The morning after another discouraging loss at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers, the Ottawa Senators have begun to tinker with the roster a little bit.
Both Jiri Smejkal and Angus Crookshank are heading back to the American Hockey League. It’s an indication that Mathieu Joseph will indeed be ready to go when the Senators take on the Calgary Flames tomorrow night.
But as we learned last night, that may not be the end of the roster shuffling for the Senators.
Steve Staios has apparently let it be known league-wide that he is eager to shake things up a little bit and while they aren’t looking at moving any pieces of the team’s young core, they do want to add some experience to the lineup.
This is going to be easier said than done for Staios, thanks to a combination of a delicate cap situation and a limited number of sellers at this stage of the season. At the same time, the Senators are going to execute some cap gymnastics to find room for Shane Pinto once he’s signed and ready to return.
One thing is clear – remain buckled at all times.
