If we’ve learned one thing about preseason hockey over the years, it’s that it really doesn’t matter.
Now that’s not to say it doesn’t serve a purpose. For established NHLers, it’s a good opportunity to get in shape and get up to speed ahead of the regular season. For a handful of guys, it’s an opportunity to fight for a spot on the roster. Coaches generally have their mind made up about who’s in and who’s out but things can change with a strong performance.
With all that said, if you’re drawing conclusions after one day of preseason hockey, you might be overreacting. If you’re getting into detailed analysis of defensive zone structure in a Saturday afternoon preseason opener, you may be jumping the gun a little bit. But after more than four months without the Sens, it’s understandable.
So let’s take a look at some news, notes and overreactions coming out of the first two games of the preseason.
-Jake Sanderson made his debut on Saturday afternoon and looked entirely comfortable. You could actually make a strong case that he was the best player on the ice for the Senators in the first preseason game. Good stick, sharp on the power play and multiple instances of that elite skating that makes him such an exciting player. One of the biggest questions marks about Sanderson heading into his first pro season is how he matches up physically and his ability to engage in one on one battles down low. Zero issues there as near as I could tell. The fact that he went toe to toe with Wayne Simmonds on a couple of occasions is a pretty good indication that he can match up physically against NHL forwards.
-Of all the bubble guys that played on Saturday, Mark Kastelic may have been the one that made the strongest case. Although considering the way he finished last season, maybe it’s not entirely fair to call him a bubble guy in the first place. Kastelic ACTUALLY came into Camp in the best shape of his life according to the fitness results and it translated into a pretty strong debut on Saturday night. He skates well, engages physically, can play the PK and can chip in offensively. Basically a textbook bottom six forward. He’s going to be competing with the likes of Parker Kelly, Dylan Gambrell and Austin Watson for a spot on that fourth line when it comes down to it but he certainly made a strong case on day one.
-Speaking of showing up for Camp in the best shape of his life, that is apparently also the case with Nikita Zaitsev. It goes without saying but Zaitsev is on thin ice right now. The team was fairly active in trying to move him elsewhere this summer but with no takers, it’s now a situation where they need to find out if his game is at a level where he can hold down a roster spot. And with Jacob Bernard-Docker and Lassi Thomson both expected to be close to everyday NHLers at this point, it’s no slam dunk that Zaitsev is still on the roster when the season opens in a couple weeks.
-Those Jakob Chychrun rumours aren’t cooling off. He remains available, he remains interested in playing for the Ottawa Senators and the Ottawa Senators remain interested in him. Dorion has been patient to this point but he certainly hasn’t moved on. Darren Dreger made an appearance on TSN 1200 over the weekend and spoke at length about Ottawa’s continued interest in Chychrun. We don’t know if a trade will ultimately materialize that makes sense for both sides but it won’t be for a lack of trying on Dorion’s part.
-For those that missed it over the weekend, I had a chance to join the fellas at Locked On Senators for a wide-ranging discussion late last week. We talked about the origins of SensChirp, the madness that is the comment section, my failed hopes and dreams and I think about Vaclav Varada for some reason. Check it out!
