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It’s Ottawa Senators day on PHT

Kyle Turris, Erik Karlsson, Mike Hoffman

Ottawa Senators’ Kyle Turris (7) celebrates his goal with teammates Erik Karlsson (65) and Mike Hoffman (68) in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Sunday, April 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

AP

Throughout the month of August, PHT will be dedicating a day to all 30 NHL clubs. Today’s team? The Ottawa Senators.

For two straight seasons, the Ottawa Senators seemed to overachieve either by defying expectations or a stunning array of injuries. Everything seemed to shape up for the Sens to be a dark horse candidate in 2013-14 ... but instead, everything just went dark.

The Senators ended the season 37-31-14 by way of a strong finish (five wins in a row, 8-2-0 in their last 10 games). Perhaps as much as anything else, 2013-14 argued that the Senators were hoisted up by great goaltending in head coach Paul MacLean’s first two seasons; with netminding that was awful-to-mediocre, Ottawa sagged noticeably overall.

That insufficient late push didn’t convince the team to go the “partial reboot” route as the Senators saw late acquisition Ales Hemsky walk and Jason Spezza get traded to the Dallas Stars.

Next season seems like a fork in the road for this Senators team. Kyle Turris gets a chance to prove that he’s a No. 1 center in the NHL. Bobby Ryan will either cement his status as a long-term fixture or find himself hitting the reset button once more, as he’s currently slated for a contract year (Ottawa avoided such a situation with Clarke MacArthur, so maybe Ryan’s next?).

The goaltending situation remains intriguing, to boot. As much as Robin Lehner’s contract extension implies that he’s the future in goal, the team is at least saying the right things about keeping Craig Anderson around. Either way, they’re banking on much better seasons from that duo.

Of course, if Erik Karlsson can regain his Norris Trophy form from 2011-12 (rather than just his still very good form post-frightening-injury), this team could be more of a contender than many expect.

Then again, the Sens fans could just as easily be dreaming of top 2015 NHL Draft prospects in early 2015 for all we know. This team is just that much of a riddle (which is why Senators day could be a fun one on PHT).

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins