Roster firms up as opener looms
Final roster comes into clearer focus with Maple Leafs games looming on weekend
It's time to get down to business for the Ottawa Senators.
The Senators started trimming their roster Monday by placing seven players on waivers, giving Ottawa the option to send them to their AHL affiliate in Belleville before the regular season gets underway. It all starts for real Friday night, when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit Canadian Tire Centre.
Trying to get down to workable numbers after the final intrasquad game of training camp Monday night, the Senators placed forwards Rudolfs Balcers, J.C. Beaudin, Filip Chlapik, Michael Haley, Matthew Peca, Logan Shaw and defenceman Christian Jaros on waivers at noon.
Defenceman Max Lajoie was placed on waivers Sunday and was among a large group of NHL players that cleared Monday. As long as all seven players clear waivers Tuesday at noon — and there's no reason to believe they won't — then the Senators will be able to zero in on their opening night roster.
General manager Pierre Dorion, assistant GM Peter MacTavish, coach D.J. Smith and the rest of the staff will make the final decisions on where players will be assigned Tuesday before the club's skate. Teams have to declare their 23-man roster and six-man taxi squad by Tuesday at 5 p.m.
The Senators need to get line combinations, defence pairings and the power play in place because they have a back-to-back series against the Leafs that continues Saturday.
Since the Senators have a difficult road schedule to start, the expectation is they will carry six players on their taxi squad and make some decisions later. Ottawa will leave on a 14-day road trip next week and the AHL season isn't expected to start until Feb. 5, so there's no need to rush everybody out the door.
There were no surprises in these decisions Monday because most of these players were expected to start the season in the minors. Shaw, Haley and
Peca were all signed by the organization to play big roles for Belleville and add depth up here if the Senators run into injury trouble, so they're taxi squad candidates.
You could say Balcers, 23, and Chlapik, 23, could be placed in the mildly surprising category because both suited up for games with the Senators last season. Still, both could be used for depth because carrying extra players may mean lots of roster movement this season.
Winger Tim Stuetzle, who arrived in camp Sunday after spending a week in quarantine following the world junior championship, will be among the young players here. The No. 3 overall pick in the NHL draft last June has the skills and as long as he's comfortable in the NHL, he should be a candidate for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.
Another player you can pencil in is Drake Batherson. The 22-year-old winger has 38 goals and 116 points in 103 games in Belleville. In 43 NHL games over the last two seasons, he produced six goals and 19 points which aren't bad numbers, but he has to be a consistent scorer at this level.
The Senators also have to decide whether they will keep centres Josh Norris and Logan Brown to start the year. They both played key roles for Belleville last season and have both been given ample opportunity during this camp to make the big club, but there may not be room for both.
The 21-year-old Norris, a key part of the deal that sent Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks in September 2018, had 31 goals and 61 points in his rookie season with Belleville. By all accounts, Norris has had a solid camp, pushed hard for a spot in Ottawa and is likely to start here.
It's up to Dorion and Smith to figure out where everybody fits, but there may not be a whole lot more roster manoeuvring that has to be done because of the ability to carry extra players.
The Senators have to keep three goaltenders among the 29 players. With Matt Murray and Marcus Hogberg having spots sewn up, it's believed Joey Daccord will start the year as the third netminder. Filip Gustavsson and Kevin Mandolese can be sent to Belleville.
There's a lot of intrigue around the decision involving Brown and he could start the season here as an extra and won't need waivers to be sent down. He had seven goals and 28 points in 25 games with Belleville last season and is attending his fourth camp
If Brown isn't able to make it this time, you have to wonder what's next for him, but he's not alone. Winger Alex Formenton was expected to push for a spot as well, but he's not guaranteed anything either and may need more time in the AHL to be ready to play in Ottawa.
Defenceman Erik Brannstrom participated in his first camp skate Sunday after spending a week in quarantine because of exposure to a person with COVID-19 He may start the season in Belleville, so he has time to get up to speed after spending the first half of the year with the Langnau Tigers in Switzerland.
That doesn't mean he'll be gone for good, but with Christian Wolanin and free agent signing Artem Zub both impressing during camp, they're expected to be among the mix of eight that starts the year in Ottawa.
The Senators started trimming their roster Monday by placing seven players on waivers, giving Ottawa the option to send them to (the) AHL.