There was a time, mere weeks ago, that the idea of demoting Drake Batherson, or sitting him down as a healthy scratch was entertained by the Ottawa Senators. After the past five games, such notions seem like a distant memory.
Batherson has four goals in his last five games, and has emphatically staked his claim to a top-six forward spot in the NHL. But even before his recent production, there wasn’t much to be worried about with regards to the soon-to-be 23 year-old’s game.
If one were looking at things purely through a surface-level lens, they could have argued that it did make a bit of sense to send Batherson down.