The Ottawa Senators will likely improve on their disappointing season last year. However, their opening night roster signals that they still have a long way to go until they are contenders.
The Senators announced their 23 guys on Monday, and their vision was clear.
This will be a development year for Ottawa’s young core, whether that is in the National Hockey League or juniors.
Perhaps the biggest name is the one that’s missing. After leading the Senators in scoring in the pre-season tallying seven points, Carter Yakemchuk has been sent to the Calgary Hitmen to start the season.
Ottawa took Yakemchuk seventh overall in this year’s NHL Draft, and the young defender couldn’t have put up a better showing before the season.
“Carter had a tremendous training camp, but we made this decision in the best interests of his long-term development,” General Manager, Steve Staios told Sportsnet.
The mention of long-term development leads to the idea that the Sens are in no rush to be contenders in the coming season; or maybe for a few seasons. They seem to be saving their prospects for the future.
Similar to Yakemchuk, other young prospects like Zack Ostapchuk, Jan Jenik, and Jorian Donovan have been optioned to the AHL to start their season with the Belleville Senators.
While putting some of their top-end prospects on hold, the Ottawa Senators added a lot of experience this off-season. Over the summer, Staios said that watching the team last season, “I felt like maybe we needed more of that (experience) at times.”
Most notably, Ottawa added playoff veterans David Perron, Nick Cousins, and Michael Amadio, to their opening night roster.
These guys will make the team better this season, but will also prepare them to be an experienced team come their time to make a big push. It’s likely that a lot of the older additions won’t be with the team long enough to see them win a cup or even make a deep run, but they can help lay the foundation.
Staios has made it clear that he wants his young players to develop, even while they are already in the league.
Last season, Ottawa had the sixth-youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 26.9 years old. The manager has brought in guys like Perron, Cousins, and Amadio to bring experience to this still-young team and develop them into a winning team in the years to come; or at least give them the tools to be.
This opening night roster features 10 skaters 26 years old or younger, including captain Brady Tkachuk. Having some experience not only on the ice but in the locker room will be great for this team in many ways.
In the off-season, Ottawa also added head coach Travis Green. Looking ahead to Thursday’s season opener, there are certainly projected line-ups but don’t get too attached as Green has said that he’s not scared to mix-and-match pairings to get things going.
But it never hurts to speculate.
The Senator’s top line shows no signs of changing, but everything else is likely to be tested throughout the season.
Ridly Greig is a name that could be slotted into a lot of different places. The Senators have liked him on the wing in the past, however, he is a true center and thrives in the defensive end. His gritty style could fit well on the third line for Ottawa.
The Senators only have three true left wings, so that may be a job that is passed around lefty centers like Greig or Norris, or could even be taken over by Jenik or Opstachuk later in the year.
The defensive core is set for now, but could likely see a young Yakemchuk deeper into the season. However, as it stands Sanderson and Zub are the likely contenders for the top pairing.
Hamonic and Bernard-Docker along with all the defensemen were moved around in pre-season games, however, it appears that Hamonic will take the final pairing spot with Tyler Kleven.
