Ottawa Senators: Contenders or Pretenders?

Let's start with the goaltenders.  Martin Gerber was anointed the No. 1 netminder on the basis of his contract.  He has not fully proved himself in a Sens uniform.  He lost the starting job to Emery last year and has shown himself to be rather unreliable. 

Alex Auld is a great pick-up.  He has two of Ottawa's three wins, and the team played better and with more confidence in front of Auld than they did with Gerber.

The defense is about as mobile as a truck stuck in the mud.  They have two excellent shot blockers in Volchenkov and Smith, and leadership in Phillips. But other than that, they don't have much else. 

Kuba has size, but doesn't use it.  As for Lee and Picard, they are still young and need more seasoning to prove themselves.  Schubert has never really been given the chance to be a full-time NHL defenseman, and he should be.  The Sens need a puck-moving defenseman badly, and some more mobility.

Everyone knows about Alfredsson.  He is the heart and soul of the team.  As he goes, the team goes.  Heatley is your typical pure goal scorer: when he is hot, he is hot; when he is cold, he is virtually invisible. 

Spezza is a good playmaker, but takes a few too many chances.  When they pay off he looks fantastic, but when they fail he gets criticized too much.  He has enormous talent; let him use it. If he makes mistakes, so be it.  I know that any other team in the league would love him in their lineup. 

Ruutu is proving to be a great signing.  He was brought in to be a pest and to stir up trouble. Well, he is living up to that and more.  Vermette, Kelly, and Fisher have to start living up to their contracts and soon, or they will be lumped into the over-priced and under talented performers category that so many fall into. 

Donovan and McAmmond are doing their jobs perfectly.  They kill penalties, do the odd fourth line shift, and do what they are supposed to do.  The Big surprise is Foligno. He is working very hard to prove that he belongs, and that is paying off with ice-time and goals.  You can't expect any more out of him, and his work ethic is almost second to none. 

Winchester is trying to find his niche on the team.  He has been placed on every line to see what he can or cannot do.  Neil is Neil: He goes out and does what he does. He takes on the heavyweights, but that should not be his job. 

The team needs someone who can handle that, and leave Neil to be a pest like Ruutu.  Hartsburg is doing a great job with this team. He is doing what his predecessor didn't do: being accountable.   That is the bottom line.

Now on paper, this is a good team that should be able to compete with any team in the league, but for some reason they have trouble.  It is not that they do not know each other, as the core of the team has been together for quite a bit.

And this is why they remain the most puzzling team in the league.  They can and should play an excellent game, but they don't.

So the question remains: Are they contenders or pretenders?  Only time will tell.