Two many right wingers

The Sens have a problem this year: they finally have depth, but too much of it is on the right wing. Along with Alfie and Tsar Alex, they have acquired Jonathan Cheechoo who, barring his injury-plagued performance of the past few years, has the potential to rack up some impressive numbers. The right wing also has some growing potential in Ryan Shannon who scored 20 points in just 35 games last year. Also on the right wing are Neil, and potentially, Donovan and Ruutu who can play either wing.

On the left wing are Michalek and Foligno. Some may doubt the presence of Foligno as a top-six forward. True he didn’t do fantastically under coach Hartsburg, but he blossomed nicely at the end of the season under Clouston. I expect he will easily exceed last year’s numbers and may be a 50-point player in the making. After that, Ruutu is a natural on the left wing, and then there's Schubert, who should probably be shipped out.

At centre, there is Spezza. You may expect the addition of Fisher in here, but although he is a hard worker and tenacious on the forecheck, he’s too inconsistent for inclusion in the top end of the depth chart.

Now, put yourself in Clouston’s shoes for a moment. While the depth of scoring looks great, the positions are a little wonky and some juggling will be required to ensure the depth is evenly distributed.

Cheech needs his Chong

While Cheechoo will likely start the season on the third line, he has first line potential. Cheech was able to win the Maurice Richard trophy in 2005-06 with 56 goals because Sharks centre Joe Thornton acted as his Chong. Together they dominated. The only player that can provide that much playmaking talent at centre is Jason Spezza. So ideally, once Cheechoo has won his spurs, we would see a Michalek-Spezza-Cheechoo line in the mix. This could easily become Ottawa ’s top line. But at the beginning of the season, I expect to see right wing duties on the first to fall on the shoulders of Daniel Alfredsson.

Tsar Alex

Kovalev is probably the best stickhandler in the league, and most NHL players know it. As such, he is so dangerous as to make the opposite team’s blueliners tentative. He has the uncanny ability to walk off the boards and fire a well-placed bullet at the net, or to feather a ridiculous blind pass to an open man. Kovalev therefore has the ability to make other players around him better. Since, he attracts a lot of the defense’s attention, it provides more room for his line mates. The Tsar has already shown this effect in the Sens second pre-season game, helping to elevate Fisher’s game. Look for him to be paired with Fisher and Foligno, both hard workers who battle well for the puck along the boards. Foligno could especially benefit from the Tsar’s presence on the same line, turning him into an new offensive weapon for the Sens.

To Kelly or no to Kelly

The traditional centre for the third line has been Chris Kelly. Frankly, I’ve never been impressed with Kelly’s playmaking abilities. While he works hard on every shift, he lacks the skills to be paired with the likes of Cheechoo who is likely to be 3rd line fodder at the beginning of the season. I would rather see Ryan Shannon who is a skilled skater and a great two-way player with good instincts get a shot at this position. I will surprise a few by adding Ruutu, to this line. Ruutu has the ability to make opponents make mistakes by infuriating them beyond all reasoning. He is also likely yo parki his butt (quite literally) in front of the opposing goalie’s face. I believe that, as a supreme pest, he has the ability to lock more than one player close to himself, allowing more ice room for his linemates.

Should Cheechoo perform well and seem to be on his way to another banner scoring year, expect to see him swap places with Alfredsson. The captain is a quintessential team player and will play his heart out wherever his coach deems his talents best used. The results would be a third line of Ruutu-Shannon-Alfredsson, which has the potential of creating three dangerous lines for the opposition to track. We can expect a lot of Aspirin being ingested by coaches behind the visitor’s bench.

Checking line

The fourth line would literally be a shutdown line. With Kelly, who is a talented checker at both ends of the ice, Donovan who is fast and a great forechecker, and Neil who will bruise anyone who gets in his way, the Sens have the ability to form a line that can dump the puck in the opponent’s zone and keep it there until the next line arrives to cash in. The line would also have the capacity to inflict some physical punishment when folding back into their own zone.