McKenzie: Is Steve Staios right to feel comfortable with the Senators' depth?

OTTAWA Ottawa Senators general manager Steve Staios will stay the course with his team as long as he can.

It is on his players to continue to prove him right.

The Senators GM met the media Sunday afternoon at his teams midway point of the season, comfortable with his teams depth despite being hit by a rash of injuries and sitting outside of a playoff spot.

Staios message differs slightly from his quarter-season address, where he felt he didnt need to make any sudden moves to help his team out of an 8-9-1 start .

Much of the doom and gloom had to do with a November gone awry with a five-game losing streak.

But unlike in previous years, the Senators still have everything to play for in January.

Advertisement Staios reminded the media that he challenged his group at the end of last season for internal growth in the year to come.

Hes seeing it in some form.

His best players are pushing towards career-best seasons while committing to a style that prioritizes defence.

The Senators are 15 points better than where they were one calendar year ago.

I think weve seen a level of that for sure, Staios said.

Im really pleased with the commitment of two-way hockey from our group, especially on the defensive side of things.

So thats a step in the right direction.

Yet there is some reason to wonder whether the Senators can keep pace for a postseason spot with their team as is.

Staios has no timeline on when No.

1 goalie Linus Ullmark will return from a back injury hes been skating on his own nor for players like David Perron or Michael Amadio who have been skating in no-contact jerseys in recent days.

Noah Gregor , Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker are out for the next little while, too.

The Senators have leaned on AHL support in goalie Leevi Merilainen and defenceman Nikolas Matinpalo , as well as forwards Zack MacEwen , Zack Ostapchuk and Cole Reinhardt .

And with other teams keeping up in the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Senators should still consider some kind of move ahead of whatever competition develops before the March trade deadline.

GO DEEPER Senators depth chart: Where should they upgrade before the trade deadline? Though things can always change its the GMs job to listen to anything that could make his team better Staios doesnt appear to be in a rush to add to his group right now.

When pressed about adding to his goaltending group while Ullmark is out, he pointed to the options at his disposal.

Im comfortable with our depth, Staios said.

Having Anton Forsberg and Leevi and (Mads) Sogaard as well, to be able to all come up and play, I think were comfortable with that.

Advertisement Despite its ranking fourth last in goals since mid-November, Staios also feels his teams internal options are enough to produce offensively.

I know it was just last night, Staios said of Ottawas 5-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

You can see when were playing with confidence, were playing with the puck, we can really create offence.

Were hoping that thats the evolution of this group at the back half (of the season), where they can continue to play responsible two-way hockey and find the offence and be able to make some plays.

Staios belief in his depth could be fully genuine, but it is out of necessity, too.

The Senators continue to have little to no space under their salary-cap limit, managing whatever tradeable assets they have continues to be a process and the logjam of teams fighting for playoffs and subsequently holding on to their assets doesnt help.

Staios acknowledged as much when asked whether he was interested in seeking defensive help.

And once again, he touted his reinforcements as a positive.

I can go and explore bringing in a defenceman and then we wouldnt have been able to see what Nikolas Matinpalo could do, Staios said.

And we can all see theres potential there.

So weve got players internally who are developing through our system who are getting a look.

Thats where were at, at this time.

This weekends performances, including their blowout win over Pittsburgh, give Staios reason to trust what he has already.

Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson snapped lengthy goal droughts against the Penguins.

Merilainen earned his first career shutout by making 29 saves.

When Senators head coach Travis Green and goalie coach Justin Peters discussed who should start against the Dallas Stars on Sunday during their plane ride home, they opted for Merilainen again.

Advertisement (Peters)s got a real great feel for his goalies, Green said.

I lean on him a lot.

Just decided wed go back to him.

As a young goalie coming in, too, hes looked progressively more comfortable.

Not being a goalie, I could imagine that the more you play when you first come into the league, the more comfortable you feel with the speed, the pace of the game.

Even though he has a calming demeanour, I think hes just caught up with the pace of the game a little bit.

You feel it in the body, but Im used to this, Merilainen said.

I did this a lot in Europe.

Not too different for me.

Merilainen allowed two goals but made 24 saves in a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars in his first-ever regular-season home game Sunday.

The 22-year-old got rousing applause when he was shown on the giant video screen as he was announced as the Sens starting goalie.

Merilainen now has eight games of NHL experience under his belt.

One-quarter of that came this weekend.

His teammates have his back.

Gives us confidence when hes back there, Stutzle said.

Obviously, made some huge saves against Pittsburgh, too.

Made some huge saves where he didnt see the puck.

Hes been playing great for us.

Its awesome, and Im happy for him.

Those two wins helped the Senators keep pace with their fellow playoff aspirants despite having their depth tested.

Staios approach to his team has it afloat for now.

It is on the Senators to hold up as long as they can before their injured players return.

(Top photo: Richard A.

Whittaker / Icon Sportswire).

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