Brady Tkachuk Nearing Return: Should He Join Tim Stützle & Drake Batherson on Senators Top Line?

Brady Tkachuk Nearing Return: Should He Join Tim Stützle & Drake Batherson on Senators Top Line?

On today’s show, we’ve got our key takeaways from last night’s Senators 2-1 loss to the LA Kings. And with Brady Kachuk returning soon, we’ll take a look at our ideal lineups for the Sense. This is Brady Kachchuck and you’re listening to the Locked On Senators podcast. You’re Locked On Senators, your daily podcast on the Ottawa Senators, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome. You are locked on to the Ottawa Senators. I’m Ross Levitan alongside Brandon Pillar. And today’s episode’s brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanuel.com and you will win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Today is Tuesday, November 25th, and Pillsey. Thank goodness the sends don’t have to play the LA Kings again. stingy defensive hockey. Would you say that’s good learning experience for Ottawa or is it all taken away by how boring it can be to watch as a fan? No, it’s certainly a good learning experience. You want to go up against those types of teams to see that you can hang with them where at the very least you can adjust or stay in games. And look, a one- nothing loss and a 2-1 loss, sure, not ideal. don’t get any points in those, but the the sends were right there. I actually really enjoyed last night’s game. Maybe I’m the in the minority, but I thought there was a lot of really good chances. Uh Levy Mer line played great. Tim Stutzel was electric. So, I’m not upset about how that game went, but I think I I will say I don’t need to see any more Sens Kings uh in the regular season. I’m happy that we’re moving on from that. And I would also say I’d rather play the Kings again than watch Michael Marovic try to ref a game because that was a joke. But we covered that extensively on the postcast last night. We also had a great boots on the ground report. If you missed the postcast, it’s available wherever you get your podcast. Levy was awesome last night and I’m glad they played him right. We said we wanted it before it was confirmed and he’s now continuing to build. He had that awful first start in Buffalo. The whole team it felt like was shell shocked without Brady Kachchuck. It was the first game on the road. Buffalo also just has Ottawa’s number for whatever reason, five straight wins against them. But now that’s three straight starts where Levy Marilin has been very very good, which is a great sign for the sends going forward. I’m also looking ahead at Brady Kachchuck’s return. I’m not going to jump into the lines yet, but when this team’s healthy, the depth is starting to accumulate because we’re seeing guys step up in different roles and you can kind of plug and play around the lineup. So, exciting times ahead and hopefully Travis Green is going to be more willing to use the fourth line when he’s got that extra layer where Lars Eller’s not playing in the top six anymore and that sort of thing. We’re not big proponents. Maybe I’ll speak for myself, but the deserve to win a meter is something I usually giggle at rather than take into complete consideration when analyzing a game over at Moneypuck. But last night was about as close as a game can get. They’ve got a 51.6% for the LA Kings deserve to win and that felt about right. I mean, it’s tie game with 10 minutes left. Yeah. And I mean, they score off a deflection from Ardam Zuk, right? It’s not like that was like a gamebreaking highlight real goal that ends up being the gamewinner. Yeah. And it Yeah, that’s good point. And I actually want to talk because we didn’t get into that part of the game-winning goal on the post cast, but are you as a coach saying, “Hey, Zoo, like just get out of the way. It’s a little wrist shot from the point.” Or do you understand that it’s in Zub’s DNA? I block shot? Yeah. I mean, that’s that’s definitely fair. Uh, I think there was also a man in front there. I’m trying to take I’m looking at the goal visualizer here. Those are actually handy. They’re actually really handy. Yeah. I mean, he’s covering his guy 24 and then 10 is right behind him there, too. So, I think it’s like a moving screen, though. Yeah. Yeah, that’s fair. Uh, but I think that’s where Zub is supposed to be positionally. Would you like for the puck not to hit him there? Sure. But I I’m not upset at uh what happened to Zub there. That’s just an unlucky play. Yeah, it’s too unfortunate cuz Zub’s a guy who like his job is to block shots and be strong defensively and he had a great battle in the second period I believe it was or early in the third where um he was just going at it. I think it was with Quinton Biffield in front of the net. Biffield was complaining because his stick got knocked out of his hands. Well, that’s just that’s what you cost to go into the net is. And uh I have no ill will against uh against Zoo for what he does defensively night in night out. So, I just think that’s an unfortunate bounce to steal a term from a man who was on the other bench last night and DJ Smith didn’t get the bounces last night, but there were a lot of bounces overall. The ice just looked