If the reality of a rapidly approaching NHL season hadn’t hit you yet, this should help.
Today, 57 guys show up at the Canadian Tire Centre. All in the best shape of their lives. Well except for Karlsson, Brassard, Dzingel and MacArthur I guess. But that’s besides the point.
Training Camp officially opens today and with it, the realization that Ottawa Senators hockey has almost returned. Players will go through fitness testing and medicals this morning before their first on-ice sessions tomorrow at the Bell SensPlex. They’ll scrimmage at Fan Fest on Sunday and then the next day get right into it with a preseason back to back against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Like every year, there are plenty of interesting story-lines heading into Camp. A quick rundown of some things to keep an eye on over the next couple weeks.
Karlsson’s A-tendon-dance (Attendonce? A-tendon-ce?)– During the team’s Annual Golf Tournament, Karlsson suggested he’s still a couple weeks away from even skating. His off-season tendon surgery is progressing as expected but until he’s back on the ice, it’s not really clear when he might be ready to play. Karlsson himself mentioned that it could be as late as November and that has fans rightfully on edge. Obviously he shouldn’t be rushing things but this team needs their Captain back as soon as possible.
Centre Brassard’s Injured Wing- The news on Derick Brassard sounds a little more promising but he’ll still need to be officially cleared by the doctors in the next week or so. Unlike Karlsson, Brassard has at least been able to skate in the lead-up to the season so that should help him get up to speed a bit quicker once he’s okay for contact. Brassard was an important player for the Senators last year but they’ll be counting on increased offensive contributions from him this season. The status of his previously injured shoulder will be a big part of that.
Chabot’s Spot- A quick look at the Senators depth chart shows that even with Erik Karlsson out of the line up, the team has six guys on one-way deals including Phaneuf, Ceci, Oduya, Claesson, Wideman and Borowiecki. So coming into Camp, you could make the argument that Chabot is technically 7th in line if for no other reason than he can be easily demoted to the AHL at the end of Camp. With that said, it really seems like the team plans on giving him every opportunity to make the team and to take a spot from one of the guys with a one-way deal. As early as the first on-ice session we’ll have a sense on where they see him fitting depending on who he’s paired up with.
Rubble, Rubble- Craig Anderson and Mike Condon are clearly the 1/2 heading into this season but it’s almost like everyone completely forgot about the Hamburglar. It’s no secret that Dorion would like to move his contract if he could but that’s almost impossible to do unless they give him a pretty serious look in the next couple weeks. If Hammond is back to 100%, they almost have to play him during the preseason. Hammond has one year left on his deal at $1.5 mil.
Battle on the Bubble- Competitions for spots will be pretty intense this year as on paper, it looks like there might be one truly available spot on defence and maybe another up front. Of course a lot of that will depend on the status of Brassard, MacArthur and Dzingel. Regardless of how many spots are actually up for grabs, the battle should be intense. At forward, you’ll have Colin White, Chris VandeVelde, Nick Paul, Logan Brown, Mike Blunden, Max McCormick, Francis Perron, Tyler Randell and Chris DiDomenico all sort of in the mix. Colin White may be the favourite out of that group but it’s going to be close. On defence, Thomas Chabot might be the favourite on defence but there are a handful of guys that are close, including Ben Harpur who played and played well in the playoffs.
Boro 2.0– Training Camp is all about guys looking to make a good first impression and one of the most intriguing guys in that regard has to be Christian Jaros. He looked solid in the Rookie Tournament and will be eager to show the Coaching Staff he’s close to NHL-ready over the next couple weeks. People in the organization have compared him to Mark Borowiecki in the sense that his work-ethic is off the charts and he’s always looking to finish his checks. Better skater and a little more confident with the puck on his stick though. The transition to the North American game could be a challenge but I expect him to standout during the preseason games.
The First Cut- The Senators will play a total of six preseason games. And because Belleville’s Training Camp doesn’t start until September 24th, it’s unlikely the Senators will make any big cuts before then. But the writing will be on the wall for some guys pretty early on in Camp. What usually happens within the first week or so is the Camp breaks out into two groups and it’s pretty clear which guys are actually on the bubble. Logan Brown will be an interesting guy to keep an eye on. While he’s considered a long shot to make the team, it’s not out of the question that they keep him around for the entire preseason before making the decision on whether to send him back to Junior. He’ll get a long look in the next couple weeks.
In the Dark on Clarke– Injuries are going to be a huge talking point over the next couple weeks and perhaps the most significant will be Clarke MacArthur. Not that he’s injured necessarily but based on comments from Dorion and the media the last couple days, it’s pretty clear that his status is in doubt heading into the new year. While MacArthur isn’t going to “retire”, long-term injury reserve (LTIR) might be a possibility. The fact that MacArthur’s kids are in school back in Rochester and the family’s Ottawa home is apparently up for sale is only fueling the speculation.
