It’s finally September, and for many of us in this city, that means it’s a) time to make our kids someone else’s problem for the next 10 months and b) time to really start concentrating on the upcoming hockey season that we pretended not to think about this summer.
With training camp fast approaching, here are a few things that are rolling through my head when it comes to the Ottawa Senators:
What exactly is Claude Giroux’s role on this team?
Giroux is going to be a benefit to have on your hockey team until the day he decides to retire. He helps out in so many facets of the game, and there are a lot of late-career Alfie similarities you can point to. You want him to be a part of this group.
The question is, where does he fit at this point?
I don’t know if there is any correlation between Steve Staios making this one of the most hardline contract negotiations in his short history here and how the team feels about Giroux’s place in the pecking order. Either way, there does not appear to be a specific line spot he’s slotted into.
Giroux’s versatility serves him well and if I were a betting man, I’d say having him start as a LW on a second line with Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson (who are both many things, but defensive stalwarts not one of them) makes some sense. But I could also easily be convinced they go back to the safety blanket of him with Brady and Timmy, or even in a new third line checking role. Both those options seem equally as likely as him getting his car stolen again, so it’ll be a fun story to track during camp.
What about the organizational goaltending depth?
Some will focus on Leevi Meriläinen’s promotion to full-time backup, but I’m not overly concerned with how he’ll do. There’s a level somewhere between “Anton Forsberg” and “looking like the second incarnation of Dominik Hasek for a month last season” that I’m certain he’ll fall into and Sens fans will be pretty happy with.
But what if they have to dip into the minors during the season?
Coaches and GMs are very fond of saying that you need at least 10 NHL D-men to get you through the year, but no one talks about how often you have to play goalies past your two NHL options. We are not that far removed from the 2022–23 season where the Sens had to start seven different goalies. SEVEN! That’s a little ridiculous, but it makes sense to pay attention to what the Sens have below Ullmark and Meriläinen. And when your first option is Mads Søgaard—who, I am afraid, has not progressed very far past “he’s super tall” in his 6 years in the organization—then I’m going to be focused in on the newly signed Jackson Parsons and especially Hunter Shepard. Shepard has two Calder Cups on his résumé and looks like someone you could potentially count on to play some NHL games if needed.
As always, the statement “goalies are voodoo” remains evergreen, so who knows what to expect, and everyone (including teammates and coaches) just has to deal with the fact they are flaky when it comes to on-ice performance and personality. I mean, we have Linus Ullmark saying stuff like “Marshmallows are a lot like snow if you think about it and that’s why I love this city” (not a real quote), and everyone’s reaction is basically “Ah, goalies, am I right?” which would not be the same response if that quote came out of, say, Nick Jensen’s mouth.
Ottawa Senators Sign Lars Eller, Offseason NHL Additions Are Now ‘Most Likely’ Complete
Senators general manager Steve Staios didn’t do a lot on day one of free agency, but there was something familiar about his performance. For the second year in a row, Staios went out and acquired a free agent veteran role player, who’s won a Stanley Cup.
Will the Sens grant my wish and roll out an old-man 4th line?
I don’t know if a line of Nick Cousins, Lars Eller and David Perron would be the oldest line in the league, but it’s got to be up there. It would certainly be the oldest line in recent memory for the Sens. I don’t even think this is necessarily a bad thing because age is just a number, and out of the three, the only player I’d classify as having below-average NHL speed would be Perron. And as long as you aren’t “old and slow,” you can be classified as “experienced and crafty,” which is infinitely better. The Sens may choose to mix and match with different types for their 4th line, but honestly, if the forward group is entirely healthy, I like my chances of getting this trio to start the season.
How good is Jordan Spence, really?
I do not count myself as a regular viewer of LA Kings games, but in the handful that I did watch last season, I did notice Jordan Spence and he looked pretty great. If the Sens were to slot him into the role he played with the Kings (bottom-pairing D with sheltered minutes), especially with a partner like Tyler Kleven, I am fairly confident that pair would tilt the ice significantly while they were out there. Spence is a puck-retrieval machine and a great transitional player, which would complement Kleven’s best attributes (hitting guys really hard and wiring shots through the mesh in the back of the net) in a nice way.
The question many have is, can he be more than that? What’s he look like playing tougher minutes with more responsibility? I imagine we’re going to find out this season because neither Artem Zub nor Nick Jensen have shown they can play close to a full season at anything approaching good health. I really look forward to the day where we could see a Sanderson/Spence pairing because I’m not entirely sure they have developed on-ice analytic metrics that will be able to measure how high the possession numbers would be.
I’m sure as camp arrives and the ever-exciting preseason games start, we’ll have new storylines to discuss, but for now, these are the ones I’ll be following. See, Sens Nation, I made it through an entire Sens training camp piece without mentioning Carter Yakemchuk’s name once (except for this time just now), and the world continues to spin. It can be done!
By Tyler Ray
This article was first published at The Hockey News-Ottawa
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Senators Still Own Formenton’s NHL Rights – What’s Next?
Our One-On-One With Drake Batherson
Senators Confirm Extension For Pinto Won’t Happen Until After Season Starts
Staios: ‘We’re Not Dismissing That Yakemchuk Makes Our Team Out of Camp’
Could Arthur Kaliyev Be The Senators’ Next Adam Gaudette Story?
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