so choppy out there. Both teams are playing on it, so it’s not an excuse by any stretch. But obviously in LA, they’ve got a lot going on there with the Lakers and switching it from concerts and everything else that goes on in the city of angels. So I think if you’re the Senators, you’re just getting ready for the Vegas Golden Knights because that’s a team we’ll preview in depth tomorrow. But this is a team that has had Ottawa’s number both in Ottawa and on the road in Vegas, but specifically Vegas, where Ottawa’s first and only win came during the Golden Knights inaugural season. The Senators have not won there since. But if there was a time to do it, it would be right now. Yes, you can note that the Suns are without Thomas Shabbat right now. They’re without Brady Kachchuck, Ridley, Greg. That will take a chunk out of your depth. But then on the other side, no Mark Stone, no William Carlson, and their starting goalender, Aiden Hill, also on injured reserve. So this a Vegas Golden Knights team, they did have a six-game point streak, kind of like Ottawa where they’ve been accumulating points through overtimes. They haven’t necessarily been winning games, only three wins in their last 10. Does that give you a bit of a different vibe going into this game, or do you see that jersey and just go shell shock? Yeah, I see the jersey. I see the barn. And I just uh the pregame intro. Yeah. Everything I I don’t like about it. Now, if the Ottawa Centers were fully healthy and their captain, a top four defenseman and uh you know, a forward that they rely upon and really Greg also wasn’t injured. I think I’d like the chances more, but I’m not going to say it’s a SL. Not going to say it. Not going to say it, but I will not be going to FanDuel to uh place shekels on the Ottawa Senators anytime they’re in Vegas up against the Golden Knights. Let me just say that. No, but you can go to FanDuel and check out Tim Stutz a shot prop. Yeah, prop bets is probably what I’ll be doing. Ross, yes, he hit his last night and he’s usually about plus 300 to get four or more shots. And in back-to-back games now, he’s got four shots on goal. So, uh Timmy’s flying out there, man. That’s three straight games. Every game on this trip, Tim Stutzel’s played over 22 minutes. That’s well above his season average. His season average is just over 20 minutes. So, he’s been playing two extra minutes every single night on this trip. Are you’re not worried it’s going to catch up to him? No. I mean, this guy puts so much into his conditioning. Uh I’m I’m pretty sure I forget where I saw that he hired a private chef, so he’s got his nutrition game up. Like, he wants to win so badly. Now, should you be doing it all the time? I guess maybe you should be dialing it back. But in games where it’s onegoal games, Ross, that’s who I want out on the ice cuz gone are the days where Tim Stutz is a defensive liability. Gone are the days where you have to have a winger that can take face offs for him. Like, he’s a physical player. Gone are the days where he won’t shoot the puck. You just mentioned like this guy can do it all. So, if I’m trailing or it’s a close game, there’s no one. Maybe Jake Sanderson when he’s at his best, but he he’s been not quite he’s been good. Not quite prime Jake Sanderson, but when he is at his best, there’s no one on this team, Brady Kachchuck included, that I trust and want out there more than Tim Stolen. So, the Senators did score a power play goal in each of the last two games on the road before last night. And they also scored a power play goal against Boston. So they have a power play goal in three of their last five games, but they also are three for their last 34 with the man advantage. How concerned are you about that? And is there a quick or not easy, but a fix that you think could make a difference? Okay, I’ll start with concern level. Mildly concerned. Uh we saw this power play pop off at the start of the season and uh it it was number one in power play percentage for a short bit of time there in top 10 uh for for most of the season honestly. So this has been a dry spell. How easily can it be fixed? I got a solution Ross. Oo number seven Brady Kachchuck. Seven horse. Get the seven horse out of the stable. Brady Kachchuck will do wonders for this power play in my opinion. Having that net front presence that he provides uh if you get those defenseman Sandy once Shabbach comes back getting those low shots through traffic with Brady as a screen getting a tip deflection or the goalie makes a pad save juicy rebound right there for Brady or just having Brady there able to out battle defenseman and other penalty killers to scoop up that loose puck and keep the cycle and movement going. I just think adding Brady Kachchuck to any of these power play units, obviously he’s going to probably go on the first one, but even if they put him on the second one just to kind of spread the wealth a little bit, he he’s a guy you want out there with the man advantage. So, I think that’s going to, you know, maybe it won’t be an immediate easy fix, Ross. But I do think it’s going to have an impact and it has to because this power play is 31st in the National Hockey League since November 