The Senators have a MASSIVE test ahead...

The Ottawa Senators have a massive test ahead as they've been having a very hot start to this season but now are going to be without a key player for a couple of months. In this video we're going to break down everything about the Ottawa Senators hot start, talk about a William Ekblad injury update and talk about who needs to step up in his absence. You're not going to miss this episode NHL Digest before we dive into everything here. I just want to say we're on the road for 20,000 subscribers around the channel so if you're new here you want to stay up to date on the latest news around the NHL where you're home for it here on YouTube, scramble hit that subscribe button it's completely free to do so but yes today we're here talking about the Ottawa Senators as they've been red hot four and one to start this season which i think a lot of people wouldn't have thought going into this year and it's great to see them kind of come out you know after losing their captain and Brady Tkachuk and you know obviously uh have a great start go four and one proved everybody that they don't need Brady to be successful and they're really thriving without this guy which is awesome to see because he's having a horrible start uh within uh the Florida Panthers and i know a lot of Ottawa Senators fans love to see that so i had to shout that out before we dive into everything for you guys there because i know that's gonna you guys are gonna love that but let's dive in to who's been really the top player on this team uh and you know we all know who it is at this point and it is our guy Timmy Stu, Tim Stützle driving the the Ottawa strong start as he's been having a great season he's been on fire you see here at three points against Boston back in October the 5th and now he has eight points in five games which is leading the Ottawa Senators to a four and one start this guy is really entering the prime of his career right now he looks like he's going to have a monster season for this Ottawa Senators team just driving this top line driving this offense driving them to getting wins this year which is great to see for the Ottawa Senators because in this tough Atlantic division you need to take wins wherever you can get them and going into this year I don't think a lot of people including myself would have ranked the Ottawa Senators this highly and I do think that they can keep this up without William Eklund which we're going to talk about in a bit but first of all just keep talking about Timmy Stu here because we know his strengths are his points per game his power play points his giveaways are a bit of his weakness but it isn't too bad with one a game you know you can deal with that you know as long as it's not a high danger chance to give away which he doesn't really make very often uh we know Tim Stutzle said it's a great team effort kind of you know nonchalantly being like yeah you know you know I'm having a good year but it's because of the team around me and uh the players around him just kind of had to talk about you know Drake Batherson he's such a dynamic player uh he's skilled and he can skate and you know obviously Drake Batherson is obviously loving this I mean he's a guy who I think is going to have a big year for this team a great goal scorer one of the most underrated goal scorers in the entire league in my opinion and then Jordan Spence says they really can they really do take care of the defensive zone as those zones as well just talking about you know the guys like obviously uh Tim Stutzle and these top line players there they're not afraid to you know get back on the back check break up some plays in the defensive zone as well I think that's why it's led to the early success here but of course one of the key guys here on this team is William Eklund and the reports have come out stating that he will be on the injured reserve and he'll be out for two months so not not too bad right two months is a long time but it could have been way worse we could have seen him out you know for even longer than that it could have been a season-ending injury and obviously William Eklund getting traded here from San Jose has really loved it here I think he's played some great hockey in this small sample size we've seen him so yes it's going to be a big hole to fill in this roster but i definitely think the players are there to kind of fill the role of william Eklund like right now um you know travis green the head coach says i don't know we know exactly how long they're kind of just putting it in that two-month window and trying to see where it goes to that point and i just hoping that he can get back have a speedy recovery because he's such a great playmaker he's such a dynamically skilled player and is able to find people with passes with ease and i mean i know you guys have seen it for the first couple of games how good william Eklund really is and it's devastating for him to go through this injury obviously it's an ankle injury he's going to be out for two months at this point so hopefully he can get back to skating you know in a month and then just kind of you know work it work up from there and you kind of see the timeline here he gets his ankle injury against the flyers uh green confirms his extended period and then Gary Och reports that he will be on the ir for about two months so hopefully it's a speedy recovery for William Ecklund because this guy's a key piece of the offense for this team this season and hopefully the team can keep it up without you know without his absence so you know we just kind of talked about some players that kind of got to step up here in his absence and one is Dylan Cousins, Dylan Cousins needs it needs to step up add some secondary scoring for this team and you see here you know we had 28 goals 59 points in a full year last year which is great and I think now maybe in a higher role within this team he can put up some more points there he only has one point through