mark Kastelic – Between injuries and ineffective performance, this has been a setback season for him. He did show some improvement in the last month but the team needs more over the long haul. Hopefully, he can be the Parker Kelly of next season.

Travis Hamonic – He started to show the wear on his tires this season. Health has been an issue and even when he was healthy, pace was an even bigger issue.

Joonas Korpisalo – He played a career high in games this season. The issue of workload and health turned out to not be an issue at all. His ability to be consistent and limit bad goals was an issue all year. Hard to view him as a bona fide starter based on this season.

Anton Forsberg – Much like Korpisalo, consistency was his issue as well. For every strong start, there was a weak one. With a year left on his deal, it’s hard to see a future past next season.

Zack MacEwen – A fourth-liner who can fight, he hasn’t physically impacted enough games or been a nuclear deterrent. With two years left, his salary isn’t a huge issue and he can continue to be called up from Belleville when required next season.

Dominik Kubalik – Good guy, quality teammate, but 15 points and a minus 30 simply isn’t good enough to merit a new contract for next season.

Rome may not have been built in a day, but this is going on seven years. When eight players on a roster of 21 perform below expectations and only seven take a step forward, you get a non-playoff season.