Are the Ottawa Senators being disrespected by The Athletic?

The Ottawa Senators are going to look far different than the squad of last season who missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 5th straight season. In fact, they're going to have a real opportunity to be back in the postseason for the first time since their heartbreaking Game 7 double overtime loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017. 

Their offseason additions of veteran forward Claude Giroux as well as young scoring forward Alex DeBrincat while also adding Cam Talbot in net instantly gives them additional credibility in the Atlantic Division that happens to feature a Boston Bruins team that is headed for a downswing. Of course, they'll also have their fellow rebuilding NHL brethren in the Detroit Red Wings to compete with; Steve Yzerman and co. made some pretty big additions themselves this offseason, and came in 1st on the list compiled by The Athletic. 

However, the Senators barely cracked the top five of their list: 

"No team had a louder offseason than the Ottawa Senators who made a big statement about their direction: up is the only way. It’s an extremely exciting time to be a Senators fan as the young core already in place is ready to explode, and the team has some new weapons to support it.

Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux are two massive pieces that put Ottawa directly on a path toward potential playoff contention. The Senators aren’t quite a playoff team yet, they still have a lot to prove and holes on defense, but they’re significantly closer now with these two on the team. DeBrincat is a pure sniper who can fill the net at an elite rate, while Giroux is an effective playmaker who can still play at a top-line level. Those two, plus Cam Talbot, give Ottawa 5.8 wins coming in.

The actual net value is a little lower though because the team lost some decent contributors in the process. The model views Talbot as a downgrade from Matt Murray — though it’s probably a moot point as Anton Forsberg looks like the best of the three anyway. Connor Brown eats a ton of minutes, while Michael Del Zotto was decent in a sheltered role. No big needle-movers, but the three add up. Ottawa was right there with Detroit and Washington in terms of value-added, but what the team lost is a bit more than the other two which is why the Senators come in at number five." 

Are the Senators being overlooked here?