While Jared Cowen and Mark Borowiecki continue to put on poor performances each and every night as the third pairing, the answer to the Senators' defensive struggles very well may be sitting in the press box.
Once under appreciated, under estimated and just plainly neglected, Patrick Wiercioch finally broke through into a full-time player in the Senators' lineup halfway through the 2014-15 season.
But to get there, he had to prove time and time again that he was overwhelmingly a much better defenseman than over half of Ottawa's blue line.
Chris Phillips was soon to be the Senators' longest serving player; one who bled leadership, praised for it on and off the ice.