With new deals for Norris, Stutzle, Sens fans are now comparing their team to the Leafs
The Ottawa Senators have made a multitude of moves this summer, whether it was signing Claude Giroux, acquiring Alex DeBrincat or just recently extending Tim Stützle to an eight year, $66.8M extension.
While they will certainly ice an improved roster from last season, they now have significant money tied up in just a few players.
As early as next season, they will have $40M tied up with Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, Tim Stützle , Claude Giroux, and Alex Debrincat's qualifying offer ($9M). Keep in mind, that doesn't include defender Thomas Chabot, who makes $8M, and would bump that number to $48M for six players.
Having so much money invested in a small group of players can make it challenging for a team to add the necessary depth required to be competitive.
While this Senators group has talent, there have been some comparisons made to Toronto's core and whether Ottawa's group is better than that of the Leafs.
This is quite a ridiculous comparison considering Ottawa's group is getting paid big money and term despite not making the playoffs in the past five seasons, and have been a bottom-feeder team for most of that time.
In the Leafs' case, they have been competitive and a playoff-caliber team each year since Auston Matthews joined the league.
Additionally, Matthews is one of the best players in the NHL coming off of a 60-goal season, Mitch Marner is one of the best wingers in the league and came to within a hair of hitting a 100-point season despite having played just 72 games, Tavares and Nylander are near point-per-game players and Morgan Rielly eats huge minutes in most situations and has been a staple on the blueline for years.
It will be interesting to see how this season goes for both teams, with the Leafs looking to make it past the first round and the Senators trying to become relevant and make it to the playoffs for the first time since Erik Karlsson was on the team.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 7 | 414 ANSWERS With new deals for Norris, Stutzle, Sens fans are now comparing their team to the Leafs Who's core would you take? | ||
| Ottawa Senators | 123 | 29.7 % |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 291 | 70.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
