Nobody thought Mike Hoffman would be this good.

At least, nobody in a position of talent evaluating with any NHL team.

Right now, it’s hard to believe all 29 clubs passed on the speedy and skilled winger when the Senators put him on waivers at the start of last season. In fact right now, when Hoffman is one of the most exciting and productive players in the league, it’s unfathomable.

His two goals Thursday, including the overtime winner, gives Hoffman five in his last three games and nine goals, along with 13 points, in his last eight.

Right now, Hoffman has 13 goals on the season, tying him with Max Pacioretty and Daniel Sedin for sixth most in the NHL when those two stars have played six more games.

Right now, Hoffman has 25 points, which ties him with Bobby Ryan for 13th in league scoring. Had Hoffman not missed four games with a groin injury, it’s conceivable he could be among the top five point-getters in the league.

Right now, the way Hoffman is flying, it seems only a matter of time before he catches up with the leaders.

“When you have that skill set, and then decide you’re going to be one of the hardest workers, you’re going to be a pretty dominant player,” Senators coach Dave Cameron said about Hoffman after Thursday’s overtime win over the Blackhawks.

Right now, it looks like the Senators made the wrong decision when they took Hoffman to arbitration last summer rather than lock him up with a long-term deal. Their logic was sound. They held all the cards, and they wanted to see if Hoffman could continue to progress, or at least match the 27 goals he scored in 2014-15 as a rookie.

The Senators were considered the winners when the arbitrator awarded Hoffman a $2-million salary is his final season before becoming a restricted free agent. They can start negotiating a new contract with him after Jan. 1, but right now, with Hoffman on pace for 48 goals and 92 points, it looks like they’re going to have to pay him a lot more — possibly in the $5-6 million range — than they would have four months ago by gambling on him being this good.

Not that the Senators have, or should have, too many regrets. Perhaps it’s the fact they didn’t want to lock him up last summer that Hoffman is using for motivation on his way to stardom.

Who knows, maybe that is what they actually gambled on?

THIS AND THAT

Colin Greening was returned to Binghamton the morning after he played just four minutes of Thursday’s game. The Senators were expected to decide which forward they would recall to take his place after Binghamton’s game Friday night. It won’t be Matt Puempel, who they want to see get a steady diet of ice time in the minors before his next promotion … Cameron joked that his “eyes watered” by the speed created from the race in front of the benches between Erik Karlsson and Patrick Kane on the play that led to Hoffman’s winner Thursday. As impressive as Karlsson was in setting up the goal, equally so was his awareness on the rush that led to Hoffman ringing a shot off the post a split second before the end of regulation time. “I knew there was eight seconds left when I caught the puck,” said Karlsson. “I kind of looked up at the red line and saw there was enough time to get a strike. I just saw Hoff, and saw the two D-men in … I don’t think they really saw him. I just made an easy pass and Hoff made a great shot. Beat the goalie but not the goal post.”

AND FINALLY

The puck possession skills of the Blackhawks are really something to watch, even for Karlsson. “They made it look easy on us a couple of times,” said the Senators captain. “I was sitting on the bench, even being on the ice sometimes, and said ‘what the f - - - do you do here?’ It’s hard to play against teams like that when you don’t have the same skill set. I think we managed it well today.” … Cameron said he might again go with seven D and 11 forwards against the Islanders, which means there’s still hope for Mark Borowiecki to get his first shift as a NHL winger. Borowiecki, who was at his physical best against the Hawks, said he turned to assistant coach Andre Tourigny as overtime was about to begin and asked him if this was when he was going to get a chance to play up front. “He just laughed in my face, so I took that as a no,” said Borowiecki with a chuckle. On Friday, Borowiecki was asked if he really was disappointed not to get a shot on the wing. “I was actually ready for it,” said Borowiecki. “I took warmups as a forward and I went over a few systems with the guys before the game. I told my wife and she was pretty pumped that I might get a shift up there. It didn’t turn out, but hey, whatever.”