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Monday LNN: Bruins Part Ways with Miller, Anderson and Tkachuk Suspension, Ovechkin Milestone and More!

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Arizona Coyotes v Washington Capitals Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Though the Ottawa Senators find themselves mired in a nasty five game losing streak, the hockey world hasn’t stopped to wait for them to get themselves in order. There’s lots to cover from the weekend, so let’s get to it:

His signing wasn’t exactly welcomed in many corners, with even Gary Bettman commenting that Miller was not eligible to play in the NHL — and that he may, in fact, never become eligible to play in the NHL. There has been some reporting that the league was extremely unhappy with the Bruins and made this known to Don Sweeney and Cam Neely.

On Sunday night, after enduring a weekend of withering criticism from almost all corners, including several of their own players, the Bruins announced that they, too, had parted ways with Miller. In a statement, Neely explained that “based on new information”, the Bruins had decided to reverse course. Your mileage may vary as to how credible you find this explanation to be, but regardless of the reason for signing him in the first place the whole saga is a massive embarrassment for the organization.

Lack of consistency from the defensive pairings: Heading into the season, we knew Ottawa’s biggest potential weakness was its blue line. Ten games into the season, those fears have come to fruition. The Senators have yet to find consistency in their defensive pairings, and the recent injury to Artem Zub has only magnified the issue. The Senators will need to address this issue soon if they don’t want the season to slip away. Recalling prospect Jacob Bernard-Docker on Friday is a potential internal solution, but that’s a lot of pressure to place on a young defender. Ottawa’s blue line will certainly be under the microscope over the next 10 games.