2016–17 Ottawa Senators season

The 2016–17 Ottawa Senators season was the 25th season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL).[1] After failing to make the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Senators replaced their management and coaching staff, promoting Pierre Dorion to general manager, and hiring Guy Boucher and Marc Crawford and assistants to coach the team. The team would defy the predictions of much of the media by qualifying for the 2017 playoffs, and then by winning two rounds in the playoffs before losing in double overtime in game seven of the Eastern Conference Final to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

2016-17 Ottawa Senators
Division2nd Atlantic
Conference6th Eastern
2016-17 record44–28–10
Home record22–11–8
Road record22–17–2
Goals for212
Goals against214
Team information
General managerPierre Dorion
CoachGuy Boucher
CaptainErik Karlsson
Alternate captainsChris Neil
Dion Phaneuf
Kyle Turris
ArenaCanadian Tire Centre
Average attendance16,744 (87.4%)
Minor league affiliate(s)Binghamton Senators (AHL)
Wichita Thunder (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsKyle Turris (27)
AssistsErik Karlsson (54)
PointsErik Karlsson (71)
Penalty minutesMark Borowiecki (154)
Plus/minusMike Hoffman (+17)
WinsCraig Anderson (25)
Goals against averageCraig Anderson (2.28)

As of 2024, this is the only time in the post-Daniel Alfredsson era where the Senators have come close to playing in the Stanley Cup Finals. It would have been their first appearance in the Finals since 2007. Coincidentally they were close to a rematch with the Anaheim Ducks, whom they lost to in the 2007 Finals. As of 2024, this is the most recent season the Senators qualified for the playoffs.

The season was notable for off-ice issues. Despite the success of the team, attendance at Canadian Tire Centre dropped during the regular season, to the lowest average gate by the team in 20 seasons.[2] The team fired its head of marketing early in the season. The team also replaced its president, co-founder Cyril Leeder, with Tom Anselmi in January 2017.

Off-season

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On April 10, 2016, the day after the final game of the 2015–16 season, general manager Bryan Murray announced his resignation as manager and that he would continue in an advisory role with the club. Assistant general manager Pierre Dorion was elevated to the general manager position.[3] On April 12, the Senators fired head coach Dave Cameron.[4] On May 8, the Senators hired former Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Guy Boucher as their new head coach.[5] On the following day, Marc Crawford was announced as associate coach.[6] On June 15, the Senators hired Rob Cookson as an assistant coach. Cookson had spent the last four seasons as an assistant to Crawford with ZSC Lions of Switzerland's National League A, with whom he contributed to the team's championship in the 2013–14 season. Prior to this, he was a member of the Calgary Flames coaching staff for 11 seasons from the 2000–01 to 2010–11 seasons.[7]

The Senators announced the retirement of the #11 jersey of former team captain Daniel Alfredsson. The ceremony took place on December 29, prior to the Senators' home game against the Detroit Red Wings. This is the second jersey to be retired by the current Senators franchise since they came back into the league. The first jersey retirement ceremony the club held was for the late Frank Finnigan of the original Ottawa Senators, who had his #8 jersey retired prior to the current franchise's inaugural game on October 8, 1992, against the Montreal Canadiens.[8]

The Senators changed their ECHL affiliate after their former affiliate, the Evansville IceMen, went dormant for the season due to arena lease issues. On July 14, 2016, the Senators announced an affiliation agreement with the Wichita Thunder.[9] On September 26, the Senators announced that they would move their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Binghamton Senators to Belleville, Ontario, for the 2017–18 season. The club was renamed the Belleville Senators.[10]

Preseason

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The Senators played a seven-game pre-season schedule. The schedule included two home games against the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres, three road games against the Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, and Winnipeg Jets, and two neutral-site games against the Toronto Maple Leafs with one taking place in Halifax, Nova Scotia and the other in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.[11]

Regular season

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The Senators opened the regular season at home on Wednesday, October 12 against their provincial rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The first away game of their schedule was Monday, October 17 in Detroit against the Red Wings. They will conclude their home schedule on Saturday, April 8 against the New York Rangers. Their last regular season game will take place a day later in Brooklyn, New York against the Islanders.[12]

On December 29, 2016, before a game against the Detroit Red Wings, the Senators retired the #11 jersey of former player Daniel Alfredsson. On January 24, 2017, the Senators honoured Bryan Murray as the first member of their "Ring of Honour" at the Canadian Tire Centre, before a game against the Washington Capitals. On January 25, 2017, the Senators announced a new team president Tom Anselmi, replacing founder Cyril Leeder who steps down as president of the team.

