Opening Night

Team: 2023-24 Ottawa Senators

Initial Creation Date: Mar. 30, 2023

Published: Mar. 30, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

I know I am over the cap but I think TOR buys out Murray which lowers his cap hit enough for us to roster Watson.

Forwards:
The First line has been lights out this year so why break them up?
The second line might be a bit of a surprise but I think Greig can do the dirty work for the other two guys and Debrincat can be more of a playmaker with Norris as the shooter on the line. Maybe just a bit of pressure off his shoulders on needing to score can allow him to score more too (I know that is sort of backwards).
Line three might allow Joseph to rebound a bit with two guys that have shown a very good job at producing. Batherson can benefit from the other two being very effective defensively.
Line four plays very few mins with the top 9 being loaded but can be "pesky" to play against.

Defense:
The top pair I think can mesh wonderfully together. Both have offensive flair and can be similar to what CBJ had in Werenski and Jones of just dominance. I think given the summer to prep, one of them can make a smooth transition to their offside (I think it will be Sanderson)
The second pair is more about the fact that Chycrun is far more willing to jump into the rush than I knew. Zub gives him full reign to do that wildly.
The third pair is Bran with Hamonic or JBD. Bran has been great this year in limited mins and I think can continue to develop nicely. With Chycrun injury history I think it is very smart to offer Bran a low salary long-term deal.

PP Unit 1 Its been great all year don't mess with it.
PP unit 2 is a monsterous 2nd unit and if anyone on the first unit slumps, there is loads of guys to but in there
PK units are whatever, they will figure out what works

Goalies I think Sogaard has been good in his stint and deserves a spot for next year. With OTT so tight against the cap, it makes sense for them to save some cash here for this year. I think a 50/50 split of Forsberg and Sogaard makes sense for this year. If they need, they can add at the TDL for a small cost.