Lazar, Condra await MacLean’s orders
Erik Condra was an impressed spectator for six days, watching the young wave of Ottawa Senators forward prospects led by Curtis Lazar at training camp.
At the same time, Condra felt helpless, sitting out with an undisclosed injury while recognizing that the right wing spot he has held for the past four seasons is not guaranteed.
“They did a great job drafting, with their picks,” said Condra, who practised with the team Wednesday, for the first time since being hurt against Toronto on Sept. 24. “The young guys are playing well. They’re big, strong and fast, they’ve given a good account of what they do.”
The 28-year-old penalty killing specialist, says he’s “always” aware of what’s behind him, recognizing the Senators have some tough decisions on a 23-player roster before the Oct. 9 season opener in Nashville. At the same time, he takes pride in the role he has played as a defensive forward.
“I think I bring a different aspect than a lot of them do and you need a lot of pieces to a puzzle to be a hockey team, to win games,” he said.
That’s an intriguing choice of words, given that head coach Paul MacLean has held many conversations with his coaching staff about where, exactly, Lazar could fit into that puzzle.
Lazar has spent all of training camp as a centre, but with Kyle Turris, Mika Zibanejad, David Legwand and Zack Smith also in the middle, the club could place him on right wing Friday and Saturday against Montreal. That could affect Condra, among others.
“We’re trying to give (Lazar) the best opportunity to show us what he can do and what kind of player he is,” said MacLean. “He has been a centreman. He has proven at the world junior (championship) last year that he can go and play the wing and still be a pretty effective player and that’s against pretty good competition.”
MacLean suggests the transition to playing wing at the NHL level would not be difficult for Lazar, but the organization is also trying to project where Lazar will fit best in the long-term.
“Is he going to be better in that position than the people that are there, as we project it, and do we need to leave him (at centre), or can we put him on the wing and have him upgrade that position for us? That’s the kind of thing we’re looking at, or discussing.”
If Lazar stays at centre, Smith could move to left wing. But he, too, has spent training camp at centre.
“We’ve had lots of discussions about where we’re going to play people and how we’re going to play people and that’s ongoing. (Lazar and Smith) are certainly two of the considerations that we have to look at,” MacLean said.
The Senators are expected to announce their lineup for Friday’s game at the Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday afternoon.