1st. So, in the last 25 days, and they’re still 11th in the league. That’s how high of uh of a start they came out flying. But Brady’s return makes the question come to the forefront. Now, we believe Brady Kachchuck will be back on Friday in St. Louis, but I also know this guy’s got a flare for the dramatics and he might come out of that tunnel tomorrow night. Oh, stop. I don’t want that. We got to be ready for it, though. And if Brady Kachchuck comes back, how do the Senators forward line shake up? Does Ba go back with Cousins or do you load up that top line? We’ll discuss it next. We’ll wrap up today’s show with a Senator’s prospect update, including what the next couple of days are going to look like for me here in Manitoba. You’re listening to Luck on Senators, your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or you want to ride that hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who’s going to score the next basket to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for your shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push. And like we mentioned, maybe you’re not feeling too hot about your team getting the win, but you can always turn to prop bets, shots on goal, saves, uh, a goal in the first 10 minutes from either team, over, under, you can mix it up with FanDuel. That’s why we love it. And if you’re new to FanDuel, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, PZY. The Ottawa Senators wake up this morning the only Canadian team in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Now, there’s lots of time and there’s not a lot of gap between in and out. Wait, let’s get to this because I I just celebrated, but I don’t know. Like, is there people out there that are still on the team Canada train? Like, oh, I want all the Canadian teams to do good. Uh, I want to see a Canadian team win the cup. Now, I I find myself on different sides of that depending on how things are going. Like I wouldn’t have been upset if the Oilers won one of those cups mostly because it’s nice to see different Stanley Cup champions. Back-to-back Florida Panthers. Don’t love that. Especially a division rival. And it’ll be nice to get a different team other than the Montreal Canadiens as the last Canadian team to win it. Basically, if it’s I’m I’m rooting for the Jets. I I’ve always been rooting for the Jets. If it’s Jets, Canucks, Flames, Oilers, I’m I’m cool with it. Leafs, Conucks fans are slapping in the face for even mentioning that. Yeah. Well, I mean, I don’t think Calgary fans are taking that too seriously. No, but at least they they know where they’re at. Yeah. Yeah. The Canucks are um a mess. They’re they’re a mess. Maybe we’ll have to give our uh locked on Canucks host Kyle a therapy session just like he had to do for us in the postcast last year. I also was gonna say later on, whether it’s this week or going forward, we could have a conversation about shopping in Vancouver because Elliot Freeman reported, “Look, Quinn Hughes not available as it stands right now. Ottawa, I would hope, would make a call if that was the case. Every 31 other teams should be making a call just to check in. Hey, we’ve got one of his best friends.” What would it cost though? Like my god. Like for the Canucks to do that, they’re basically saying, “We’re blowing it up and we need to acquire as many assets as possible.” Like I if they do that, they might as well try to trade Person, too. Like just blow the whole thing up. I thought you were going to say they may as well move the team. No, come on now. No, Vancouver’s an awesome spot. You can’t awesome spot, but they’ve been running to the ground. Like, they have such a great roster in my opinion. at least a good roster when you have an elite elite talent like Quinn Hughes. But Elliot Freeman was reporting that they are starting to listen on veterans. And you know which name caught my eye? Conor Garland. Yep. Okay. I I think he like he’d fit the way the sends like to play definitely where he is just in your face all the time. It’s crazy the game he plays with the size that he is though. You got to give it to him. He is a feisty, scrappy dude out there. And And yeah, I mean that if he can produce to the level he has, that contract’s not terrible. No, I think he does have some term left on it, doesn’t he? He does. Yeah, but he’s also Yeah. No, no, it’s the last year. Oh, okay. So, you got an expiring contract. He makes basically the same feel about that. Makes the same amount as Drake B. No, it it would be a rental situation at least to start for sure. um sends aren’t quite in that spot, but the reason why it’s worth bringing up is that Steve Stos by all accounts is is in on something. Elliot Freeman keeps saying in 32 Thoughts, he’s like Sense would like they would like to do something big, but to do something big, you have to have the assets that you’re willing to move the other way. And the the cupboards, they’re not full. They’re not empty, but they’re not full. Prospect update later on. There are some very good stories in the Senators prospect world. Well, I think this leads nicely, Ross, into our discussion about what the lines are when Brady’s back because you start looking at when this team’s