Here they are ladies and gentleman, your first line combinations of this year’s Training Camp.
The Ottawa Senators are on the ice for the first time this year and that means we get an initial look at who’s playing with who. While we obviously shouldn’t read much, er anything, into these combinations, it does give us a sense of where Guy Boucher’s head is at with the start of preseason now just a few days away.
Here’s how the forwards are currently lined up.
Stone-Pageau-Ryan
Smith-Turris-Hoffman
Burrows-White-Dzingel
McCormick-Thompson-Pyatt
Rodewald-Brown-Perron
A few ridiculously premature assumptions we can make based on these forward lines.
-Stone-Pageau-Ryan was a pretty effective line at times during the playoffs so it’s no surprise Boucher would start them together in Camp. Three right-hand shots on one line isn’t exactly a conventional look but Ryan in particular has experience playing his off-side.
-Looks like Colin White is going to get a chance to fill Derick Brassard’s spot in the line up. Brassard and Burrows were pretty effective during the post-season, especially with Viktor Stalberg on the wing. Putting Dzingel there suggest Boucher may be going after a similar look but with Brassard out, White fills in.
-McCormick on the fourth line ehh? McCormick is one of the guys on the bubble heading into Camp and the fact that he starts with two of Boucher’s favourites suggests they may want to give him a decent shot in the preseason.
Let’s take a look at the defence pairings.
Oduya-Ceci
Phaneuf-Wideman
Claesson-Borowiecki
Harpur-Chabot
Jaros-Sieloff
Englund-Burgdoerfer
-Please help me, I seem to have misplaced our first defence pairing. Karlsson is back soon, right?
-At least Phaneuf-Ceci isn’t a thing though. On paper, Wideman feels like a better fit with Dion. Could be a chance for Wideman to play a bigger role too.
-If Oduya-Ceci is used like a third pairing, that could work. If that is our first defence pairing, well uhh buckle up.
-Harpur and Chabot are going to be battling out for a spot on the team so it’s interesting to see them paired together to start.
