SENATORS’ STARTING ROSTER EMERGING
With two exhibition games left, team faces decisions on a pair of promising prospects
Judging by the decisions made Tuesday, the Ottawa Senators could be ready to give the kids a chance to start the season.
While the Senators had the day off after an 8-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils Monday night in Summerside, P.E.I., general manager Pierre Dorion, assistant GM Randy Lee, head coach Guy Boucher and the club’s staff were continuing to shape the roster for opening night next Thursday against the Washington Capitals.
Though difficult decisions are left as only two exhibition games remain, starting with Wednesday’s visit to the MTS Centre to face the Winnipeg Jets, the Senators cut down its roster Tuesday by sending forward Filip Chlapik to Belleville, placing forward Tyler Randell on waivers and releasing forward Chris VandeVelde from his professional tryout.
That leaves the Senators with 26 players, including injured captain Erik Karlsson (foot) and injured centre Derick Brassard (shoulder).
For these final two pre-season games — a visit to the Bell Centre Saturday night to face the Montreal Canadiens concludes the exhibition stretch — the Senators have to determine what to do with 2016 first-round pick Logan Brown and 2017 second-round selection Alex Formenton, who have impressed during training camp. Both are headed to Winnipeg and could face the Jets.
On the back end, the club also needs to decide whether 2015 top pick Thomas Chabot is going to start the season here or start the year with Belleville until there’s either a trade or injury in Ottawa.
The competition — with the exception of the loss against the Devils — for jobs has been excellent, especially up front, where Brown, 19, and Formenton, 18, who both have junior eligibility remaining with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and London Knights, respectively, have served notice they deserve to be here.
“With two games left, we wanted to have as close to our team as possible and that’s what we’re going to try to do,” Boucher said Monday following the loss.
Brown and Formenton have put their best foot forward here to push for a job with the possibility that Brassard may not be able to start the season. There’s a strong chance Formenton will be returned to junior, but Dorion noted on TSN 1200 that he’s in camp because he’s earned the right.
“Of course he’s still got a shot,” Dorion told the station. “He’s definitely got a chance to play for us on Oct. 5. Now, there’s still two games to be played. I know Guy was mulling over his lineup and I know he said he’d like to have close to his team to play in Winnipeg and Montreal.
“(Formenton) has been so impressive. He’s not the heaviest (player). I think he’s just over 170 pounds, but he’s making the most of this opportunity. Who would have thought that he’d be in serious consideration to start the year with us? Now, there’s still a few things to be done — a contract has to be signed and he still has to get in and play one of these next two games.
“I’m going to leave that up to Guy to decide and then we’ll see what happens next week.”
Formenton is smart and uses his speed.
“We’ve got to think about what’s best for the player and for the organization,” Dorion added. “What (Formenton’s) accomplished, whether he’s 18 or 24 years old, to me and to our whole hockey operations staff, it’s mind-blowing. For a kid to come in and do what he’s accomplished, and he’s 18 years old, you’ve got to give the kid credit.
“We’ve got to be careful we don’t put him in a situation where he’s not going to succeed. It’s also going to come into play how many minutes he’s going to play. There’s no point keeping a guy here if he’s going to play four minutes. That’s not going to happen. I can assure there’s zero chance of that happening.”
Let’s face it: compared to Formenton, Brown has a better chance of starting the year here because he’s had a strong camp, has shown maturity and there may be a bigger need at centre.
“He’s brought a more consistent work ethic,” Dorion said. “If he keeps his pace up, and he works in this manner, it will be very tough to send Logan Brown back to junior. It will be up to him. I always put the onus on the player. If the player performs, we owe it to our fans and this organization, to put him in our lineup.
“Right now, we don’t know what’s going to happen with Derick Brassard. Until the doctors clear him, we’re not going to put him in our lineup and it’s a very good opportunity for Logan Brown to step up.”
Time is of the essence with the clock ticking down on training camp.”