Ottawa Senators Three Stars of the Final Week: Brady Tkachuk continues to impress Sens fans and annoy other teams
Before we recap the season, we first recap the final week
The season went out with a whimper, with the Senators dropping three of their last four. It was a fitting end to a relatively dismal season. But before we dwell on the end of the season, first we’ll look back on that final week. Here’s your final Three Stars of the Week of the 2018-19 season, and good riddance.
Three stars
- Brady Tkachuk — Everyone’s favourite teenager put up three more points this week, and did his best pest impression against the New York Rangers. He’s had a very good rookie season, and now that we know the pick the Sens sent the Avalanche is fourth overall, I think everyone will agree Ottawa made the right choice. (Ottawa made the right choice regardless, but I digress.)
- Brian Gibbons — Everyone else’s week was pretty awful, so I’ll give this one to Gibby* for his goal and assist. He’s been way, way better than expected. Should he be back next year? Probably not. The Sens don’t need a 30+ bottom-sixer. But still, it’s been fun seeing him be way better than my expectations of nothing. *not sure if anyone actually calls him this
- Colin White — I think the theme of this week’s three stars is surpassing expectations. White has definitely done that this year, turning from a guy who looked like his ceiling was 40 points to a guy who put up 41 points in his rookie season. He had two more assists this week, and cemented the fact that he’s definitely going to a top-six fixture on this team for years to come.
Trending up
- Max Veronneau’s second career NHL goal was a picture perfect shot against Andrei Vasilevskiy. That level of skill impressed me, and it’s why I’m thinking he might do way better than I expected.
- Anthony Duclair continues to be very fast and good with the puck. It sounds like he’ll probably be back next year.
- Nice to see Bobby Ryan end the year with a couple points to hit 42 on the year in 78 games, both the highest he’s put up in three years./
Trending down
- Remember when it looked like Mikkel Boedker was going to actually be good in Ottawa? He scored in the final game of the season to hit seven goals on the year. He was a healthy scratch against the Rangers and the Lightning. Not a good last five months of the season for him.
- Poor Craig Anderson got pulled after just three goals on seven shots in the final game of the season. I’m happy he got to put together a couple good games this year, because those last couple starts were awful. This team was terrible, but he’s also showed that he’s at the end of his career./
Who to watch
Other teams, because the Sens’ season is over.