Ottawa Senators coach Guy Boucher has been fond of saying in the early going that his team is much further ahead than it was at this time last season.
Certainly, you'd expect it to feel like that to him. At the start of last season, Boucher was a first-year Ottawa coach trying to establish himself and his philosophies with his players and implement the strategies that would become lovingly known as The System here.
But are the Senators actually better this season than they were after the first dozen games a year ago? And if so, how?