There were times last year when both Bryan Murray and Paul MacLean talked openly about the fact that carrying eight defenceman was not the ideal situation. It makes it hard for the Coach to get guys into the lineup on a regular basis and means some guys end up watching far too much hockey during the season.
Patrick Wiercioch being a great example from last season.
Yet here we sit with the start of training camp only weeks away and the Senators again find themselves in a position where they have eight NHL-ready defenceman on the roster. There have been rumours about Ottawa’s willingness to move a defenceman in a trade but to this point anyway, that trade has not materialized.
Depth is never a bad thing. Especially on defence. Injuries can and will happen and the Senators will be happy they had extra defenceman on hand. With that said, carrying 8 defenceman is certainly not the preferred approach. Roster spots will have to be earned and as is so often the case early in the season, contract status will have a huge impact on who makes the team out of training camp.
And for that reason, I wonder if Cody Ceci is a “lock” to make this team out of camp. Of the eight guys pushing for spots, he’s the only one in the group with a two way contract. And that makes him a little more vulnerable when the tough decisions are made less than a month from now.
Ceci appeared in 49 games last season, had 9 points and for the most part, proved that he can be a regular at the NHL level.
Management gave him a vote of confidence too, telling him to go ahead and find a place to live because he wasn’t going to be returning to Binghamton anytime soon. But that was last season. At 20 years of age, Ceci is going to have to come into camp and earn his spot and if he struggles, there’s a very real chance he starts the year in Binghamton.
One thing in Ceci’s favour at this point is his right handed shot. Ceci, Karlsson and Gryba all shoot right and play the right side. Methot, Cowen, Phillips and Borowiecki are all left shooting left defenceman. Wiercioch is a bit of a wild card- shoots left but can play either side.
Special teams is another thing to consider as these eight guys jostle for roster spots. Ceci is probably the third best option in the group for the power play which should help his cause.
Now Ottawa could also decide to start the season with eight. They did it for long stretches last season and while it’s obviously not the ideal situation, they have shown a willingness to do it in the past.
How Murray and MacLean handle the defence will be one of the most interesting story lines in camp this year.
-A quick update on negotiations with Bobby Ryan and Marc Methot. We’ll start with Ryan. Not a lot available publicly recently but comments by both Dorion and Ryan indicate the process has gone well to this point and both sides are committed to finding a way to get something done. There’s no deadline here but I get the sense the Senators want to have this done before the season starts. Everyone I have spoken to recently seems optimistic they’ll get it done. Not surprisingly, it’s a little harder to get a read on Methot. With that said, contacts I’ve spoken to remain confident they’ll find common ground and the fact that both sides are still working at it is a good sign.
-Last night, I asked fans how they plan to watch Sens games this season and some of the replies were pretty interesting. Well many of you may prefer the standard satellite packages offered by Bell and Rogers, there are some other interesting options out there, especially if you’re looking for a more cost-effective approach or are a Sens fan outside of the Ottawa area. Have a look at the replies to this tweet for some helpful information on some of the options out there.
