Wounded Sens Army

The above image is one that many Ottawa Senators fans would rather not see, and given the severity of the injury, this is going to be the future of the Senators for the rest of this season.  In the second period of last night's 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh, Erik Karlsson suffered a cut on his left Achilles that needed surgery today.  The timetable for his return is 3-4 months, which means his season is over.

With the Senators already missing Jared Cowen on the blue line and Jason Spezza not expected to return until mid-April (or thereabouts), Karlsson was the last player the Sens needed to miss time, as he accounts for much of the team's offense and is far and away the best offensive defenseman in the NHL.  If you're looking for any in-house options for offense, the best option is Sergei Gonchar, who is approaching 40.  That's not going to inspire confidence, and given that the team needs to think about stocking its blue line depth in the system, there's not going to be any real option other than trade, and you're not going to find anyone like Karlsson anywhere, not even in the NHL.  In their own end, the Sens should be alright, given that Chris Phillips and Marc Methot are dependable in their own end, but without Karlsson to start the offense, that means Craig Anderson is going to have to impersonate his 2009-10 season when he was considered for the Vezina Trophy that year on the way to leading Colorado to their last playoff appearance.