The Ottawa Senators will take one last trip to the golf course before turning in their three-woods for Sherwoods with the opening of training camp Wednesday at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The club will hold its charity golf tournament for the first time since 2019 Tuesday at the Loch March layout and then get down to business with medicals Wednesday. The club will firm up its training camp roster Tuesday but there will likely be three groups with approximately 50 players.
It’s been 144 days since the Senators closed out last season with a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on the road. Since then the roster has undergone a significant upgrade as the organization tries to take another step towards respectability.
General manager Pierre Dorion, coach D.J. Smith and the rest of the hockey operations staff aren’t making any promises the Senators will be a playoff team in the spring, but they’re confident this group will be playing meaningful games in March and April.
“Everybody is super-excited. It’s going to be good,” captain Brady Tkachuk told this newspaper Friday. “This is the most excited I’ve been coming into a season. You see the excitement coming into the rink every day.
“Everybody is fired up and they just can’t wait for Day 1 of camp.”
Well, they won’t have to wait much longer with the first on-ice session Thursday.
This roster has undergone an extreme makeover:
- Winger Alex DeBrincat was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for three picks _ including the club’s No. 7 overall selection in the 2022 NHL draft in July. A two-time 40-goal scorer, he can make a significant impact.
- Veteran forward Claude Giroux signed a three-year deal worth $6.5 million per-season. He was named an alternate captain Monday. He’ll be there to support Tkachuk and Chabot on a nightly basis.
- Centre Colin White was bought out of the final three years of his contract. He struggled with injuries and inconsistency.
- Goaltender Cam Talbot, who had 32 wins last season with the Minnesota Wild, was acquired for prospect Filip Gustavsson. Goaltender Matt Murray was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs after being unable to get his game together with the Senators.
- Top centre’s Josh Norris ($63.6 million) and Tim Stutzle ($66,8 M) both signed eight-year extensions that will keep that as part of the core this team is building around.
- Acquired in the Nick Paul trade, forward Mathieu Joseph signed a four-year deal while RFA defenceman Erik Brannstrom signed a one-year contract.
- Free agent winger Tyler Motte from the New York Rangers also signed a one-year deal on the eve of camp and will help the club kill penalties.
With those thoughts in mind, here’s some storylines to watch as the Senators open camp:
LOOKING FORWARD
The Senators will have options up front.
The expectation is the line of Norris between Tkachuk and Drake Batherson will remain intact to start camp. The second line will feature Stutzle between DeBrincat and Giroux. Those two lines should make the club a force to be reckoned with offensively.
The key for DeBrincat is to find chemistry with Stutzle. The 24-year-old DeBrincat scored 41 goals and registered 78 points in 82 games with the Hawks last season. Giroux will play a key role in helping the club in the faceoff circle, especially on draws in the defensive zone.
What this gives Smith and his coaching staff options. They haven’t always had that in the past and the opposition can’t just focus on trying to shut down the Norris line. Depth up front if paramount to success and the Senators have some.
Restricted free agent winger Alex Formenton remains unsigned. We’ll get an update on his status in the next couple of days, but we’re not sure how close this is to resolution. If he’s not here in time for camp, that will change the way Smith deploys his forward group.
GOALTENDING BATTLE
One of Dorion’s key moves was acquiring the 35-year-old Talbot from the Wild.
While everybody lauded the decision to get Murray from the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2020, it just simply didn’t work out. He couldn’t stay healthy and couldn’t be counted on every time the Senators were hopeful Murray would be able carry the ball.
Anton Forsberg established himself as the club’s No. 1 goalie last season and earned a three-year extension. He finished with a 22-17-4 record in 46 appearances with a 2.82 goals-against average and a .917 save-percentage.
Forsberg, 29, will face stiff competition for playing time.
Talbot is only four games from 400 in his career. He has a 201-142-34 record in 396 games with a 2.76 GAA and .911 save-percentage. He’s in Ottawa to help solidify the club’s goaltending and arrives with a pedigree the Senators hope will have them have success.
This is one area that should be good watch.
FINDING THE RIGHT FIT ON DEFENCE
Smith has stated he will start Chabot with Artem Zub while he’ll put Travis Hamonic with top prospect Jake Sanderson in the second pairing.
There’s no reason to believe after seeing the 20-year-old Sanderson in a game in the rookie tournament in Buffalo that he won’t start the season with the Senators. He has poise with the puck, he plays a mature game and he’s got an elite skill set.
Signed from the University of North Dakota in March, he had two hand surgeries and spent most of the summer in Ottawa working with the club’s training staff. He’s ready to make the next step and Smith wants to put a veteran beside Sanderson to make him comfortable.
From there, the competition for jobs will be interesting to watch.
Veterans Nikita Zaitsev and Nick Holden are in the mix for the third pairing with Brannstrom. This could change if Dorion makes a deal for someone to play on the right side and Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun remains on the radar screen.
If the Coyotes shift their demands then you can expect talks to heat up because the Senators have assets to make a deal, but that doesn’t mean Dorion has to pay Arizona’s high asking price.
The Carolina Hurricanes are also looking to move RFA defenceman Ethan Bear. He’s a right shot and may be an option.
Two prospects we’ll also be watching are Lassi Thomson and Jacob Bernard-Docker.
MEET ME IN THE MIDDLE
The decision to bring in 34-year-old veteran centre Derick Brassard will make a for a strong competition in the middle of the ice.
The club already has Shane Pinto, Dylan Gambrell, Norris and Stutzle under contract. The depth lines will feature the likes of veteran Austin Watson, Joseph, Motte and Formenton once he’s signed. Belleville’s Mark Kastelic will have a chance to push to be up here.
Pinto is coming off shoulder surgery that forced him to miss most of last season, but the small sample size we’ve seen has been promising. There’s no reason to believe Pinto won’t be able to push the likes of Norris and Stutzle for more playing time.
We’ll see how Pinto handles the rigours of camp and with eight exhibition games he’l be among those who will get plenty of opportunities to play.
Brassard, who makes his home in Gatineau, is only 49 games short of 1,000 in his career and is hungry to earn a contract. He can be a positive influence in the dressing room and was here when the club went to the Eastern Conference final under Guy Boucher in 2017.
The Senators have put the pieces in place and now they will try to put the puzzle together to find the right fits.
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