Bob Hartley thinks the Ottawa Senators could be in for a surprise
Bob Hartley was on 91.9 Sports to talk about several hockey issues, including the Montreal Canadiens, with the excellent Martin Lemay. The two men discussed several hot topics, including the current issue of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
As Hartley pointed out, the best of the Penguins is out, since they have been on the podium three times in the last 15 years. With that in mind, should Ron Hextall trade Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and/or Kris Letang? If they want to stay with the team until they retire, that's how the scenario will unfold.
And, we're talking here, the Penguins are still a good team, despite their rebuild. As Bob Hartley perfectly put it, the problem is not Crosby, Malkin or Letang getting older, but rather Tristan Jarry, the team's number one goalie. Hartley said that with him as the number one goalie, the Penguins will have to burn two rows of lanterns, hahaha!
He also talked about the youth of the Ottawa Senators, a team that has grown a lot thanks to Pierre Dorion's bold moves (Erik Karlsson and Matt Duchene, among others).
What I took away from Bob Hartley's speech about the Sens is that they need to bring back Tim Stutzle at center. Hartley doesn't agree with that, playing a natural center on the wing. For him, it's a sign of mistrust: "Me, the Monahans, the Bennetts, I played them at center when I left. You hide them on the wing. You have to watch some tape with them."
So Hartley wouldn't be surprised if the Ottawa Senators and DJ Smith surprise us by bringing back their young dynamic player at center. To be continued, as the saying goes!
