Who is the Player to Watch against the Ottawa Senators?

Tim Stützle is widely considered to be the Senators' player to watch for Toronto's franchise. Let's break down how he could impact the Rangers on ice and what to look out for in tonight's game.

New York Rangers v Ottawa Senators
New York Rangers v Ottawa Senators | Chris Tanouye/Freestyle Photo/GettyImages

The New York Rangers begin a three-game homestand on the evening of Nov. 1 against the Ottawa Senators.

Ottawa currently holds a 5-4-0 record compared to the Rangers' 6-2-1 slate. New York most recently lost 5-3 against Washington while the Senators are coming off an 8-1 win over the Blues.

Most recent matchups and records aside, Tim Stützle is easily the Ottawa Senators' player to watch for Toronto's franchise. Let's break down his play style and see how he could impact the Blueshirts on ice.

Tim Stützle

The German native has played in all nine games so far this game, in which he has logged 14 points across five goals and nine assists. He also boasts a plus-three rating.

Stützle was captain for Germany at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, Stützle led his country to the playoff round for the first time. He scored 10 points— five goals, five — in five games and was named the tournament's best forward.

He was selected in the 2020 NHL Draft as the No. 3 pick overall, going to Ottawa in the first round.

In their most most recent win against the Blues, Stützle had two goals and two assists for the Ottawa Senators in their 8-1 win on Tuesday. To be more specific, the goals were two even-strength goals in addition to two power-play assists.

The 22-year-old said that this year, he's really focusing on the small details for on-ice success.

“I wasn't happy with the season and how it ended up last year,” Stützle said after the most recent win. “I didn't feel great over 82 games, so I wanted to be better for 82 games and be consistent. I think it's really important to do consistent things every day, even if you feel good or not. You've just got to do it every day and come to work well prepared. And I think that's really important for me this year, focus on little things.”

Only time will tell if he continues this into his play at Madison Square Garden.

Projected Rangers Lineup

Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere

Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Reilly Smith

Will Cuylle - Filip Chytil - Kaapo Kakko

Adam Edstrom - Sam Carrick - Matt Rempe

K'Andre Miller - Adam Fox

Ryan Lindgren - Jacob Trouba

Braden Schneider - Victor Mancini

Igor Shesterkin

Jonathan Quick

Projected Senators Lineup

Brady Tkachuk - Tim Stutzle - Ridley Grieg

Claude Giroux - Josh Norris - Drake Batherson

Noah Gregor - Zack Ostapchuk - Michael Amadio

Nick Cousins - Adam Gaudette - Zack MacEwen

Jake Sanderson - Travis Hamonic

Thomas Chabot - Nick Jensen

Tyler Kleven

Jacob Bernard-Docker

Linus Ullmark

Anton Forsberg

How to Tune In

Puck drop for the Rangers hosting Ottawa is slated for 7:00 p.m. EST, tonight — Friday, Nov. 1. The game will be streamed via ESPN+ and be sure to tune into our Twitter for live updates.

Schedule