Ottawa declines

I'm sorry, I just don't understand how did Bieksa just decided to **** on Chabot's game after just watching one bad period, especially since he's on the Sportsnet and we all know how Sportsnet are with any team not named Maple Leafs (I really don't have anything against it, it's their way to generate money. It just frustrates me that a national TV doesn't focus more on the rest of the Canadian teams). Despite the points not being the highest offensively, he has been one of the best NHL defenseman in this league, top 15-20 at the very least, and the analytics are showing it. I just don't get Bieksa's criticism on Chabot yesterday.

It's easy to understand. Chabot was terrible, Juice called it out. He didn't say Chabot was terrible 24/7 but he said "this is bad, it's very clear and I don't watch all the games so I'm not saying this is constant but how can their best player also play like this?"

Which is totally fair. Like 100% fair.

And every Sens fan is like "you can't insult Chabot, something something Leafs fans"

So Juice sounded reasonable and Sens fans didn't.

Very simple.

I know. They'd never admit a mistake this quickly.

Mistake? What mistake?

The Chabot deal was a few years ahead of the growing phenomenon of overpaying offensive defensemen. That being said, I don't think the deal is terrible, I just think that OTT hasn't done a good enough job protecting that weakness. They keep targeting small offensive D men hoping for another Karlsson. They need a big strong stay at home D man to pair with him. I've seen the same thing in VAN with Hughes, Jones in CHI, etc.

This is def an overpayment, but you're getting a better defensive D man with the offensive upside in Chychrun, at just over half the cost. Formenton is expendable, and Brannstrom is close to being a bust.

I'd say this hurts ARI more than it helps them.

The problem wasn't that he criticized Chabot yesterday. There is no issue at all criticizing his game during that first period, it was really bad. But the way he said it makes it seem like 1) He was the MAIN reason Ottawa was playing badly and 2) That Chabot has been horrible all season. He made it sound like an ECHL defender was better than him. And for the first point, he was playing badly during that first period, but so was the rest of the team.
Also, he made it seem like since he's the team's star player on defense that he can't make any mistake and that he has to be perfect. These players are humans, they can go throw bad screeches, whether that's a period, a game or 2, you name it. Even McDavid and Draisaitl were off for a while, then they bounced back, but he just kept on saying that chabot was bad, as if he was all year, not just one period.

He didn't make it seem like that at all and if you ask basically any Sens fan they all think the first point was the problem. They're absurdly SENSitive.

Betting their future on Chabot and making a peasant like Tkachuk captain.