A few days into Senators training camp, Travis Green is already starting to show his hand on how he wants this roster arranged. The combinations are still early, and some of them are clearly being used as auditions, but there’s enough here to get a real sense of where Green’s thinking is heading before Ottawa’s first preseason game on Sept. 21st.
One of the clearest signs is that William Eklund and Fabian Zetterlund are together, exactly the kind of pairing that had been floated before camp. That leaves Ottawa with a mix of established NHL pieces, bubble players, and younger names all getting a chance to prove they belong.
Group 1 has Drake Batherson between Tim Stützle and Andre Burakovsky, with Sammy Blais, Ridley Greig, and Michael Amadio on the next line. Behind them are Blake Montgomery, Ryan Suzuki, and Kasper Halttunen, followed by Adam Nemec, Philippe Daoust, and Hayden Hodgson.
On the blue line, the pairings listed are Jake Sanderson with Caeter Yakemchuk, Tyler Kleven with Hoyt Stanley, Samuel Bolduc with Cameron Crotty, and Gabriel Eliasson with Zachary Uens. Linus Ullmark and Samuel Ersson are the goaltenders in that group.
According to Andrew Wilimek, Group 2 looks like this: William Eklund, Dylan Cozens, and Fabian Zetterlund together; Nick Cousins, Shane Pinto, and Philip Tomasino on the next line; Claude Giroux, Stephan Halliday, and Tyler Boucher after that; then Xavier Bourgault, Eskild Bakke Olsen, and Oskar Pettersson. On defense, the pairings are Jordan Spence with Thomas Chabot, Ben Hutton with Nick Matinpalo, Tomas Hamara with Matthew Andonovski, and Scott Harrington with Djibril Toure. Leevi Merilainen is the goalie.
That setup says a lot about camp priorities. Green is getting a look at some combinations that could stick once the regular season begins, but he’s also testing fit and chemistry with players who are fighting for jobs. That includes fringe names like Blais, Tomasino, Cousins, and Halliday, all of whom have something to play for while camp is still young.
There are openings, too. Greig is suspended, and Warren Foegele is dealing with an injury, which creates room for players to make a case. If someone stands out enough, there’s a real chance their name ends up in the lineup on opening night.
It should also be noted that Cousins and Halliday should be in the lineup if Green goes with the best available group for Game 1. But once Greig returns from his two-game suspension and Foegele is healthy, the squeeze gets a lot tighter. At that point, there are more players than there are spots, and that’s when someone like Halliday or Cousins could get bumped out.
Based on the first three days of camp, the early opening night projection is still just that - early. No preseason games have been played yet, and a fuller projection is expected before the puck drops on opening night.
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