healthy, all all roster spots are accounted for, and you even have to make some hard decisions about guys that should be in elevated roles, but just with the way the lineup shakes out, you’re going to have to bump them down. So that makes the the question or the idea of adding someone to the top six. Obviously, it’s fun. It’s a great idea. You want to add good players. I’m all on board for that. But how does it affect this roster? Well, we’re going to see a top six, a top line player be added to this roster, and we’re going to see how that affects the overall lineups. Okay. So, I’m glad that you brought that part of it up because it gives me a a little bit of pause here when I’m looking at at how things should um should shake out. But it also really caught my attention. Elliot Freeman as well on 32 thoughts with our good friend Kyle Bukosquez was saying his his main thing about the sends was when Steven Halliday’s name came up. He brought it up and he’s like I’ve heard from a lot of people around the league that are like watching him closely in the AHL that he could be a player. Like I think they’re going to be taking some some calls on him. I think he’s going to be a guy that’s going to be of interest to other teams. And I love that kid. I think he’s an awesome dude and I think he’s going to be a player in this league. The hockey IQ is too good not to be. But that’s the type of player that if you’re the Senators and you’re looking to be better this season and you’ve got your top three centerman locked in now all for the next four years that’s that’s who teams are going to be asking for. And do you think this could have been a bit of a showcase Ross for Holiday because Larseller was dayto day but he ended up playing every game right? I don’t even think Yeah, they move him to the wing and they move him to the wing and they put Steven Halliday there on a west coast trip. So, you get some different eyeballs looking at that. Um maybe teams that are looking to make trades in the west get to see that. So, that’s that’s interesting and yeah, that is the type of player that would add some value and other teams would look for. But again, that’s also a guy and obviously you want top six players, but I wouldn’t feel great about moving on from him because we believe in him, especially with uh how he’s been better defensively and he’s he’s got a lot of skill and a lot of potential. Yeah, he does. But I would to answer your question, I don’t think it’s a showcase. He’s leading the AHL team in scoring. Like he deserved this call up. No, totally. But like what I’m saying is positionally that wasn’t the position of need for a call up. Right. Right. Well, Lars Eller though did miss the practice before. So maybe they just wanted to make sure because without Ridley Greg he’s the natural option to shift from wing to center. So those two were the question mark. So it’s like well what’s the other option? Like Nick Cousins used to play a bit of center but he’s just not a centerman at this point in his career. So, there wasn’t really another natural option for for Ottawa to get like we at least we’re past other fan bases or at least like uh reporters leaguewide that are like, “Oh, move Giru in the middle.” It’s like no, I was waiting for you to say it. No. How many injuries did Ottawa have down the middle? It was like no Stutsa, no Pinto, and Drew is still at right. He’s a He’s a right winger right now whether you like it or not, but he’s still the best faceoff man in the league. I quickly mentioned on the postcast, but it’s worth noting again. He went 67% in the dot last night and his average went down for the season. This is a ridiculous run that he’s on. He’s 7 and a half% better than any other player that’s taken over 100 faceoffs this year. Jonathan Taves of the Winnipeg Jets is in second. But speaking of centerman, Tim Stutla is lock and key your number one center. That ain’t changing. We’ve seen Brady Kachchuck on Tim Stutel’s wing a ton in the last couple of seasons. Timmy and Brady have played together, I would say, the majority of the time. The question is, does it make sense to load up that top line with Brady Kachchuck, Drake Bath on Tim Stutzel’s wings? LOSB stats department has been diving into this one and I took out this season because I wanted a true three-year sample. And obviously with Brady playing only three games, you weren’t going to get that in its totality um by doing that. So if you go from 2022 until the end of last season, the line of stol minutes together, the score in those in those minutes is 25 goals for Ottawa and 29 against. So they’re actually minus4 in goals when those three are out there. now different circumstances and everything but between that a 46% goals four percentage a 53% expected goals percentage so they are uh controlling more than they would does that make you think that they shouldn’t be together yeah I mean a little a little bit definitely like I when we were doing this exercise I was like oh easy Brady Timmy Bathson move on to the next line But part of part part of me thinks maybe it it wouldn’t be the worst decision to have Brady play on that second line and keep Pon up there with Timmy and Bathson just cuz that