Links, News, and Notes: Some Things Old, Some Things New

Usually there isn't much to say about the Sens this time of year, but the announcement of the new coaching staff means we've had a small influx of articles that are mostly positive about the announcements. Here's your links, news, and notes:

• Steve Warne has a succinct rundown of what to know about each coaching hire. I knew that Ben Sexton was young as an NHL assistant coach, but I didn't realize that, at age 32, he's younger than me.
• Garrioch points out that Yeo was offered a three-year contract by the Sens, while the Canucks were only willing to offer a one-year deal.
• Daily Hive adds that Yeo was in charge of the Canucks' PK, which greatly improved this past year. Ottawa's PK wasn't bad, but you can never have special teams that are too good.
• Ian Mendes has started his offseason mailbag, answering questions like, which UFAs should the Sens go after? The answer to this question isn't surprising, but his response is very thorough.
• Jacob Stoller asks if the Sens need to make a splash this offseason. His answer seems to be yes, but also, where? There might be too many places.
• In the Fansided mock draft, SenShot selected Zeev Buium. You can read my analysis of Buium here. I get the importance of picking the best player available, but when scouts are so torn after #1, surely picking another undersized, left-handed, offensive defenceman doesn't make organizational sense?
• Daniel Chisholm takes a closer look at Jorian Donovan's role in the Saginaw Spirit's Memorial Cup-winning run.
• The Sens had a get-to-know-you session with the team's amateur scouts.
• Mike Hirshfeld answered some questions about PWHL Ottawa, and Alex Adams has your summary.
• There are a lot of Stanley Cup predictions out there. Tom Gulitti breaks down several aspects, Dan Rosen goes into the top 10 storylines, and Emily Kaplan has an excellent narrative rundown. On the prediction front, most seem to be picking the Panthers: the Athletic writers are overwhelmingly picking the Panthers, Adam Proteau has the Panthers in 6, and the NHL.com writers are a little more torn but still are favouring the Panthers more. For me, I do think the Panthers are deeper and will offer the biggest defensive resistance the Oilers have faced, which is why I think the Panthers will take it in 7 games. That being said, if Stuart Skinner can play the way he did in Game 7, the Oilers offence will beat the Panthers'.
• Your Conn Smythe favourite is Connor McDavid, while the runner-up is Sasha Barkov. Though these aren't surprising, is it the first time in a while that each team's captain is their favourite?
• The Stanley Cup final will be broadcast with American Sign Language commentary for the first time, which is cool, but also feels like it's taken way too long to implement.
• Joe Pavelski is likely retiring without a Stanley Cup. Seeing Wyatt Johnston cry after Game 6 tells you what you need to do know about what he's meant as a mentor for the younger Stars players. Here's hoping the Sens can at least give Claude Giroux a playoff run in the final year of his contract.
• The return to ESPN has been excellent for American coverage, with the playoff viewership in the US being the highest since 1996.
• Daily Faceoff runs down what each team needs to claim in the upcoming draft. The Sens, unsurprisingly, are said to need a right-handed defenceman.
• Utah has now had 34,000 people put down the $100 deposit to obtain season tickets (and 92% of them are not season ticket holders for the NBA's Jazz). Obviously they can't all get season tickets, but it's promising for the team there's been such an early commitment.
• Finally, here's a videoed meeting among the Sens' pro scouts as they prepare for the offseason: