After an impressive 3-0-0 road trip, the Ottawa Senators return home this week looking to continue their winning ways on home ice.
It’s going to be an incredibly busy week for the Sens as they play Tuesday (Tampa Bay) and Thursday (Chicago) before a weekend back to back against the Montreal Canadiens. And with a condensed schedule, Boucher has opted to give his team additional days off whenever possible.
The Senators did not practice yesterday and will have another full day off today. They’ll return to the ice at the Canadian Tire Centre tomorrow morning.
And while we wait, another edition of Monday News and Notes.
-In an excellent article published last night, Bruce Garrioch sat down with Clarke MacArthur in what was MacArthur’s first interview since the news broke that the Senators were shutting him down for the season. It’s an eye-opening piece that shows just how close MacArthur came to hanging them up back in January. It’s pretty clear that he’s just not ready to give up on his goal of returning to ice at some point. No timelines for a return obviously but it’s clear that Clarke is determined to return to the NHL eventually. He has been skating with other injured players for the last couple weeks.
-It didn’t get much attention but on Saturday night, Nick Kypreos mentioned that Mark Stone is expected to have an MRI in the next couple days to determine the extent of what has become a nagging injury for Stone. Certainly not something you want to hear about one of the team’s most important players but it’s worth noting that Boucher didn’t seem overly concerned about the injury and said the team is “hopeful” it’s not long term. He wasn’t ready to rule him out for this week.
-Boucher seemed to suggest that at least one of the injured players will return tomorrow against Tampa Bay. Kyle Turris has been taking some time to heal an injured but not broken finger. It’s the type of injury that he would certainly be playing through come playoff time so nothing too serious. Borowiecki is the same sort of thing and I suspect his situation is complicated by the fact that Claesson is playing so well right now. The team will know more about Stone’s injury this week. Bobby Ryan and Chris Neil are both expected to be available in the next couple weeks although no specific timelines have been provided.
-With NCAA seasons wrapping up over the next couple of weeks, expect to hear the Senators linked to a couple potential free agents. Dorion has mentioned in the past that they have their eyes on one forward and one defenceman from this year’s free agent class. Sounds like they are one of the teams in interested in Northeastern University forward Zach Aston-Reese. Aston-Reese led his team in scoring this year, racking up 31 goals and 63 points in just 38 games. It’s believed that the Canucks are the favourites to land Aston-Reese.
-Colin White and the Boston College Eagles are headed to the NCAA Hockey East semi-finals after a convincing win over Vermont this weekend. Expectations were fairly low for BC heading into this tournament but they dominated against Vermont, winning by a combined score of 14-4. White finished the two-game set with five points. Boston College will play Boston University on Friday night. If they lose, their season is done. White’s post-NCAA plans remain up in the air at this point but what’s certain is nothing can happen until his NCAA season wraps up. As soon as his season ends, Pierre Dorion and Randy Lee will talk to White about what comes next.
-Speaking of prospects, Thomas Chabot continues to do incredible things in the QMJHL. His Saint John Sea Dogs have dominated all year long going 46-13-5 and they look like the team to beat with QMJHL playoffs just around the corner. Chabot has 43 points in just 33 games and sits 12th overall in defenceman scoring despite playing 20-30 less games than most of the other people on the list.