second line starts looking a little bit weak or at least weaker with how this lineup shakes out. Now I know Zelin’s heating up two goals in two games but so you’re going more likely that you would keep Stutel with Bath rather than bring Stutsel back with Kachchuck and move Bath with Dylan Cousins. Yes. Yeah. I mean Stutel and Bathson have been great together. They totally co co-lead this team in points with uh Timmy with 21, Bathson with 20. Like Bath has is a miss. Yeah. like we’ve been waiting for that. Now, the one thing I’ll mention too though about that line, those three together the last three seasons, not including this year. Um, their on ice save percentage is 891. So, that could also play in to the whole goals against thing. Well, and Ross, I’m worried if you put Brady back on Timmy’s wing, he’s going to resort back to not shooting the puck and he’s going to try to feed Brady, which is good, but Timmy’s got a better shot than Brady in my opinion. So, I want him to be thinking, I need to be the guy that shoots it. I mean, Batson could rip it, too. Not trying to take anything away from him. But, I just think Timmy might resort back to those old ways of being like, oo, I got to get that puck to Brady so he can be the one to shoot it. And that concerns me because I don’t want Timmy to switch up anything that he’s doing right now. So because they’ve been tied at the hip, Bath and Stuts over the last while, they’ve actually in the last three years now, including this year, they’ve played more together than Brady and Timmy at five on five. Isn’t that interesting? Um 747 minutes versus 676. The score with Brady and Timmy with someone else than Bath, they’re plus two in goals. But with Timmy and Bathson without Brady, they’re plus nine in goals four. So, lots to consider. I’m keeping those two together for sure. Okay. Well, my answer is coming up after the break. You’re listening to Locked on Senators, your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at Game Time. Hockey season is here and nothing beats being in the arena for those opening games. But let’s be real, getting tickets, it can be a total headache sometimes between waiting in cues, surprise fees, and prices that jump right before checkout. 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All right, PZY, we’re diving into what the Senators lineup would and should look like when Brady Kachchuck comes back. And we made a graphic where we put everybody in healthy. We don’t know really what the status is of Ridley Greg. Seems like daytoday, but he hasn’t been on the ice. It’s uh bit precarious. seems like he’s still on the trip, which would be a good sign to assume that he will be back sooner rather than later. But just as an aside, I put Jake Sanderson included in this. In the last three years, when Tim Stutzla, Drake Bathson, and Jake Sanderson are on the ice together at five on five, the score is 18 to five for Ottawa. Yeah, I mean, those are good players. You want them playing together. That’s uh that’s nice. only five goals against in 224 minutes. So what I’m hearing is Ross Levitan wants to put Jake Sanderson on the left wing with Timmy and Bath. He would fly. He fly. And his old man used to be a forward. He could teach him a thing or two. He’d learn quick. But then the decor we need Quinn Hughes. Well, put Brady on D. No. No. Quinn Hughes. Oh yeah. Yeah. Steven Holidayiday. Quinn Hughes. One for one. No. Come on. You want to trade Holiday? Oh, okay. Well, to have Vancouver throwing a pick for Quinn Hughes. Sorry, Ally. I’ll pack your bags for you. Love you, buddy, but uh if Quinn Hughes come to Ottawa with an extension, let’s go. Um, all right. That’s such dreamer talk, but more realistically, my answer is you you put those three together at least to start. You see how it looks because those two in Stouts and Bath are just playing such great hockey right now. And you know that Brady’s going to come shot out of a cannon when he comes back. So when I look at that, like the hands might not be where his typically are, but I think the skating will be elevated. And they talked on the broadcast last night, Prime Monday Night Hockey, and they watched the morning skate and everything before. And Jody Shelley was in awe of how good Brady Kachchuck looked in the morning skate. Like he said he was all over the ice. So I just look at Brady and I say, Brady, don’t try to do too much. Don’t try to be stick handling. We know that you’re starting to shoot from distance. You did a lot better at that last year and scoring on the rush different ways. You’re F1. That’s it. Bang bodies, create space, and Timmy, do not change a thing. Shoot the puck at all times. Brady, just get to the net and have that second, third opportunity looks because the other thing that Brady’s really good at, yeah, he’s great in front of the net when you’ve guys when you got to battle, but he’s also good at those retrievalss. Whether it’s like a shot that gets tipped, it’s in the corner, bounces behind the net, he’s going to come out of that pile nine out of 10 times with the puck. So when you have that disturber on the line, I think it’ll even open more space for Stutzel and Bath to do their thing offensively. That’s