On March 17, 2017, the NHL announced that an outdoor game would be played at the TD Place Stadium in Ottawa on December 16, 2017. Known as the NHL 100 Classic, it is a regular-season game for the Senators and the Montreal Canadiens. This will commemorate the first NHL game, held in Ottawa on December 19, 1917, between the Senators and Canadiens. It is one of the events to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the NHL and the 150-year anniversary of the founding of Canada. According to NHL president Gary Bettman: "To launch our next 100 years, we believe it is only right to bring the Canadiens and the Senators back together."[13]

The attendance at home games dropped in 2016-17 according to ESPN. The Senators drew an average of 16,744 per game for a total of 686,534 for the season. This was 87% of capacity.[14] In 2015–16, the Senators drew an average of 18,084 per game.[15] The drop in attendance was noticed by the media, especially after games in the playoffs did not sell out. The drop, which was the third-largest in the league in the last ten years, was attributed to various factors, including a payroll systems issue for Government of Canada employees, lack of support for francophone fans, grumbling about the owner and other factors.[2] Early in the season, the club fired persons in its marketing department, which led to at least one lawsuit.[16]

Playoffs

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On April 6, the Ottawa Senators qualified for the 2017 playoffs with a 2–1 shootout win over Boston Bruins. On April 8, the Ottawa Senators clinched home-ice advantage in the first round for the first time since 2007 after a 3–1 victory over the New York Rangers.

The Senators played the Boston Bruins in the first round. This was the first Ottawa–Boston series since the 1927 Stanley Cup Finals, the first for the contemporary Ottawa franchise versus the Bruins. The Senators defeated the Bruins four games to two and moved on to the second round.

The Senators faced the New York Rangers in the second round. This was the second postseason meeting in the last five years between the two teams. The New York Rangers won the series 4-3 back in 2012. The Senators defeated the Rangers four games to two and advanced to the Eastern Conference Final. It marked the third time in franchise history that the Senators made it to the third round, and the first time since 2007, when they advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals after defeating the Buffalo Sabres in five games.

In the conference final, the Senators took on the Pittsburgh Penguins. This marked the fourth time that the two teams met in a postseason series, with the Penguins taking three out of the four matchups. The Ottawa Senators are the only Canadian team to advance to the Conference Final in three different seasons in the last 20 years. The Senators would fall in seven games to the Penguins, with the seventh game being decided in double overtime. The Penguins would go on to defeat the Nashville Predators to win the Stanley Cup.

Standings

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Atlantic Division
PosTeamGPWLOTLROWGFGAGDPts
1y – Montreal Canadiens824726944226200+26103
2x – Ottawa Senators8244281038212214−298
3x – Boston Bruins824431742234212+2295
4x – Toronto Maple Leafs8240271539251242+995
5Tampa Bay Lightning8242301038234227+794
6Florida Panthers8235361130210237−2781
7Detroit Red Wings8233361324207244−3779
8Buffalo Sabres8233371231201237−3678
Source: National Hockey League[17]
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Schedule and results

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Preseason

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Regular season

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2016–17 Game Log (Record: 44–28–10; Home: 22–11–8 Road: 22–17–2)

Playoffs

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2017 Stanley Cup playoffs

Legend:  Win  Loss

Players

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Statistics

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Final Stats[126]

Scoring
Goaltenders
Regular Season[129]
PlayerGPGSTOIWLOTGAGAASASV%SOGAPIM
Craig Anderson 40402,421:1425114922.281,247.9265010
Mike Condon40382,304:2519146962.501,115.9145004
Andrew Hammond 64205:39020144.0886.8370000
Chris Driedger1040:0001046.0015.7330000
Playoffs[130]
PlayerGPGSTOIWLGAGAASASV%SOGAPIM
Craig Anderson19191,178:08118462.34590.9221010
Mike Condon2061:170043.9232.8750000

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Senators. Stats reflect time with the Senators only.
No longer with team.
Bold denotes team leader in that category.

