WHAT DO THE SENATORS DO NOW?
Having fired GM and coach and with team still losing, roster shakeup could be next
Brady Tkachuk is tired of the losing and he's not alone on that front.
The Ottawa Senators captain is frustrated, mad and can't take it any more.
The Senators dropped their sixth straight game, a 6-4 decision Thursday night to the Colorado Avalanche at the Ball Arena.
It's been quite a week for the Senators.
Longtime coach D.J. Smith was fired Monday along with assistant Davis Payne after practice in Arizona and instead of getting the new-coach bump under Jacques Martin, the Senators have dug the hole deeper with two straight losses since he took over.
Martin and newly appointed assistant Daniel Alfredsson are getting a first-hand look from behind the bench at just how deep the issues with this club's on-ice performance go.
“It's hard to look at positives right now. It's a pretty sh---y feeling and I don't think I've felt worse in my life,” Tkachuk told TSN 1200s Gord Wilson on Thursday night in Denver. “This is not fun right now.”
Tkachuk didn't point the finger at his teammates as the club prepares to face the Pittsburgh Penguins at home Saturday night after dropping all five games on this road trip. Instead, he looked squarely in the mirror and accepted the responsibility for where this club is at.
“At the end of the day, it starts with me as a leader. Individually, I'm not there and playing the way I need to be playing,” Tkachuk said. “It's on me, and I feel like it's trickling down, as the leader to do a better job and as the guy in charge.
“It's unfortunate. I've got to find a way to do a better job and help this team win.”
In a season the Senators were supposed to turn the corner and contend for a playoff spot, they woke up 16 points out of the final wild-card spot in the East on Friday morning.
For all intents and purposes, this season is now about evaluation for interim general manager Steve Staios.
It's time for the Senators to face the grim reality that this team isn't good enough in any way, shape or form. Staios, the club's president of hockey operations, has no connection with any of these players and after changing the coach, at some point he'll start looking at trades.
The NHL'S holiday roster freeze will be lifted Dec. 27, but making trades is difficult with the salary cap. Staios has been working the phones and the decision he has to make is whether it's time to strike at the core of this team by dealing one of those players to get veteran help back.
Staios didn't draft or build this team, he inherited it from former GM Pierre Dorion and this roster is a long way from the glory days when guys like Jason Spezza, Chris Phillips, Chris Neil, Dany Heatley, Wade Redden and Alfredsson led this team to the playoffs.
Perhaps this dressing room needs a shakeup because this was supposed to be the year potential met production with some of these young players and it's just not happening. If the move to bring in Martin doesn't work, a trade is the next card Staios will likely play.
Tkachuk can blame himself all he wants but he's not the only one who isn't performing up to expectations. Tim Stutzle has one goal in 12 games and isn't even close to where he was last season. There's not one player who can look in the mirror and feel good about his game.
Should the Senators be better than their record? No doubt, to borrow a line from Martin. However, this team isn't better than it was last year when it pushed for a playoff spot at the end. The third and fourth lines play important roles, but neither of those have improved.
But this team is so bad in so many areas right now, it's frightening.
The Senators are ranked last in the NHL in penalty-killing after the Avalanche scored four power-play goals in Denver. Three of those came in the final 22 minutes when the Avs came back from a two-goal deficit and went on to win with a four-goal performance from Nathan Mackinnon.
Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, who was making his third straight start, gave this club every chance he could to win in Colorado, but the reality is he's ranked No. 50 in the NHL with an .891 save percentage.
He's in the first year of a fiveyear, Us$20-million contract he signed in the summer.
The only way the Senators can start digging themselves out of this mess and silencing all the critics is by stringing some wins together.
“That's the belief, and hope, is just to get that one (win),” said Tkachuk. “We've got to find a way. It's going to take a gutsy effort. I thought (Thursday) was going to be it, I thought today was going to be the day that we get it done and it's just tough.”
The talk has to turn to action or this will only get worse.