With Training Camp now entering a second week and some pivotal decisions only days away, the intensity is about to get turned up a notch or two.
The Ottawa Senators have four games left in their preseason schedule and according to the Head Coach, the plan is to use those remaining games as a real tune up for the regular season. As in, the open audition phase is winding down.
According to DJ Smith, they could have something pretty close to the Opening Night lineup in place after this weekend.
That means that Friday’s game in Belleville against the Leafs and then Saturday’s game home game against the Habs are a last chance for a handful of guys.
It’s no secret that the top six is pretty much locked up. There may have been an opening at the third line left wing spot coming into Camp but Tyler Motte has looked entirely comfortable skating alongside Shane Pinto and Mathieu Joseph. So that makes a top nine you probably write in pen.
Same story on the blueline. Unless there’s a last minute trade for Jakob Chychrun, you can probably come up with a top four on defence too.
Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
DeBrincat-Stützle-Giroux
Motte-Pinto-Joseph
Chabot-Zub
Sanderson-Hamonic
It’s on that fourth line and the third defence pairing that questions start to arise. As expected, really.
On the blueline, it certainly sounds as though Nick Holden has the inside track on one of those spots. From there, it’s a guessing game. All eyes were on Erik Brannstrom to see if he might be one of those young players that took a big step forward but to this point, he mostly looks like the same Erik Brannstrom. Serviceable but not a slam dunk. Nikita Zaitsev is the best shape of his live according to the people that actively tried to get rid of him and to my unprofessional eye, looks kind of the same.
And then you have three young guys making good impressions in Jacob Bernard-Docker, Lassi Thomson and Maxence Guenette. One-way deals usually win out this time of year but it won’t be because those three didn’t put up a fight. And even if they don’t crack that day one lineup, they’re all likely to see NHL action this season.
Meanwhile on that fourth line, it’s an interesting mix of what we thought were established veterans and then some younger guys making a push. Austin Watson and Dylan Gambrell seemed like locks heading into the preseason but neither of them has really stood out.
Mark Kastelic has probably been the best of the bubble guys and seems like he has a real short of stealing a spot in the bottom six. Parker Kelly was a fourth line favourite coming in but he was unusually quiet in his one audition to date. Ridly Greig is the real wild card in the bunch. He hasn’t appeared in a game yet but he could this weekend and he’s a player that could force his way into the mix.
The two games this weekend will go a long way towards deciding who is and who is out when the games start for real in Buffalo in a couple weeks time.
How do you see the lineup looking on Opening Night?
