Welcome to our offseason initiative — 30 teams in 30 days.
From July 16 until Aug. 14, we’ll be dedicating each day to a new team by recapping the offseason and looking ahead to 2012-13.
There will also be a series of posts looking at key stories, player profiles and burning questions regarding each squad.
Today, we continue with the Ottawa Senators.
After just about everyone predicted them to finish in the Eastern Conference’s cellar, the Ottawa Senators instead managed a spirited playoff run. They even gave the New York Rangers a scare.
One could attribute that surprise turnaround to a number of factors, although the top three probably include some combination of Paul MacLean’s fine coaching, Erik Karlsson’s Norris season and Jason Spezza’s redemption.
Aside from re-signing Karlsson, the Sens’ biggest offseason question remains unanswered as Daniel Alfredssson is still undecided about retirement.
After being rebuffed by Rick Nash, it’s clear that the Sens’ biggest strides will be made from within.
Perhaps MacLean can also ween a bit more out of Kyle Turris and help Guillaume Latendresse rebound this season like Milan Michalek did in 2011-12?
We’ll examine Ottawa’s biggest questions at PHT today, so stick around.