Brassard strengthens Senators up the middle
Veteran two-way centre expected to bring left shot, leadership to Senators
Two potential first-line centres, two head coaches who have run their own National Hockey League bench and one collective resolve.
The Ottawa Senators believe they have a potent one-two punch down the middle in Kyle Turris and Derick Brassard. They believe the structure and experience provided by new head coach Guy Boucher and new assistant Marc Crawford can point the club in the right direction. And they believe they can win now. That’s a lot of belief. If anyone should feel pressure, it’s Brassard. Acquired in a July trade that sent centre/winger Mika Zibanejad to the New York Rangers, he’s expected to provide scoring, veteran leadership and a much needed left shot. The Senators have scored 17 goals to spark a 3-2-0 start heading into today’s meeting with the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena, but Brassard has just one goal. He doesn’t seem concerned.
After all, he actually enjoyed his brief exposure to John Tortorella in New York. He embraced the challenge to play for Alain Vigneault in the Madison Square Garden fishbowl.
And the bilingual native of nearby Gatineau, Que., welcomes the pressure of returning home to get the Senators to the next level while playing for his former QMJHL coach.
“There’s always expectation and playing at home there are going to be more distractions,” Brassard said Monday following practice.
“But I’m really happy to be here and I feel we can be really strong down the middle and I’m just trying to get a feel for my linemates.”
Brassard, 29, took his game to another level last season with a career-high 27 goals and his palatable contract — this season and two more at an annual US$ 5million salary cap hit — made it easier to move Zibanejad, 23, who is a $2.625-million cap hit, but becomes a restricted free agent next summer.
“I learned a lot last year and I gained a lot of confidence from Tor ts and Alain,” stressed Brassard, the sixth-overall pick in the 2006 draft. “I got along with Torts really well and I liked how intense he was and that’ s pretty much the way our coach is here now. If we can come through the neutral zone with speed and attack the defencemen wide and then get to the inside, we’ll have three guys on the inside trying to get rebounds and set some screens.”
Like any coach, Boucher is trying to implement a better defensive posture for a club that gave up the fifth-most goals last season and has already surrendered 20, including a 4-1 home-ice loss to Tampa on Saturday. They need to score more, too. So does Brassard.
“With Brassard, it’s about chemistry and we’re trying to spread guys around to get consistency,” said Boucher, who juggled his lines Monday and had Brassard between Ryan Dz inge land Bobby Ryan while Turris was with Mike Hoffman and Tom Pyatt.
The first thing Turris cited was the fact Brassard brings a veteran presence and a sense of calm.
“He’s a great addition,” said Turris. “It definitely helps the depth of
our team immediately because he’s a very good two-way centre, and it never hurts to have more experience. We’ve still got a young group.”
Turris has three goals in five games and another strong start mirrors the eight goals he had in his first 14 games last season. Then came a high-ankle sprain Dec. 5. The New Westminster native tried to play through the pain, but was shut down for the season after a Feb. 27 game in Calgary. The Senators were 14-7-5 before his injury and just 24-28-4 after the ailment and Turris would finish with 13 goals in 57 games.
“I didn’t feel 100 per cent healthy until June,” recalled Turris. “We didn’t know at first the extent of it (injury) and how bad it was. It was very frustrating because we were six points out of the playoffs. I just tried to help out with faceoffs or the power play, but it just kept getting worse. It got to the point where I really couldn’t skate anymore.
“I had a cast on my ankle and no mobility and no explosiveness. It was like playing with one dead leg.”
Meanwhile, a relaxed-looking Crawford said his assistant position with the Senators has been a blessing. The former Canucks head coach looks after the defence and the penalty kill and offers input to Boucher.
“It’s like a spaghetti strainer,” said Crawford. “You take what you need and discard the rest. This dynamic is really good for me. It’s freeing. I didn’t realize how good it was going to be when you can take a step back and not have the pressure of being the head coach. The buck doesn’t stop with me. I’m there to guide, counsel and hopefully help. There’s so much less stress and your thoughts just become clearer.”
And to Crawford, it’s clear that Brassard can bring something special to the Senators.
“He’s a good decision-maker and he’s got a great flair for the game,” said Crawford. “He competes well and is at the point where he gives input and is really comfortable. He has taken a nice leadership role.”