Now that the World Junior tournament has wrapped up, the eyes of the hockey world have shifted to the start of the NHL season.
In just one week, the Pittsburgh Penguins will visit the Philadelphia Flyers and officially drop the puck on the 2021 campaign. The game that really matters is a couple nights later in Ottawa but the point is, NHL hockey is coming.
And soon.
Down at the Canadian Tire Centre, DJ Smith is putting his team through another on-ice workout ahead of next Friday’s opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
And while the Senators are still carrying a fairly large training camp group, it’s becoming increasingly clear which players are truly in the mix for spots in the opening night line up.
Although with Derek Stepan, Chris Tierney and Tim Stuetzle still yet to arrive, there’s still plenty of uncertainty.
The Senators posted line combinations ahead of their morning scrimmage and when compared to the lines we saw the other day, you start to notice some potential lines, or duos anyway, that the Head Coach has in mind going into the season.
At the same time, the defence pairings have remained pretty constant throughout Camp.
Here’s how the teams will line up this morning…
TEAM A
Paul-White-Batherson
Paquette-Norris-C.Brown
Haley-Beaudin-Shaw
Kelly
Chabot-Gudbranson
Coburn-Zub
Aspirot-Jaros
Murray
Daccord
TEAM B
Tkachuk-Brown-Dadonov
Galchenyuk-Anisimov-Watson
Formenton-Chlapik-Balcers
Peca
Reilly-Zaitsev
Wolanin-Brown
Lajoie-Thomson
Alsing
Hogberg
Mandolese
Some quick thoughts on what we’re seeing here
-Heading into Camp, there was a lot of talk about the battle between Josh Norris and Logan Brown. And based on some of the initial combinations, that’s the way the coaches see it too. Norris got his chance with Dadonov and Tkachuk and now Brown is getting the same opportunity.
-Despite being listed as a centre and mostly playing that position in Tampa Bay, it’s noteworthy that Paquette is getting a look on the wing today. With so many guys already battling for those centre spots, he may ultimately be a better fit there. Alex Galchenyuk also has some experience at centre but has only lined up as a winger so far in camp.
-Not that there was much doubt but Michael Haley skating with a pretty clear AHL trio is likely an indication he’s AHL bound to start the season. Haley would be a useful guy to have on the taxi squad to insert into the line up if things get feisty in one of the many mini-series the Sens will play in but even the taxi squad is looking a little crowded these days.
-No movement in the defence pairings over the last couple days. DJ Smith obviously wants those pairs to get comfortable together and with Erik Brannstrom still on the sidelines, the same eight guys are getting a long look. Hard to tell which six guys are the likely pairings for opening night though. Would guess Coburn-Zub are the odd ones out but you could easily talk me into it being one of Reilly-Zaitsev or Wolanin-Brown. All those guys are going to get into games either way.
-Lastly, sure is nice to be overreacting to Training Camp line combinations again!
