Silver Nuggets: Which is More Likely Series: Alfredsson vs Phillips

Welcome to day 8 (!) of the WIML Senators prediction series! Yesterday's question concerning Marc Methot and Milan Michalek was probably our most debated yet, so here is hoping I can come up with a few more that are close. On day 7, you decided that it was more likely that Marc Methot lead the team in SH TOI than it was that Milo would lead the team in goals. I won't screw this up today (sorry Manny and BigSlice), so I will correctly tell you that Chocolate Covered Spezzle put it best by saying:

Voted for Methot

My thought process.
Methot has already lead an NHL team in PK time and, barring injuries, I don’t see why he couldn’t again. His two main competitors (as Mark and Peter have already pointed out) are Cowen and Phillips. Phillips, in my mind, is already too slow and has as much a chance of leading the team in PK time as Alfredsson does in scoring. So let’s say that those two possibilities cancel each other out. That leaves Cowen. While Cowen is certainly a possibility (and I’m hopeful that he continues to progress towards being a dominant shutdown guy), I would argue that, as a sophomore D with some offensive upside,Paulrus isn’t as likely to use him on the PK as much as a veteran defensive D.

Michalek’s only competition is Spezza. Almost everyone on this site is expecting some regression from Michalek. Let’s say he regresses to 30 goals. Spezza has eclipsed the 30 goal mark 4 times already in his career and could most certainly do it again.

Long story short, it’s a bit of a toss up and I’m leaning towards Methot. I certainly don’t think it’s as big a slam dunk in MM’s favour as Mark and Peter are making it out to be…

Today we look at the two Senator grey beards, the only two Senators to play 1000 games with the team; Captain Daniel Alfredsson and assistant captain Chris Phillips. As a disclaimer; I expect that Alfie will win in a landslide, because it will be hard for you to look at an Alfie question objectively, but I DID say I would do one for each player on the roster, and I truly think he will be back.

With that said, here is today's question:

Which is more likely? That Daniel Alfredsson finishes top 4 in points on the team OR that Chris Phillips averages at least 18 minutes per night?

Alfie: Last season the Captain came back with a vengeance, showing the league that even after a season of serious injuries, he could still play scoring 59 points, good for 4^th on the team behind only Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson and Milan Michalek. Coming back at 40, can he produce at that level with Kyle Turris, Jakob Silfverberg and others looking to put up points?

Phillips: The only remaining d-man from the Senators of old, Chris still managed to average almost 20 minutes a season last year, despite playing in a more sheltered role that suited his game much better. With a seemingly younger version of himself here in Methot and Jared Cowen always looking for a bigger role, how much will Chris' minutes fall?

There you have it, let us know which is MORE likely!

Next up, all your links!

Sens News

• The WTYKY guys let you know what they think of the Kaspars Daugavins resigning. It truly is the summer. But this is a good read! Do it! [WTYKY]
• Here is the official Panzeri article about the signing, with a few generic quotes from Tim Murray [SensExtra]
• Nichols sheds a tear (NOT) about the Senators "missing out" on Rick Nash. Personally, I think the Blue Jackets would have been better off with the Sens package (if we'd added a 1st rounder), but WHAT DO I KNOW? In the end, it is probably for the best, but I don't fancy playing him 4 times next season. [6thSens]

League News

Which is more likely?