![]() ![]() ![]() Leadership and experience are crucial to sustaining any success late in the season and postseason. It has yet to be seen if that will be enough come April. Currently, their most playoff-experienced player is Calle Jarnkrok, who tops out at 75 career games, even after the flurry of deadline deals last week. The team has added several savvy veterans over the years, including Mark Giordano, John Tavares, and Wayne Simmonds, but it hasn’t changed much in the postseason. Also led by a young core, they have struggled to sustain that in the playoffs. The second team is the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have been one of the best teams over the past several seasons. Those were two of the biggest moves the team made that season, and the result was a championship title. Only Andre Burakovsky came close to matching that level of experience, sitting around 81 career playoff games. So, management went out and acquired Darren Helm and Andrew Cogliano, who combined for 182 playoff games. The team’s core was young and highly skilled but hadn’t had much playoff success. First is last year’s Avalanche, who claimed their first Stanley Cup since 2001. Last month we set new goals for ourselves and it's been going well so we aren't going to change anything."ĭerick Brassard on the growing belief in the team /1ysgtFmqYn - Ottawa Senators March 3, 2023īut what sort of boost does experience, especially from so many playoff games, give to a young team? The NHL has provided us with two excellent examples. "We're just taking it one game at a time. That level of experience has made Brassard an unofficial leader on the team. Only one other player in NHL history has played for more teams during their career, that being legendary journeyman Mike Sillinger. Since making his NHL debut in 2007-08, Brassard has played in over 1000 games and 118 playoff games spread across 10 teams: the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, New York Islanders, Arizona Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, and Edmonton Oilers. While the intention was likely to use him as a placeholder while some of their prospects developed, he has become indispensable in Ottawa’s pursuit of the playoffs. The Senators, seeing the need for a veteran presence at the bottom of their lineup, offered him a professional tryout, which earned him a one-year, league-minimum deal. Back in September, Brassard, a former 6th overall selection, was still without an NHL contract. No one would have expected this to be the case a year ago. Derick Brassard, Ottawa Senators ( Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
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