Sterling Predictions 2017: Defencemen on the bubble
Who will play the most out of Ottawa’s potential third-pairing players?
Rank these left-handed defencemen from most to fewest games played this season: Mark Borowiecki, Thomas Chabot, Fredrik Claesson, Ben Harpur, Johnny Oduya.
A bonus point for each for whom the staff can guess the correct number of games.
Colin: Claesson (80), Chabot (68), Oduya (13), Borowiecki (12), Harpur (2). The way I see it, Phaneuf, Claesson and Oduya will start the season as the trio manning the left side. Oduya has slowed down consistently ever since he's turned 30 (he'll be turning 36 in October), and with his ankle injury really hampering him down the stretch last season, I think he falls off a cliff and Chabot quickly passes him. Borowiecki stays as the 7th defenceman in case of injury, with Harpur and Englund being the guys behind him.
Callum: Borowiecki (70), Claesson (69), Chabot (50), Oduya (35), Harpur (5). Injuries are bound to happen. And someone's going to get traded, but I don't see it being one of these guys.
Trevor: Claesson (74), Chabot (70), Borowiecki (58), Oduya (34) , Harpur (7). I have no idea if this is too many games between all of them, or not enough. Nevertheless, it'll be interesting to see how Boucher handles all these players.
Spencer: I'm going to optimistically say Claesson leads this group in games played with 78. After that it will be Borowiecki (72), Chabot (52), Oduya (34) and Harpur (15). As much as I'd love for Chabot to play the whole season, I think he eventually gets edged out by veterans, spends some time in Belleville but plays his way back to Ottawa in late winter.
Ross: Claesson (62), Oduya (41), Borowiecki (32), Chabot (29), Harpur (3). This adds up to 166, meaning I predict either a couple games of Chris Wideman scratch or a Dion Phaneuf injury. I don’t see how Harpur gets to play more with so many left-handed D that are ahead of him on the depth chart.
Ary: Claesson (75), Borowiecki (70), Oduya (40), Harpur (17), Chabot (10)
Beata: Claesson (75), Borowiecki (70), Oduya (40), Chabot (15), Harpur (5).
NKB: Oduya (80), Claesson (75), Borowiecki (65), Chabot (25), Harpur (10). Guy Boucher loves his veterans, and there's no one who's more of a veteran than Oduya
Who will play in the most games for the Sens this season?
| Mark Borowiecki | 80 |
| Thomas Chabot | 15 |
| Fredrik Claesson | 325 |
| Ben Harpur | 2 |
| Johnny Oduya | 52 |