Awards

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Regular Season
PlayerAwardAwarded
Craig AndersonNHL First Star of the Week[131]October 31, 2016
Craig AndersonNHL First Star of the Week[132]November 28, 2016
Erik KarlssonNHL Third Star of the Week[133]March 13, 2017
Craig AndersonNHL First Star of the Week[134]April 10, 2017

NHL awards

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TrophyPlayerStatus
Bill Masterton Memorial TrophyCraig AndersonWinner
James Norris Memorial TrophyErik KarlssonFinalist
NHL general manager of the Year AwardPierre DorionFinalist

Records

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PlayerRecordDate
Erik KarlssonFranchise record for most career goals by a defenceman (102)October 18, 2016
Erik KarlssonFranchise record for most career points by a defenceman (411)December 7, 2016
Erik KarlssonFranchise record for most career assists by a defenceman (310)December 27, 2016
Mike CondonFranchise record for most consecutive appearances by a goaltender (26)February 2, 2017
Erik KarlssonFranchise record for most consecutive games played (312)March 4, 2017
Erik KarlssonFranchise record for most career overtime winners scored by a defenceman (4)March 9, 2017
Craig AndersonFranchise record for career wins by a goaltender (147)March 11, 2017
TeamRecordDate
Ottawa SenatorsFranchise record for most shots against in an overtime period (8)November 9, 2016
Ottawa SenatorsFranchise record for most consecutive penalty kills (35)October 22, 2016 - November 22, 2016
Ottawa SenatorsFranchise record for most consecutive games scoring 2 goals or less (12)October 28, 2016 - November 22, 2016
Ottawa SenatorsFranchise record for most shots on goal in a period in a playoff game (21)April 27, 2017
Ottawa SenatorsFranchise record for scoring the quickest three goals in a postseason game (2:18)May 17, 2017

Milestones

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PlayerMilestoneDate
Thomas Chabot1st NHL gameOctober 18, 2016
Mike Hoffman200th NHL gameNovember 11, 2016
Erik Karlsson400th NHL pointNovember 22, 2016
Erik Karlsson500th NHL gameNovember 26, 2016
Mark Stone200th NHL gameNovember 29, 2016
Erik Karlsson300th NHL assistNovember 29, 2016
Mike Hoffman1st NHL hat-trickNovember 29, 2016
Andreas Englund1st NHL gameDecember 3, 2016
Chris Neil1000th NHL gameDecember 10, 2016
Jean-Gabriel Pageau200th NHL gameDecember 17, 2016
Derick Brassard600th NHL gameJanuary 1, 2017
Chris Wideman100th NHL gameJanuary 14, 2017
Kyle Turris500th NHL gameJanuary 22, 2017
Mark Stone100th NHL assistJanuary 31, 2017
Chris Kelly800th NHL gameFebruary 2, 2017
Tom Pyatt300th NHL gameFebruary 16, 2017
Mark Borowiecki200th NHL gameFebruary 27, 2017
Kyle Turris300th NHL pointFebruary 27, 2017
Fredrik Claesson1st NHL goalMarch 8, 2017
Chris DiDomenico1st NHL gameMarch 9, 2017
Ryan Dzingel100th NHL gameMarch 18, 2017
Craig Anderson500th NHL gameMarch 25, 2017
Colin White1st NHL gameApril 3, 2017
Dion Phaneuf900th NHL gameApril 4, 2017
Jean-Gabriel Pageau100th NHL pointApril 8, 2017

Transactions

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Trades

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Date
Details
Reference
June 25, 2016 (2016-06-25)To New Jersey Devils

OTT's 1st-round pick (12th overall) in 2016
NYI's 3rd-round pick (80th overall) in 2016

