If Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators can completely ignore the first round of the draft, then I can too. So while a collection of young hockey players joined NHL teams last night in Nashville and more will do so today, it’s time to talk schedule!
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before – the Ottawa Senators need to get off to a good start next season.
Last year, the Sens stumbled out of the block. While injuries played a huge part in those early struggles, it was a familiar experience. Any hope of a playoff spot was basically dashed before December. To their credit, Ottawa did find a way to battle their back into playoff contention during the second half of the season but the hole was too deep.
And that’s why when the Ottawa Senators hit the ice in October, there will be a heightened emphasis on the importance of banking points early in the season. Jobs will likely depend on it.
Earlier this week, the league released the 2023-2024 regular season schedule. The Senators begin the season on October 11th in Carolina (just 105 days away!) and will play their home opener three days later on Saturday afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers.
It’s hard to really get a feel for strength of schedule in the early part of a season, especially when we’re still a few months out, but there are a couple things you can look for. Home games and back-to-back situations can both make a difference in the early going and from that perspective, things look pretty good for the Senators.
Ottawa will play eight games in total in the month of October, with five of those on home ice. They won’t play any back-to-backs. In fact, their longest homestand of the season happens right of of the gate during those first couple weeks of October.
Meanwhile in November, six of their nine games will be played within the friendly confines of the Canadian Tire Centre. Keep in mind that two of those games are being played in Sweden. Again, no back-to-backs in November.
At least on the surface, that seems like a pretty good set-up for the Senators. No schedule related excuses for DJ Smith and his staff anyway.
It only gets tougher from there. December, for example, features a total of 15 games (including eight on the road), two back-to-backs and a gnarly five game road trip in the middle of the month. Meanwhile January kicks off with another five-game road trip that takes the Senators through Vancouver, Seattle, Edmonton, Calgary and uh Buffalo.
October and November certainly looks like the easiest stretch of the season on paper, making it critically important that they bank points out of the gate.
You can see the full schedule here.
Okay, maybe we can talk about the Draft again for a moment.
Round 2 through 7 begin this morning at 11:00 AM. The Ottawa Senators are currently scheduled to make their first selection at 108th overall although a trade up at some point seems likely.
And while it doesn’t come with the same sense of urgency that we saw in the lead up to the first round, the Senators continue to talk to teams about Alex DeBrincat. Dorion made it clear in his remarks to TSN 1200 yesterday that he’s not just going to give him away and that there is a path to him returning to the team next season but there are definitely active conversations playing out with multiple teams.
As Bruce Garrioch mentioned yesterday, it’s Ottawa’s preference to get someone back that can help the team next season. Not just picks and prospects.
We can expect to hear more about that in the days ahead.