my reasoning why Stout and Chuck Bath should be a line on Friday in St. Louis. Yeah, agreed. And I mean, Peron was kind of designed to do the things that Brady does, right? Obviously, he doesn’t do it at that level, but there Yeah, bit of slow motion at this point. No disrespect. I mean, Pon’s played 1,200 games, and he is a plugandplay type player, though. And I put him on the fourth line for now. This is, of course, assuming Ridley Greg is healthy. We know that Cousins and Pon have played well together in the past. Dylan, that is. I know we’ve got him on the line if you’re watching on YouTube with Nick Cousins. um which would bring a different element, maybe a little rattiness out of uh out of Pon’s game because he he’s had a bit of that but not nearly as much as was advertised. He hasn’t cross-checked anyone in the head anytime recently. Yeah, definitely not. But uh but I I think the other lock and key is you’re not touching the line of Pinto, Amadio, and Jer. Travis Green, when you’re doing the lineup, you got the whiteboard there. Move the whiteboard over. bring in um a granite tablet, chisel in a Mario Pinto Giru and have scholars thousands of years from now be like, “Oh, damn. The senators really went with Mario Pinto Jeru for quite a while here.” Uh still holds up in history. Do not touch that line. Holds up in history. The hieroglyphics uh generations from now will say, “Holy smokes, did you see how good those guys play together? You only have to move the minimum ice time for any line in the NHL to 70 minutes and that’s the best line in hockey. Like you would think that there would be some line out there that would have just had a spark really quickly and only played a few games together. No, the best line in hockey in terms of expected goals percentage, more chances for than against is that line. And it’s 3% better than anybody else. And the line behind them has only played 72 minutes. If you move it to a 100 minutes, it’s Carolina’s top line and known wagon and that’s the Aaho Jarvis and Fetchnikov line and they’re at 64.9. They’re 5% better than the second best line in hockey in terms of generating more chances for them than against. So that line ain’t going anywhere per 60 minutes. How wild is this? That line is averaging more than three goals per 60 minutes. and goals against for 60 minutes. They’re at a sparkling 1.38. They are the best defensive line in the National Hockey League. And it’s going to be amazing to see, especially if they go head-to-head, and they might. Maybe you look for a matchup against Eel with the Pinto line. But the second best defensive line at five on five in the league is Vegas’s second line of Tomas Hurdle with Pav Dopia and Mitch Mner. So you look at that company that the Pinto line keeps. Super super impressive. The third best line defensively is Suzuki Slafkovski and Caulfield and they’re averaging 1.8 goals against per 60. 1.38 is ridiculous. That line ain’t going anywhere. I move Eller back to center of course on the fourth line. No surprise there. I thought about Ridley Greg like especially coming off an injury. Eller’s actually been like a nice winger. Like he’s protecting the puck well on the wall and he’s making some plays out there. So I I’m I’m okay either way. Like I know that they’ve had Eller with Cousins and Zetherland. I wouldn’t even mind if they stay together. We should really be having a conversation with no disrespect to Dylan Cousins who’s been playing great hockey and no disrespect to Fabian Zetterland who’s got goals in back-to-back games, but that Pinto line’s a second line on this team and ice time would confirm that as well. Yeah, I think that’s fair. Uh I think Ross, let’s keep them as a third line so we can brag even more like this is our third line. Look how good they are. Third line in hockey. Yeah, exactly. Um so we we have the decision to have Greg as that left winger on the second line and that unfortunately bumps David Prawn down to the fourth line and not it’s not a demotion. It’s just a numbers game there because while Pon hasn’t exactly been lights out, I’ve liked his game. He’s he knows his role. He does it well. like we talked about, winning those puck battles, getting into the corners, doing the dirty work. But I just think you need to give Greg those opportunities to get better. He’s the younger player. You’ve got him signed to term. We know what he can do when he is playing at his best. So, honestly, it’s more a situational decision that I decided to keep Greg up there and bump Pon down. And it’s also a decision that Travis Green has made within games. Last night, Nick Cousins played two and a half minutes with Stutesen Bath. Giru played two minutes with Stutesen Bath. So, they are kind of rotating in occasionally. And like that doesn’t sound like a lot of ice time, but then like it was only 7 minutes and 20 seconds that Pon was out there. So, half the amount of time for um for other guys getting opportunities to play with Stouta and Ba Pzy. good problems to have when guys are healthy. And knock on wood that new guys don’t enter the infirmary as others come off because we still haven’t seen the full Ottawa Senators this season. Drake Bathson missed the same