To Ottawa Senators

NJD's 1st-round pick (11th overall) in 2016

June 27, 2016 (2016-06-27)To Calgary Flames

Alex Chiasson

To Ottawa Senators

Patrick Sieloff

[135]
July 18, 2016 (2016-07-18)To New York Rangers

Mika Zibanejad
2nd-round pick in 2018

To Ottawa Senators

Derick Brassard
7th-round pick in 2018

[136]
November 2, 2016 (2016-11-02)To Pittsburgh Penguins

5th-round pick in 2017

To Ottawa Senators

Mike Condon

[137]
January 24, 2017 (2017-01-24)To San Jose Sharks

Buddy Robinson
Zack Stortini
7th-round pick in 2017

To Ottawa Senators

Tommy Wingels

[138]
February 1, 2017 (2017-02-01)To Minnesota Wild

Future considerations

To Ottawa Senators

Marc Hagel

[139]
February 27, 2017 (2017-02-27)To Vancouver Canucks

Jonathan Dahlen

To Ottawa Senators

Alex Burrows

[140]
February 28, 2017 (2017-02-28)To Carolina Hurricanes

3rd-round pick in 2017

To Ottawa Senators

Viktor Stalberg

[141]
March 1, 2017 (2017-03-01)To Calgary Flames

Curtis Lazar
Michael Kostka

To Ottawa Senators

Jyrki Jokipakka
2nd-round pick in 2017

[142]

March 6, 2017 (2017-03-06)To New Jersey Devils

Future considerations

To Ottawa Senators

Brandon Gormley

[143]

Player signings

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DatePlayerContract terms
(in U.S. dollars)
Ref
July 1, 2016Michael Kostka1 year, $800,000 two-way[150]
July 1, 2016Max McCormick1 year, $650,000 two-way[151]
July 1, 2016Casey Bailey1 year, $874,125 two-way[152]
July 1, 2016Phil Varone1 year, $700,000 two-way[153]
July 5, 2016Ryan Dzingel1 year, $750,000 two-way[154]
July 6, 2016Fredrik Claesson1 year, $700,000 two-way[155]
July 15, 2016Matt Puempel1 year, $900,000 two-way[156]
July 27, 2016Mike Hoffman4 years, $20.75 million[157]
August 23, 2016Cody Ceci2 years, $5.6 million[158]
September 23, 2016Gabriel Gagne3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract[159]
October 3, 2016Maxime Lajoie3 years, $2.4 million entry-level contract[160]
December 22, 2016Filip Chlapik3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract[161]
January 23, 2017Zack Smith4 years, $13 million contract extension[162]
February 20, 2017Fredrik Claesson1 year, $650,000 one-way contract extension[163]
February 27, 2017Alex Burrows2-year, $5 million contract extension[164]
March 30, 2017Marcus Hogberg2-year, entry-level contract[165]
April 2, 2017Colin White3-year, entry-level contract[166]
May 30, 2017Christian Jaros3-year, entry-level contract[167]
Suspensions/fines
PlayerReasonLengthSalaryDate issued
Mark BorowieckiIllegal boarding of Los Angeles Kings forward Tyler Toffoli during NHL game no. 412 in Los Angeles on December 102 games$12,222.22December 11, 2016[168]
Mike HoffmanIllegal check to the head of San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture during NHL game no. 441 in Ottawa on December 142 games$57,638.88December 16, 2016[169]

Draft picks

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Below are the Ottawa Senators' selections at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 24–25, 2016, at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.

RoundOverallPlayerPositionNationalityClub team
111Logan BrownCentre  United StatesWindsor Spitfires (OHL)
242Jonathan DahlenLeft wing  SwedenTimra IK (HockeyAllsvenskan)
4103Todd BurgessRight wing  United StatesFairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL)
5133Maxime LajoieDefence  CanadaSwift Current Broncos (WHL)
6163Markus NurmiRight wing  FinlandTPS (Jr. A Liiga)
Draft Notes
  • The New Jersey Devils' first-round pick (#11 overall) went to the Ottawa Senators as a result of trade that was made on June 25, 2016 that sent Ottawa's first-round pick (#12 overall) and a conditional third-round pick (#80 overall) to the Devils.
  • The Ottawa Senators' seventh-round pick went to the New York Islanders as part of a trade that saw Shane Prince being traded to the Islanders on February 29, 2016.

References

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