Game Changers: Five Unexpectedly Good Things That Happened to the Senators This Season

With the Senators missing the playoffs for a sixth straight year, a lot of the postseason dialogue has turned toward attempts at explanations and "What ifs?" What if the Senators hadn’t had so many injuries? What if they’d had more consistent goaltending? What if they got a few more bounces?

But just like a golfer who thinks a few missed putts were all that stopped him from breaking 80, it’s easy to overlook all the pleasant surprises, like holing out that 45-foot chip shot on 12.

The Ottawa Senators had a lot of unexpectedly good things happen to them this season as well. And when evaluating their seasonal performance, or what they're likely to be next season, the Sens' good breaks can't be ignored or taken for granted, because some of them may have actually offset some of the misfortunes they believe kept them from the playoffs.

Jake Sanderson is a great example. Sanderson was the 5th overall draft pick in 2020, so everyone expected him to be good, maybe even great – but not right away. Not that good. That was a lot to expect of a rookie defenseman. How would the Senators' season have looked if Sanderson struggled in his first year as a pro, as a lot of great players have in the past? 

The Senators had 306 power plays this season, more than any other team in the NHL. That was 16 more than 2nd place Pittsburgh and 99 more power plays than last place Vegas. Is Power-play-palooza likely to repeat itself in Ottawa next season? Probably not. That's a sizeable advantage they enjoyed this season that they probably won't next season.

The Sens acquired free agent Claude Giroux at the age of 34. A lot of guys begin to regress in their mid-30s. But even the biggest Giroux fans probably didn’t see him putting up this kind of production, including a career high 35 goals. With so much offence and leadership and so many big moments, Giroux is in the discussion for team MVP. Where would the Sens have been if he didn’t want to come home? Where would they be if he’d continued being the 20 goal scorer he’d been in each of the previous four seasons?

In February, with their top two goalies injured, the Sens had no choice but to turn to Mads Sogaard. With the pressure of trying to keep the season alive, no one would have blamed the 22 year old if he couldn't handle it. Instead, Sogaard responded with a 4-0-1 record and was named the NHL Rookie of the Month for February. If Sogaard didn’t pull that off, are the Sens still playing the meaningful games in March they've been billing as an accomplishment? 

Brassard signed a professional tryout and just got better as the season went on. If he hadn’t arrived, his minutes this year would have gone to another bottom six player who certainly wouldn’t have finished seventh in Sens' goal scoring. Brassard ended up with 13 goals before that awful leg injury. If Brass hadn’t arrived, would his replacement have come anywhere near that total?

Those are just five examples of unexpected good fortune in Ottawa. Some of it may continue next season, some of it may not. But when explaining what happened to your season and then trying to figure out what you might be capable of next season, you have to account for your good breaks along with your bad ones.