No one in Ottawa needs to be told that it’s been a long time since the Ottawa Senators made the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For the record, it was 2017 when the Sens came within one goal of the Cup final. Double Overtime…Game 7…Kunitz…something, something.
Within a couple of years, the Ottawa firesale was on and almost everyone ended up somewhere else. In 2019, one Senator fan, Matt Cox, went to work on the 2017 team photo, turning it into a “Where are they now?” photo that showed most players either wearing other hockey jerseys or Magnum P.I. Hawaiian shirts to indicate retirement.
Image credit: Matt Cox @RogueMatt
That was five years ago.
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Now we’re at a point where most of the players from that 2017 playoff team aren’t even active NHL players anymore. Chris Wideman, who played 15 of the 18 games in the 2017 playoffs, officially retired on Tuesday due to back problems.
With that, the list of active players from that run is now down to just four. So here’s the default Mount Rushmore and how they’re doing.
Erik Karlsson
Interestingly, Karlsson went from the lowly San Jose Sharks to the Pittsburgh Penguins and had an unexpectedly large drop-off in offence. Two years ago, he had 101 points – the first 100-point season by an NHL defenceman in over 30 years. Last season, with a better supporting cast, he plummeted to 56 points.
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His fantastic performance in the 2017 playoffs on a bad foot will be fondly remembered in Ottawa for a long time.
Mark Stone
Stone has been hurt before the trade deadline for the past three years. The annual eyebrow raise begins not when the Knights park his $9.5 million on LTIR, and not when they use the money to get busy at the trade deadline, but when they activate Stone for night one of the playoffs when there is no cap.
It was enough for the Sens to lose Stone, but to get so little for him was a kick in the head. He was the player they needed to help lead the kids in the rebuild. I still recall Keith Tkachuk discussing in a radio interview how important it was for the Sens to get Stone re-signed. He knew. But things worked out for Stone, who got to hoist a Stanley Cup, something that wasn’t going to happen in Ottawa at any point during Stone’s prime.
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J.G. Pageau
Pageau in New York has been the same Pageau fans loved in Ottawa. Steady Eddie, plays the right way, chips in with secondary scoring, and heart on sleeve. However, for a guy making more money ($5 million) than Drake Batherson, his drop to 33 points in 82 games last season was a concern, leading to buyout speculation in the media.
Pageau’s four goal game in the 2017 playoffs feels like yesterday.
Cody Ceci
During the whole offer sheet business between Edmonton and St. Louis, Ceci was traded to the San Jose Sharks this summer. At first, it was seen as a salary dump so they could afford to match the offers to Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway. But GM Stan Bowman said he had already decided not to match when he moved out Ceci.
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That’s it. Those are the only 2017 Senators who are still active NHL’ers.
Apparently, time also flies when you’re not having fun.
*Update: Mike Hoffman signed a PTO with Edmonton today after this was published. If he makes the team, he would become a fifth member of the list.