SYDNEY, N.S. — Drake Batherson had a crazy season in 2022-23.
His 22 goals were a career high. Ditto for his 40 assists, 62 points and 33 penalty minutes, all career highs. He appeared in all 82 games for the first time in his young career.
So why is everyone talking about Batherson, 25, needing a bounce-back season?
It mostly has to do with that -35 in his stat line, also a career high, er, low.
Only four players in the NHL had worse plus-minus numbers than Batherson last season.
Is he really a poor defensive forward? I think it has more to do with his physical health and the Senators’ inability to control play last year. The season prior, Batherson was plus 4.
Alex DeBrincat, since traded to Detroit, was -31 last year. Shane Pinto was -21.
Dashes were still pretty common on a team that surrendered 271 goals and scored 261.
Though he didn’t complain publicly, the lingering effects of Batherson’s high-ankle sprain injury limited his ability to play an effective two-way game. He was late getting to where he needed to be because he just didn’t have confidence in the ankle he hurt in late January 2022.
He would tell us later that it took a full year for him to feel right in late January of 2023 and on down the stretch.
Most of those ugly dashes were picked up in the first half — Batherson was -11 in the month of November and -8 for December. In February and April, he had a zero plus-minus. March was -5.
At this year’s camp, Batherson has been Ottawa’s best forward and he put on a show for his fans in Sydney, N.S., on Sunday. He had 40 friends and family on hand at Centre 200, a rink built in 1987 to mark Canada’s bicentennial.
Batherson played his junior hockey here for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and it was appropriate for him to shred the Florida Panthers in a 4-2 Ottawa pre-season victory on Sunday.
“I couldn’t wait to get out there. We’ve been talking about this game all summer,” Batherson said. “Just wanted to take it in and that’s exactly what I did. I’ve had a smile on my face for the last 48 hours, it’s been a lot of fun.”
It was Batherson the playmaker who stole the show in Sydney, setting up three Ottawa goals while scoring an empty-netter to put a little icing on the cake.
These passes were gems. His timing on the dish to Jiri Smejkel was exquisite. And on the Parker Kelly goal, Batherson did the heavy lifting, deking Latvian defenceman Uvis Balinskis unmercifully before sliding the puck across to Kelly for the tap-in. Batherson also drew an assist on the goal by Roby Jarventie. Jarventie and Smejkel have both had strong camps for the Senators.
Look for Batherson to have his “bounce-back” season, if you really want to call it that.
Tkachuk is in, still no Norris
Captain Brady Tkachuk, recovering from a nasty cut across the top of his nose, near his eye, will return to action against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night in Halifax.
Tkachuk skated on Monday morning on a line with Tim Stützle and Claude Giroux.
Centre Josh Norris skated but will not play. He still has not tested his shoulder in game action this pre-season since tweaking it prior to camp. Norris had a second surgery on the shoulder last February.
Korpisalo gets the start against Crosby, Pens
Joonas Korpisalo was slated to start against the Penguins and play the entire game.
Anton Forsberg has raised the bar for his goalie partner. Forsberg, coming back from double MCL tears in his knees last season, was outstanding against Florida on Sunday. Forsberg stopped 33 of 35 shots and his quickness and agility on display were enough to dispel any concerns about his health going into the season.
Thomson gone
He was once thought of as the next Sami Salo in Ottawa, a lanky, right-shot Finnish defenceman known for his big shot. But Lassi Thomson, drafted by the Senators 19th overall in 2019, was put on waivers on the weekend and claimed by Anaheim on Sunday.
Thomson may not be a Duck for long, however. The Ducks are loaded with defence prospects and may have grabbed Thomson for insurance while contract talks continue with Jamie Drysdale, Anaheim’s young right-shot D-man. We shall see if Thomson becomes available again.
In the meantime, fans will lament a prospect who did not pan out. Thomson actually had a decent camp, but the Senators did not see him making this roster.
Thomson’s career Ottawa line: 18 games played, five assists. Sixteen of those games were in the 2021-22 season. Last year, Thomson played just two games for the Senators but was productive with AHL Belleville — seven goals, 33 points in 56 games.
Sens hockey staff gets tougher
Do you think new president of hockey operations Steve Staios and Senators head coach D.J. Smith might have a few things in common?
At all levels combined — junior, pro, NHL — Smith amassed 2,001 PIM. Staios had 1,965. That adds up to 3,966 penalty minutes for the two men combined.
“Shane, we want you, Shane!”
If you watch any classic television, you may have come across an old black-and-white Duster called Shane.
It’s a typical good-guy, bad-guy western in which Alan Ladd plays the hero, Shane.
A little boy named Joey simply adores Shane and seems to run faster than a horse (alas, not a “Pinto” horse) as he sets out to warn Shane of danger and appeal to him to stay and marry Joey’s mother.
Joey: “We want you, Shane! Come back, Shane!”
In the end, Shane rides off into the sunset. That is certainly not the ending Senators fans expect in these protracted contract negotiations with young centre Shane Pinto. But there is a lot of frustration in Ottawa over the fact nothing has been accomplished in the Pinto situation.
It hasn’t helped that the Senators are tight to the cap and spent a lot of money elsewhere, without getting their 22-year-old centre signed. Pinto will be 23 next month.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the weekend that Ottawa’s latest offer was a one year, $1-million contract. If that seems insulting and below market value, it is, but is also reflective of the cap bind the Sens are in, and comes with a proviso to make things right down the road.
Not to be alarmist, but the Senators really need Pinto in camp sooner rather than later. Consider that with five exhibition games played, Ottawa’s No. 2 centre, Norris, has not appeared in a game and the No. 3, Pinto, has not even practised with the team.
This is a huge season for the Senators, facing playoff expectations for the first time in at least five years. Not having Norris and Pinto primed and ready to go is hardly ideal.
Could this be the week Pinto gets done?
from Sportsnet.ca
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