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Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators: Odds and Prediction

  • Mike Schultz's Author profile. Mike Schultz

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Just as we’ve caught our breath from the World Cup of Hockey, which was dominated thoroughly by the Mike Babcock-led Team Canada, the puck finally drops this Wednesday night for the 2016-17 NHL season. The first game of the season is between Ontario rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators. The Maple Leafs are also coached by Mike Babcock, but aren’t quite the lock that the national team was. Current odds have the Sens as -160 favorites.

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Toronto Maple Leafs

Last season, the Maple Leafs finished with the NHL’s worst record, and were fortunate enough with those increased odds to win the draft lottery and choose the top prospect: Auston Matthews. All eyes will be on the rookie to see if he can have a Calder Trophy level season, and the odds are favoring him to do just that. Another huge move for the team? GM Lou Lamoriello somehow convinced Ottawa to take Dion Phaneuf’s contract. Things are also looking up with William Nylander, the first round pick from 2014 who was called up late last season and showed some promise by getting 13 points. There has to be excitement in Toronto about Morgan Rielly, who looked incredible in the World Cup tournament.

The Leafs finished up their preseason schedule with three straight losses for a 2-4-2 record. It’s important to remember that this a team in rebuild. They finished in 30th place last year, and Babcock is clearly hard at work changing the culture around this team. There are a lot of youngsters being developed here, and a strong defensive core is in the works.

There will be a lot of pressure this year on goalie Frederik Andersen, who Toronto got in a trade for two high draft picks after the team let Reimer and Bernier go. Current Stanley Cup odds have the Leafs as super long shots at +5000, and even for their first game of the season against Ottawa, they are the underdogs when they play the Sens in Ottawa at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Ottawa Senators

Last season, the Ottawa Senators took 5th place in the Atlantic and missed the playoffs, even though they had a strong offense with 236 goals, they allowed 247 goals. Erik Karlsson had a great season, finishing 5th in NHL scoring and earning the bragging rights as the first defenceman in 20 years to reach 82 points. Special teams were bad news though, ranking in the bottom five in power-play and penalty-killing.

So, like any smart team looking to shake things up in the off-season, new general manager Pierre Dorion fired coach Dave Cameron and hired Guy Boucher to get the Sens defense going again. They traded Mika Zibanejad to the New York Rangers for veteran Derick Brassard to get some more experience on the ice and in the dressing room. Curtis Lazar, who was the Sen’s first-round draft pick in 2013, was just sent down to their AHL affiliate in Binghamton yesterday.

It’ll be Craig Anderson in net for the home opener against rivals the Maple Leafs, and currently the Sens are the -165 favorite to win the first game of the season.

Maple Leafs vs. Senators Prediction

Ottawa Senators 3-1