amount of games that Brady played. It was one in one out. A a little carnival ride there where you get off, you get on. Unfortunate, but we’d love to see those guys in the lineup together. We’ll have a full game day preview on tomorrow’s show. Quick prospect update though and I’m going to be leaving right after. That’s why I got the the button-down shirt on. Going right to the rink. Canada Life Center Belleville taking on the Manitoba Moves. I’m so excited. It’ll be my first live viewing ever of Carter Yakamchuk. So, I’ll be dialed in every shift watching how often he’s out there watching the interactions on the bench with David Bell who I spoke with yesterday and he’s just raving about the work ethic of Yak. So, I’m really excited to see him. I’m also going to throw a little bonus locked on player to watch for the Belleville Sens. Jabril Toué. This guy fascinates me. He is an enormous human being. He’s mean. He’s physical. But I want to see how much better his puck handling is because that was the the knock as a big guy growing into his size. Really curious to see how that shakes out. What else should I be watching for? You got anything I got to keep my eye on today? look out or be locked on Ross to my new adopted son Xavier Borgo. He’s been good and he continues to play well here. Uh now obviously without Steven Halliday he’s missing his disher but I I want to I want to hear a scouting report on Borgo because I think he’s having a really nice Renaissance season. Yeah, I’ll get that for you. And our guy Pistol Pete I was uh I was playing around uh I I chatted with him for probably a good 15 20 minutes. He’s such a a likable guy and uh I almost stole his stick. I grabbed it from him and I was like, “Dude, I just broke mine in beer league last week.” Like, “Can I have it?” He’s like, “I only brought three on the trip.” Like I kind of knew I almost was going to ask him like, “Hey, if you break it, can I have it?” Like I did with Eigor. I actually have I was fishing something out the other day, but this is from his shootout goal here. Penalt or shootout shootout winner. Yeah. So, uh, but yeah, Pistol Pete’s a beauty and he’s he’s playing center all year this year. He said he’s been the middle, so snapping it back. He’s also like sneaky big dude. Oh, yeah. Now, I was just in shoes and these guys that I was chatting with were getting off the ice, so they were in skates, so it obviously gives them a little bit of the the stiletto look, but uh yeah, big dude. And I’m excited to see no Tyler Bush on this trip. And uh quick update and it was actually really good that Mad Sogard came back when he did. Hunter Shepard’s got a minor injury. I know you and I were talking about that wondering because they called up Jackson Parsons. He played well. It’s like, oh, are they just rotating three? No, they are going to uh they’re going to figure it out once Hunter Shepard’s back, but he’s not on this trip either. Yeah, I mean uh and Jackson Parsons kind of fell down to earth allowing seven goals up against Lval Rocket, but he’s 3-2 after two periods. It was just in the third. They just stepped on them. Yeah. And but his numbers are still good. He’s still three and one in the AHL and he’s still a guy I have a lot of faith in. So, it’s going to be interesting. You’re probably going to get to see both Mads and Parsons. So, that’s funny. Uh it’s probably confirmed by now. By the time you’re listening, it is for sure. Mads told me starting today. So, it’s a 10:30 a.m. game here, 11:30 uh um Eastern time. So, if you want to listen to it right now, go tune in. Uh make sure you’re still playing Locked on Centers in the background and then go play it again to catch up on what you missed. But uh yeah, it’ll be on Belleville sends radio network. I’ll be doing color commentary with footy. Annual tradition at this point. So u really excited. Always look forward to Belleville coming here. Only other note and we already talked about the Wisconsin ends uh how great their weekend was. They moved up in the polls, the division one men’s hockey polls from seven all the way to number two. They are the number two team in the country after going into Michigan State which was the top ranked team and beating them twice. So they moved down to third. Michigan moves up to number one and Wisconsin went 10 and one against Michigan on the road last weekend. So hell of a start. We got to get their head coach on. That’s something I’m going to work on doing in the next little while. Mike Hastings. Exactly. And it was great great weekend for uh Blake Montgomery in particular who has now settled in to the NCAA. I shot him a note and he sent me back one of the the hang tight like this guy all time vibes. Missed any of our any of our Oh yeah, hang loose. If you missed any of our interviews with him, uh he is such a vibes guy. So love to see that. Another vibes guy, Hoy Stanley over in Cornell. They started their season really late, Pilzy. But Ho’s been playing 23 minutes a night and they’re six and two. He’s got two assists in eight games. He’s the type of guy where he’s never going to get the fanfare because he’s just steady Eddie. He’s going to be a key part of Belleville, I think, as soon as maybe