Getting Alfredsson, and the team going again

by LeTigre on Dec 12, 2010 6:44 PM EST

I'll preface this post by asking that you don't hate me for this suggestion, and that you keep an open mind while reading and commenting.

Daniel Alfredsson is mired in what is by far the worst slump of his career. He's been moved back and forth from the right of Jason Spezza to the right of Mike Fisher, and who knows how many different left wings have come and gone on his line.

In the meantime he has not produced offensively. Why this is I do not know. It must be noted that he is indeed still leading the charge offensively... but I use the term 'leading' in the loosest sense possible.

So my radical proposition is this... why doesn't he try out playing on the left wing?

Top six could look like this:

Alfredsson - Spezza - Kovalev

Regin - Fisher - Michalek

Alfie regularly plays on the left side come power play time, and given that he shoots right, it would enable him to use his ridiculously underrated one-timer more often and cut to the middle to shoot more. This has been a viral problem for the Senators of late; the unwillingness to shoot from the high slot/circle. Alfie playing on his off wing would change that, and like I said before, he's comfortable shooting from there anyways given his PP role.

Additionally, the Jason Spezza / Alex Kovalev duo has largely been creating chances, so having Alfie out there to finish those chances and create some of his own is kind of a no brainer.

The move also frees up a spot on the second line RW slot. This could allow Milan Michalek to return to his natural wing. To be frank, Milan has been an offensive black hole since coming to Ottawa and shifting to the left side.

In 315 games in his 4 full seasons with the Sharks, Milan put up 123 assists, or .39 assists per game from the right side. He did this while on the second line. In 93 games with Ottawa, mostly playing with Spezza and Alfredsson, he's put up 17 assists, or .18 assists per game. Suffice to say, he isn't half the player on the left side as he could be on the right.

If there is one thing that Cory Clouston has shown, it's that he will not hesitate to mix up his lines. And although the Senators have scored 3 goals in each of their past two games, I still firmly beleive something major must be done to rectify the overall scoring slump the Senators have endured; our personnel would suggest the we have the potential to be a dynamic offensive team if arranged properly.

Perhaps this suggestion could be a start.

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i don't care much where michalek goes

because as far as im concerned he ought to be parked right in front of the net. if he were better along the boards it would be awesome to have fisher on the right wing, regin at centre, and michalek as a down-low left wing that would creep in front of the net or the low slot when regin had possession. that way fisher could park his butt right in his spot at the top of the right circle and wait for a sweet pass from either.

and as per our previous discussion, i agree that alfie could try a taste of left wing action. from the right side i think the idea is that as a right handed shot he could trickle down the boards and curl around while facing the open ice for an outlet pass… but without a bonified shooter on the line, we have him passing to spezza or michalek who either miss the net in spezza’s case, or hurl it into the chest in michalek’s case. either way having alfie on the left wing opening up his shot/one timer might be a great move.

by Caden on Dec 12, 2010 11:54 PM EST reply actions

worth a try

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Dec 13, 2010 12:44 AM EST reply actions

I think these suggestions have merit

For what my opinion is worth. Now, if only we could get Clouston to read this blog.

by JonathanA on Dec 13, 2010 9:03 AM EST reply actions

lesson d'histoire

Back when we had Alfredsson, Hossa and Havlat. They were all RW. When we had all three at the same time (Havlat injured all the time), they tried all three on the LW. Hossa was horrible. Alfredsson was horrible, less then Hossa. Havlat was ineffective. They never tried to put Alfredsson on the LW again for any length of time.

I remember the Hossa for ~~Heatley~~ Hater trade. I was finding it weird that we traded a RW right after signing him for another RW, Hater was a RW in Atlanta with Kovalchuk on the LW. I would of much prefered Kovalchuk because he was a LW and he would be 1st line and Havlat (when he would not be injured) would be on the second line.

They tried Alfredsson on the LW believe me when i say: He does everything Right but even He can’t do Left.

by Bikini Cowboy on Dec 13, 2010 10:51 AM EST reply actions

I don't recall Alfie ever playing on the left side

That’s interesting!

Thing is, he isn’t doing everything right, right now. To frame it like you did, I’d go so far as to say he isn’t doing anything right right now.

by LeTigre on Dec 13, 2010 11:10 AM EST up reply actions

mon souvenir

I was not watching games that much back then. Still don’t but at least i watch about a dozen a year. In 2003-2004, we had 3 RWs (H-A-H) and they finished 1-2-3 in scoring. I think by the end, they must of found that Havlat was more effective as a third line scoring threat then a first line LW.

by Bikini Cowboy on Dec 13, 2010 2:43 PM EST up reply actions