1. So about a quarter of the way through the season and I'd have to say it's going about as well as one could hope. For the most part the Sens have embraced the youth movement and have decided to run and gun with the opposition. It's made for some entertaining games which is all you can ask of a rebuild year. If they can sneak into the wild card spot, playoffs would be a bonus to not having to sit through the draft lottery praying our pick doesn't win.

2. It's great being able to watch the youth succeed in top 6 roles. No better example than Brady Tkachuk and Colin White, who are holding their own on the top line. I will say there is a big BUT for those two though... they're playing with Mark Stone. Stone's shown he can carry a line singlehandedly, producing career seasons for his linemates. That is definitely contributing to the production we're seeing out of Tkachuk/White, and should be taken into account. Not to discredit what they've done, they've taken the opportunity and run with it, and they're a blast to watch.

3. With that being said, this team is heavily reliant on their two offensive stars in Stone and Matt Duchene. They're both the anchors on their lines and really, the Sens don't have a third offensive guy to pick up the slack if either goes down to injury (e.g. a Mike Hoffman type player). There's a lot of potential for at least one of the young players to grow into that role, but as it stands, and injury to either Stone or Duchene would be devastating to this team.

4. Speaking of young players, how good has Batherson looked like since he's been called up? Full credit to Boucher for putting him straight into a top six role whereas in previous years you know he would have been tossed on the fourth line with limited minutes. Watching him, his skating needs improvement, but his hands and hockey IQ are off the charts. You know who that reminds me of... Mark Stone.

5. How many of you knew that Mikkel Boedker is 28? He's actually a couple days younger than Hoffman. Just watching him play, he seems like a player in his 30s who has some heavy mileage.

6. The fourth line needs a shakeup. Magnus Paajarvi and Tom Pyatt have both gone 21 games without a single non empty net point. Not only that, they're being buried 5v5, especially Pyatt with a team low CF% of 36.04. Considering the short leash that Guy Boucher seems to have for some defencemen, you wish the same would apply to the forwards. At the very least to give them a wake up call if you want to keep running with them. Personally, I'd love to see a fourth line of Zack Smith centering Filip Chlapik and Rudolfs Balcers (with the opportunity for them to move up the lineup). However, many will argue it's a waste having offensive players play fourth line minutes instead of developing in the AHL with heavy minutes. I can roll with that. At least run Nick Paul and Max McCormick for a stretch and see if they can do better. They're both younger and it's an opportunity to see what they can do in a larger sample size. See if they can earn a permanent spot on the fourth line for years to come. We know there's no long term plans for Paajarvi and Pyatt (both of their contracts are up this season). Some may say we can't afford to lose two solid penalty killers... we have the worst PK in the league, I don't think there's much more downside.

7. Cody Ceci continues to polarize fans. He's got all the physical tools to be a good NHL defenceman, but the hockey IQ just isn't there, and I don't think that's something you can teach or improve at this point in his career. I've seen many people say he could have more success in a reduced role as a 4/5 defenceman. That could be true, but for a player making $4.3 million, that's a luxury no team can afford, yet alone the Senators. Obviously it would be ideal to trade him this season to recoup any possible assets, as well as freeing up some cash that can be used towards the Stone/Duchene extensions. I'd like to think the fact the team brought him to arbitration means they're finally getting to that final step of cutting ties with him. And who knows, maybe a fresh start will do him some good. I do feel bad for Ceci the person, he's got to be well aware of his status among the fan base, and that can't be helping him mentally. A fresh start would benefit both sides.

8. I really do like Mark Borowiecki the person. He's fantastic with fans, and I give him full credit for stepping up to the place to replace Kyle Turris as the Condors Honorary Captain. At the end of the day though, he's a fringe NHL defenceman. I do find it interesting how anecdotally this season, I feel like I've seen more people on social media sharing this view than ever before. Will the same happen with management? He still has one year left after this season on his contract, but I get the feeling we'll be seeing that extended as soon as they're able.

9. Maxime Lajoie was the hottest name in town to start the season, but he's cooled off a bit since then. He's got ten points on the season, but only three of them are at even strength. I find it funny how in hockey, a hot streak with a high shooting % can give you a long leash going forward. Lajoie has been getting buried lately in the defensive zone (granted, many point to the fact he is paired with Ceci). However, a part of me is curious to what would happen if we swapped Christian Wolanin in his spot. That being said, I have no issue with Lajoie being in the lineup. This season's about figuring out what we have in our youth, and no better position to put them in than seeing how they play in the NHL.

10. How good is Thomas Chabot right now. He's got 24 points on the season. That's more than halfway to tying Erik Karlsson's second season point total of 45 in 2010-11. Now it's too early to say he can be the next Karlsson for this team, but his strong start has definitely quieted talks about missing Karlsson in the lineup.

11. Poor Bobby Ryan. If he hadn't hit the injury bug, I think he could still be an effective player in the lineup. But watching him on the powerplay now is painful. He cannot shoot. You can literally see the physical effort it takes him to get a simple wrist shot off. One would presume it's the accumulation of all those finger injuries that have resulted in that. Without being a threat of sniping a shot past the goalie, it's reduced Ryan to being a playmaker and easier to defend knowing he's likely thinking pass first every time.

12. As mentioned, the team is playing an exciting brand of hockey, and one would figure that might be enough to draw fans back into the building. The Sens currently sit 27th with an average attendance of 14,216. However, that number is likely far higher than it should be. The team has been papering the building, and offering heavy discounts (most games being offered at 50% of cost to season ticket holders for additional tickets). There was no better example than the Las Vegas game when Eugene Melnyk was in the building. Every suite was full (never happens) and I heard of a STH who was offered up to an additional 15 free tickets to the game if she wanted. Now, I can't blame the team for doing this, it keeps the attendance stories out of the media, but it's something to be aware of. They definitely aren't making big bucks from ticket sales this season. Personally, I don't mind, no better way to send a message to Melnyk than to his wallet.

13. I do feel bad for the rest of the people working in the organization though. There's definitely been efforts put in place to improve both the marketing and in game experience. We've seen the new Ottawa Rising ad campaign going on television and on ads throughout the city that promotes individual players with a quote.

Unfortunately, the quotes were most definitely written up by a marketing person, and are already being used as a running gag on social media. I think it would have been cool had they used actual quotes from the players talking about the youth movement. However, I do like the direction the team is taking in marketing the players more. It's definitely an improvement from the past television ads of generic highlights with generic music.

14. As for the in game experience, probably the biggest improvement so far this season has been the addition of DJ Prosper for select games. He plays sets during the intermission and I don't think I've ever seen the building that lively during an intermission.

Dance party too. Fantastic addition by the Sens, lot more lively during the intermissions now. Good mix of songs for everyone, started bringing back some oldies. Hope to see him back. pic.twitter.com/svPGRgBcsR — Kevin Lee (@BringBackLee) November 2, 2018

15. No matter what the business side of the team does though, I don't think you can immediately fix the core problem of why people are boycotting buying tickets. Ownership. If Melnyk indeed does intend on sticking around and not selling, it's going to take time to show the fanbase he's actually committed to building a winner. That starts with extending both Stone and Duchene (and you could probably toss Ryan Dzingel in there as well). Luckily for season ticket holders, the renewal period happens after the trade deadline. You can be sure if the Sens don't retain their talent, that STH base will dwindle away. If they do begin to show a commitment to improving the on ice product, I think you'll slowly see ticket sales pick up. It's going to be a long process though with the number of bridges Melnyk has burned. I have no doubts if he ends up selling, that would be an immediate catalyst to improved ticket sales.