even next season, maybe two years from now, but he to me just slots in as like a perfect stay-at-home third pair guy. He skates unbelievably well. So, just want to give some love to Cornell because they snuck in here to the top 20 as well. They moved from 19 to 17 uh after the weekend. So, good on uh good on our guy uh Hoy Stanley. Want to give some love to him. Yeah. No, that’s awesome. Uh it’s great how there’s so many Suns prospects in college hockey these days. It’s tons I think 14. Yeah, if I’m not mistaken. Um Monton Wildcats defenseman Eric Wenius, fifth round pick, came over from uh from Finland. Enormous human being as well. 6’4 235. He’s got a plus 11 rating in 20 games. Four points, 29 pims, stay-at-home type defense and feels like a bit of a theme for Ottawa. They got a lot of stay-at-home defenseman in the system. Um, and then they got Yak, who is the opposite, who is a riverboat gambler, but um, yeah, nice to see that he’s settling into the QMJHL. And Monton, I believe, no, they hosted the Memorial Cup last year, right? Yeah, they I don’t think No, Colona hosted it. Colona. No, that’s this upcoming season. It was last year, I think, in uh out east. It I don’t think it was Monton, though. Is Ramuski? Anyways, I don’t think it really matters for this conversation. I know that Monton was in the Memorial Cup last year and they’re going to want to have a good team again this year. So, uh we’ll see how Wanius continues to develop. Any other prospects you want to hit on? Uh I’ll just give Owen Beckner another shout out here as he continues to have a good season. 15 points in 14 games and uh he had an assist last weekend uh helping his Colorado college team beat University of Minnesota DUTH in overtime. So that’s that’s a guy to just just keep an eye on Owen Beckner there. Yeah. And he’s going to the Spangler Cup over Christmas with the selects the NCAA selects. We’re not calling the US selects. This guy’s from V from BC. Yeah. Let this guy live. He’s sick though. Really really nasty. All right. I’ll have a scouting report on the Belleville Senators. I gotta run. I gotta get there for puck drop. Let’s go. Footy’s gonna be like, “Oh, I’ve done this 400 times alone. I’ll be okay.” But no, I gotta get there and be with my guy footy and uh the sends play here again tomorrow night. So, get another update for you on Thursday. But, Psy, any final thoughts on today’s show? I think we’ve decided though, Brady starts with Timmy and Drake. Yep. Let’s do it on Friday up against St. Louis. I want to see that. And uh good luck on the call. I’ll be watching. and uh stoked to get uh this opportunity. It’s always fun when uh you get to hear your voice on other platforms than just the podcast medium. No, it’s so much fun, man. And uh I was telling the boys yesterday like I I feel a bit far away from it sometimes, especially with the little one. Haven’t been able to get back to Ottawa as as often as I’d like. Uh obviously understandably. Um but really really excited to get the opportunity here. And also happy first birthday to my daughter, the slump buster, the senator’s record. I got to go find that. But their records since she was born versus the calendar year before she was born. Outrageous. So, yeah, we’re gonna have a nice dinner party for for her tonight. And uh there are too many balloons in my house right now. That is my final thought. Too many balloons. Uh the balloon of injuries will burst hopefully Friday. Pillsy doesn’t even want Brady to play on Wednesday because he is selling this schedule loss. I said I’m not selling it. Okay, it’s going to be tough and I don’t like the feeling of it. And the boys are going to be wellfed today. If you missed it, players only on NHL Network, Shane Pinto, after signing the $30 million ticket, he’s going to be footing the bill tonight. Team dinner in Vegas. So, um, stay away from glass if we learned anything from the New Jersey Devils. Plastic cups, please. Plastic cups. Get the solo cups out and go have a good night tonight, boys. They deserve it. like, hey, tough tough loss last night, but wasn’t a lack of effort at all. And the Ottawa Senators are third in the Atlantic Division right now. They have an above 500 record NHL standards on the road and at home this year. They’re 52 and three in their last 10 games. It’s been a good good start to the season without Brady Kachchuck. So, let’s build on that. We’ll have more tomorrow on the show. For today, we say goodbye. Thank you for liking, watching, listening, and engaging with the show. for Brandon Pillar. I’m Ross Levitan and this has been another edition of the Locked On Senators podcast. Your team every day.

Ross Levitan and Brandon Piller break down the Ottawa Senators close loss to the LA Kings, analyze ideal lineups with Brady Tkachuk’s nearing return, and highlight key prospect updates and trade rumours on Locked On Senators!

00:00:00 – Sens vs Kings Recap & Takeaways
00:06:33 – Previewing the Vegas Golden Knights Matchup
00:12:38 – Canadian Teams in the Playoff Picture & Trade Rumors
00:17:06 – Ideal Lineups with Brady Tkachuk’s Return
00:34:59 – Belleville Senators Prospect Update & Final Thoughts

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