First of all, fantastic website!! The coverage, analysis, and insight are all phenomenal for a guy who just doesn’t have the time to watch 82 games anymore.

I couldn’t agree with you more about how goaltending remains our biggest question mark.

I have to think that Leclaire has the highest top end potential, but given how well Elliott has performed, it seems like a gamble at this point to put Leclaire in for string of 5+ games to get going.

On the other hand, I feel like if we go with Elliott, he seems to be the type of goalie who can do everything right on most nights, but can also do everything wrong. I heard a comment about Joe Corvo yesterday that he’s a guy who has a higher level he can play at, but also a much lower one where he plays like crap. The first guy I thought of was Brian Elliott. He was overperformed for most of this season, or has he? Is he the real deal, or is he just another Alex Auld who gets hot for 15 games and then goes cold for 20?

How Ottawa plays out their goaltending situation for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs will be critical to any success (or lack thereof) in the playoffs this season.

We’ve seen how much of an impact it can have by going into the playoffs on a roll. Let’s hope one of these two goaltenders can get on one and keep it going.

Go Sens Go!!!

In the 2007 playoffs (until the finals, anyway), Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson really carried the team in terms of offense. The top line just cannot do that, at least not yet. So the other lines absolutely has to take up the slack in terms of scoring.

On defense, it is somewhat worrisome to say, but Karlsson is key. With Kuba not doing much, where is the offense? Corvo was pretty good back there in that respect.

Ottawa’s group of forwards are unique relative to years past, in that there is a tremendous amount of built in versatility and depth. There are plenty of natural centres that can also play wing towards the bottom of the depth chart, in Cullen, Regin, Kelly, and Winchester.

And upon Foligno’s return, we’ll likely see Winchester, Donovan, and given the potential for an injury or two, Cheechoo relegated to the press box.

Anyhow, below are the standard views on who could play with whom up front;

Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson
Regin-Fisher-Kovalev
Foligno-Cullen-Shannon
Ruutu-Kelly-Neil

Now while it`s clear Spezza is the number one pivot, and that Michalek has played the vast majority of time on the first line, we have seen instances (against a higher powered team like the Caps, for example) where Alfie plays on the second line alongside Fisher, forming a scoring shutdown line of sorts. I wouldn`t necessarily count that scenario out come playoff time. Regin and Foligno are somewhat of a tossup for 2nd or 3rd line winger, but I`m giving the edge to Regin because he can also step into the faceoff dot if needed, and Foligno will be fresh off a fairly major injury.

That said, and given the abundance of capable centres on the second and third lines, we may see changes with a fully healthy roster + Cullen. Here are some purely speculative line combinations that aren`t out of the realm of possibility:

Michalek-Spezza-Kovalev
Regin-Fisher-Alfredsson
Foligno-Cullen-Shannon
Ruutu-Kelly-Neil

Starting with the 4th line, I would like nothing better than to see it remain unchanged until the end of the year. Again, whether I`ve pegged Foligno correctly as a 3rd line winger behind Regin is up for debate. This third line has tremendous amounts of inherent speed and responsibility built in. Second line has Alfredsson`s finesse balanced with a similar flow from the left with Regin, and is a threat on both ends. And finally, I just want to see what Spezza and Kovalev can do together outside of the powerplay, as they play both a crazy puck-possession based game, and Michalek has quite the nose for the net. That line does frighten me a little defensively, but makes my head spin with the potential for tick tac toes and quick releases. Now please, chime in with your own…