Ottawa: A solid first quarter, but management expects more TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button assigns his letter grades for the Ottawa Senators at the one-quarter mark of the NHL season. The team is in a playoff position and are full value for a B.

Craig Button TSN Director of Scouting Follow|Archive

The Ottawa Senators have started the season as a legitimate playoff contender, but you wouldn’t know it to hear head coach Dave Cameron and GM Bryan Murray. Cameron has begged his team to play with more emotion and compete level – particularly at home – and Murray has said his defence is good but not playing up to its capabilities.

Despite those critiques, the team is in a playoff position in the tightly packed Eastern Conference standings. They are full value for a B.



Below are the Senators’ individual grades.



Three factors were considered in assigning grades: performance, results and expectations, as framed by age, previous performance and cap hit/contract average annual value (AAV). Skaters must have appeared in a minimum of 10 games and goalies, five, to be graded.

Spotlight Player Grade: Senators’ management had to be holding its collective breath when Bobby Ryan started the season – the first of a seven-year, $7.25-million cap hit contract – the same way he ended last season: snake-bitten around the net.

Ryan finished the 2014-15 season with three goals in his final 26 combined regular season and playoff games. He started the 2015-16 season with one goal in eight games before exploding for six goals and 14 points in 12 games. Add in a league-leading five shootout goals and he qualifies as an all-purpose threat. After a quiet start, he joins Erik Karlsson on the Senators’ A-minus team.

Editor’s Note: Follow TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button at @CraigJButton and join the discussion on his Interim Report Cards.

Grading System

A Excellent

B Very Good

C Satisfactory

D Poor

F Failing

Inc. Incomplete