SENSNEWS

One of the bright spots of the 2023-2024 season for the Ottawa Senators was the improvement in play from Drake Batherson.

Drake Batherson’s 2023/2024 Season

Batherson has been an important part of the core ever since the team turned the corner into competing, and he arguably had the best season of his career this past year.

Fans will remember that Batherson, last season in 2022-2023, was coming off a high ankle sprain that sidelined him for several months.

After taking a cheap shot from Aaron Dell, Batherson had to regain all the strength in his ankle to try and get back to the elite level he was playing at when he was ultimately named an All-Star but couldn’t go due to his injury.

Batherson was playing at a point-per-game pace that season, but when he finally came back at the end of the year, and also to start 2022-2023, it looked like he had lost a step and wasn’t totally comfortable on his feet.

It was totally understandable, considering the circumstances of what went into his injury, but this past year it looked like he finally got back to a more comfortable level and improved as the season went on.

Batherson himself noted that he was dealing with discomfort throughout the majority of both seasons and that things finally started to go away towards the last month or two of 2023-2024.

I think everybody could agree that the final stretch of this past season was the best hockey Batherson had played in a long time.

It’s no coincidence again after hearing about his injury and it should make fans very excited to see what he can do this upcoming season, where he will hopefully feel 100% from game one to game 82.

Drake Batherson Stats

The 26-year-old set a career high in goals this season with 28. He also set a career high in points with 66 on the year.

A bright spot, especially considering his injury, was that this is the second straight season in which Drake Batherson played all 82 games.

He also improved big-time in the plus-minus category, where he was just a -9 after being among the league leaders for all the wrong reasons last year with -35.

Continue To Build His 2-Way Game

It’s been a little while, but Batherson was actually a very strong two-way player in the American League with Belleville, and it would be excellent to see him continue to build on his defensive game at the NHL level.

I would imagine he will continue to try and get closer to the two-way level he was at with the Belleville Senators.

Spark The Power Play

Batherson is also an excellent power play player, and considering how bad the Senators’ power play was this past season, he should be poised to have more points on the man advantage in 2024-2025.

We definitely want the five-on-five play from this past season to stick around, but if he can get back to that level on the power play, it will be huge for the Senators.

One thing is for sure: the power play can’t get any worse than it was last season.

It will be interesting to see who Drake Batherson plays with this season, but regardless of who it is, he will have some excellent linemates with him. If the team as a whole improves, Batherson should follow in their footsteps.

If he is placed back on the wing of Tim Stützle and Stützle is able to get back to the superstar level he was at in 2022-2023, that will definitely help Batherson become an even more productive offensive player.

It’s tough to project points for a player before we see how things unfold, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we see Drake Batherson get back to that point-per-game level or just a tad under.

Again, it’s so hard to judge before we see how the team plays as a whole, as that is the biggest factor in individual production, but I have so much faith in Batherson towards another career season for him.

Again, it is all dependent on health as well and how much he is able to play.

If he is available for all 82 games once again, that would be absolutely huge for the Ottawa Senators, especially considering how many injuries they’ve had to top-six players over the past couple of seasons.

Pick The Veteran’s Brains

Picking the brains of Giroux and David Perron should help Batherson continue to grow his game as well.

The more of the finer details he is able to pick off these players, the better he will be in the long run and the more impactful he will be for the Ottawa Senators.

Big things are ahead for Drake Batherson, and I couldn’t be more excited to see what he is able to do.

Hopefully, he is able to build on another strong season and is able to help push the Ottawa Senators back into playoff contention alongside his teammates.