Yeah, they're probably going to lose every game against Toronto and Tampa (6 games each)
Might steal 1 or 2 from Boston.
So that brings it up to automatically losing 16 games.
That being said, Buffalo, Montreal, Detroit and Florida are all in the division as well. They'll be able to compete with them.

Also, not arguing that Duchene is one of the top Centers in the league (because he's not). But he is a serviceable #1C.

ill agree with serviceable ...if they get a solid return on ek65.....theyll be okay

It doesn’t mean anything that Karlsson has been training with the team haha. Duchene trained with the Avs when he wanted out because the coaches were there and that was who owned his contract at the time. Karlsson obviously isn’t going to go train with Vegas and give OTT the middle finger.

Also, I don’t need to follow OTT to know what a bad apple can do to a locker room. It happens in all sports and wouldn’t you think the GM NOT giving him Doughty money make the situation even worse? The Tatar deal was agreed to be horrible from the Knights end of it by most NHL analysts. Moves like that can set teams back for what, a decent hockey player (*cough* Duchene)? I would think after Sakic bent over your GM, others will be more careful. Duchene does have exciting skills but, assuming you don’t follow the Avs, he never does anything more than flash at times. Very inconsistent player that never takes the lead and disappears often throughout the season leaving you wanting more. Good luck with him ?

Oh and the OTT first rounder is a HUGE deal, don’t downplay that just because you’re annoyed with the Sens situation because nobody will buy it. The Avs will take their chances molding a top 5 pick into a special hockey player while the Sens keep banking on Duchene turning into a star. We hoped for that in Colorado for 8 seasons ?‍♂️

1) The point is that the Duchene situation isn't like the Karlsson situation. It's been reported by multiple credible sources (McGuire, Friedman, etc) that Karlsson is open to the idea of staying in Ottawa (which is kind of a big deal for any small/med size NHL markets). The issue here is that: A) OTT knows their window to win is only going to be after the TOR & TBL era ends and B) Management doesn't want to commit big dollars throughout the rebuild. So they gave him a BS offer knowing he would reject it, but which allows the fans (who don't want him to leave) believe that they tried to keep him.

2) I never take anything away from COL. All I'm saying is that people on here think that the Sens absolutely needs to trade for their pick back, at whatever the cost. Even do a Karlsson for the pick (1v1). Now what I am saying is the trade is done. It made a lot sense at the time, but S**T happened and it is what it is. Move on! Duchene is a major upgrade from Turris, and the OTT have a really good core of prospect coming up the pipelines. The future looks good regardless of having that 1st or not. And chances are, they're going to end up with a 1st via trade (in a deep draft) regardless. No sense for OTT to mortgage their future to get their pick back, and no sense for COL to give up the free chance at Hughes for futures (even if it's statistically low)