Given the revelations of the Ottawa Senators current pre-season, it’s easy to imagine what might have been if the team could have had this preamble a year ago.
Would a regular training camp, with pre-season games, have changed the course of Ottawa’s 2020-21 pandemic-adjusted season?
Think about it for a second. Laden with newly added veteran role players like Cedric Paquette, Braydon Coburn and Erik Gudbranson, plus newly acquired goaltender Matt Murray, the Senators launched into their season by favouring depth veterans over prospects throughout their lineup.
We know what happened. Murray, without time to get familiar with his new defence, was terrible. Some of the veterans faltered and were ultimately replaced by younger players in the organization. By the time the trade deadline rolled around, the Senators were one of the hottest teams in the NHL — even Murray rediscovered his game over the final month as Ottawa finished 10-3-1.
Flash forward to this fall. In his first address to reporters, head coach D.J. Smith made a stunning admission, about his “mistake” in evaluating Artem Zub, with nothing to go on but practice sessions.
Like an undiscovered gem, Zub sat out while the Senators staggered through the month of January. On Jan. 31, Zub played a modest 13 minutes in a loss to Edmonton, his NHL debut. By February, Zub was averaging 16-plus minutes per game. In March and April his total on-ice time was close to 19 minutes as he established himself as Ottawa’s best pure defender.
On Friday night, Zub, now a first-pairing defenceman with Thomas Chabot, was given a hero’s welcome as he scored a shootout goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Oh, how things have changed in nine months, and not just where Zub’s status is concerned. Instead of defaulting to players based on their experience in the league, the Senators are getting a chance to get a good long look at prospects on the cusp of readiness.
Without a pre-season, Shane Pinto and Alex Formenton almost certainly would have started the season in AHL Belleville. But after watching them perform in camp and pre-season games, how could the Senators possibly demote them now?
In a lot of cases, the future is now for Ottawa’s prospects.
Smith has been running out of superlatives for Pinto, who continues to play like a No. 2 centre and finally gets his chance in Monday’s game against the visiting Maple Leafs. On the flip side, veteran Chris Tierney has played himself out of the chance to centre Tim Stützle and Connor Brown, following a couple of dreadful games as a trio.
“Pinto has been as good as anyone in camp,” Smith said. “He just continues to make plays, and he plays centre so well — strong stick, good on faceoffs. He can play on the power play and kill penalties. So, we think we’ve got a good player there.”
Formenton, meanwhile, has jumped the queue to the top line alongside Josh Norris and Drake Batherson because he has done a reasonable job as a stand-in for Brady Tkachuk, who still hasn’t signed a new contract. When Tkachuk arrives, Formenton will slide down the depth chart but it’s unlikely he slides all the way to Belleville.
“He wants to be in the NHL,” Smith said of the guy his teammates call ‘Forms.’ “He spent two years in the minors and doesn’t want to go back.”
It isn’t just the kids who are benefiting from pre-season games. Murray looks a lot more comfortable with the benefit of a more normal camp to get him tuned up for the season. He got the win in a 7-2 romp over the Habs on Friday and is expected to play in two of Ottawa’s final three exhibition games, including Monday against Toronto.
This pre-season has been critical for a team like Ottawa that needed time for a proper assessment of its growing stable of talent.
“The more exhibition games you play, to me the more you see who are the NHL players and who are the guys who can do it on a night to night basis,” Smith says. “And for me, it seems clear at this point who that group is.”
Lassi Thomson impresses
It is a sad truth of training camps that some bright young prospects can look very good — right before they get released. Defenceman Lassi Thomson is one such example. Thomson has surprised a lot of observers with his play this fall. Last season, his first in pro hockey, Thomson had some difficulty adjusting in 35 games with Belleville. But his Ottawa camp was capped off by an outstanding game in Montreal Saturday, where Thomson played 20 minutes and had a couple of big shot blocks in the 2-1 Sens loss. Thomson tied for the team lead with three shots on goal.
For now, though, Thomson is destined to start the season in Belleville, with no real openings on Ottawa’s blueline at the moment. Thomson was one of 13 players released on Sunday.
“He’s going to be a really good player,” Smith said of Thomson. “It’s hard to play defence in the NHL. You look at a guy like (Jeff) Petry out there tonight, how many years it’s taken him to be an every day, top-pairing D that provides offence. There were a lot of ups and downs in his career. Lassi’s a young guy that just had his first pro experience last year. We think he’s going to be a really good player.”
Down to five lines, 8D, 3G
The Senators sent 11 players to their AHL camp on Sunday (three required waivers) while two others, Ridly Greig and Zack Ostapchuk, were released to their WHL teams. The biggest names among the cuts were Thomson, fellow D-man Jacob Bernard-Docker, plus forwards Mark Kastelic and Egor Sokolov. There were no real surprises here, although Sokolov and Kastelic, with their size and grit, had an outside shot at making a team that is missing Tkachuk’s fibre. Belleville should have a strong group and all of these cuts will benefit from further pro experience under B-Sens head coach Troy Mann.
Sens roster after cuts
With ten days to go until opening night, the Sens roster is taking shape. Eliminate the “fifth” line and one defence spot and the roster is pretty well set. At least until Tkachuk gets here. Look for goalie Gustavsson to get time in Belleville until he is needed in Ottawa.
Forwards
Formenton – Norris – Batherson
Stützle – Pinto – C. Brown
Paul – White – Sanford
Ennis – Tierney – Watson
Kelly – Agozzino – Shaw
Sabourin
Defence
Chabot – Zub
Del Zotto – Zaitsev
Mete – Holden
Brannstrom – J. Brown
Goalies
Murray – Forsberg – Gustavsson
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