five games here this season so hopefully we can see him start to ramp that up uh here you know obviously going without Ecklund and see him uh obviously you know have a big game uh you know come out here just kind of say yeah i'm here i'm here i'm here to kind of help you guys out and i'll fill a role what that is needed now and i think dylan cousins has all the skill to make that happen for sure and if we just kind of look at his strengths its goals and power play points so obviously he gets a little bit of a bigger role here on the power play now He's a guy who can come down the wings, score some goals off the rush as well. So, you know, I like Cousins. I think he's a skilled player. His only big strength is his plus minus, which I don't really read into that too much, to be honest with you guys. I don't read into that stat a lot. But other players here that need to step up too is obviously Berikovsky and Batherson. You know, Batherson, who I said is a great offensive player. But Berikovsky, you know, obviously he gets in on the top line with Tim Stutzle as Eklund was out now, out for two months. And Berikovsky, I think, is a great player. You know, his assists are his strength. His playmaking is his strength. His power play points, again, are his strength. This is a guy who's going to get an increased role within this lineup now this season. And his shots on goal, you know, are a bit of his weakness. So maybe we can see him start to rip a few more on net, create some more scoring chances for this team. We need him to step up big time here because just looking at this lineup with William Eklund out of it, or we have just seen him right now with William Eklund out of it, we kind of have him up here on this top line with Batherson and Stutzle. So, Berikovsky has a great pass, so I think he'll be able to thread passes through the seams to get Batherson open for a goal. And obviously, Tim Stutzle is going to carry on his ways. The middle six is really where I'm looking at the offense to kind of pick up. We're going to need guys like Zetterlin, who has that ability. We've seen it during his times in Ottawa last year, and especially in San Jose. Pinto, Giroux, Cousins, these are all big guys that are going to have to step up offensively to fill the hole of William Eklund, and I don't think it's too big of a hole to plug, and I definitely think you guys can do it, obviously without Jake Sanderson as well. So, you know, they're taking two big hits here to start the year, but obviously it is going to be, you know, it's working out for them right now, All right, they're 4-1 to start the year without one of their top defenders. Now they're without Eklund. If they can keep this going forward and keep the offensive up and keep the goaltending up, because the goaltending has been magnificent, they'll be able to have a solid year here and try to get into the playoffs because I really think that this is a team, you know, looking early on. I mean, small sample size, that is a playoff team. They look amazing. And just kind of looking at Claude Giroux, I mean, his faceoff has been off the chart. He ranks number one in the league right now, 63% on the faceoff I mean when you have a guy like that you know on the faceoff dot you know you want to you want to keep him on that dot and hopefully we can see him take more of that bigger role as the center as well and more offensively without obviously William Eklund in the lineup and then Drake Batherson he has got three goals here through the first five games so great goal scoring production from Batherson this is a guy who I think could hit 50 this year I really do I I think Stutzle, he's entering a new, you know, kind of mode, which I never thought was there. And now he's just seeing the game differently. He's finding people with passes. He's scoring goals. Now he has a guy like Burakovsky on his top line with William Eklund out that can also kind of fill that role. Not as good as Eklund, but be able to, you know, find him in stride and find the Batherson in stride and just create goal-scoring chances like that. So hopefully we can see these guys build some chemistry and really have a good season off of it. That would be great to see. Obviously, the big thing here, like Drake Batherson says, the more consistent we are, the better off we'll be and win more games. So, just trying to stay consistent with people out of the lineup. That's really what this team needs right now going forward. And, you know, obviously, they just need a spark, right? Like, they just need, you know, now they're 4-1, right? They can afford to drop a game, but you want to keep these guys rolling. Obviously, without their big guys, you're going to want to try to get more wins now without them. so that when they come back, you know, they really don't have to worry about it. So the team's going to have to work harder without these guys to get these wins. But I definitely think the Ottawa Senators have what it takes to go out there and win some games here without these two key players. So who do you guys think needs to step up the most without Ekblad? Do you think it's Cousins? Do you think it's Burakovsky? Do you think it's Batherson? Let me know down below in the comments, guys. Who do you think needs to step up the most? How are you feeling? Are you concerned now without two big players missing from your lineup? Do you think you guys can still get it done? Do you think, you know, we can keep this winning ways up? Because I definitely think you can. I think I really like your team this year. And you got a lot of great guys throughout this top nine that just look amazing. So hopefully you guys can keep it going this year. Keep the wins up because we want to see the Ottawa Senators where it matters in the playoffs for sure. So let me know what you guys are feeling down below in the comment section right down there. Leave a like, subscribe to the channel as always. I've been your host, KC. Keep it sick out, guys.