Ottawa Senators: Possible Training Camp Battles

Hockey is officially back as the Ottawa Senators are having their first on-ice session of training camp. There are holes on this team, which means there are spots open for young players to battle for. What are those spots and who are those players?

When DJ Smith spoke earlier this week at the Ottawa Senators’ annual golf tournament he told reporters that he envisioned there being one or two sports available on defence, with probably two or three available upfront. I’m assuming it’s fair to take the head coach at his word on this, but I did some checking anyways.

A simple roster analysis shows that this is in fact accurate. As things stand right now I think it would be safe to assume that Brady Tkachuk, Colin White, Connor Brown, Anthony Duclair, and Chris Tierney are locks to be playing in a top-6 role on the opening night roster. That would leave one spot open in the top-6.

Following that, reading between the lines it seems as though the coaching staff likes the idea of a third line featuring Tyler Ennis, Artem Anisimov, and Bobby Ryan. That line seems pretty much set, but if there was a player that showed up in camp and really impressed the coaching staff I think the left-wing spot on this line could be available. If I were a betting man, I would say that Ennis, Anisimov, and Ryan are the third line when the puck drops on opening night.

The last spot I see open, or possibly open, would come on the fourth line. We know Jean-Gabriel Pageau will be making the roster as he was just named one of the three alternates for this season. Rudolfs Balcers has a legitimate shot at making this roster considering the way he played down the stretch last season. With that being said, he is going to have to show up and perform well in camp to make the roster. Assuming that happens, I would pencil Balcers as the fourth-line left-wing. That leaves the right-wing spot available.

The coach announced the other day that Mikkel Boedker was a little knicked up and would probably be missing a few days in training camp. The good news for Boedker is that there is a new coaching staff in place this season, as he struggled to find ice-time down the stretch last season. There is a very real possibility that Boedker could end up being the thirteenth forward on this team for much of the season.

So that would open up a spot on the fourth line. Two players worthwhile mentioning, in my mind, for this spot are Nick Paul and Max Veronneau. If I had to guess I would say that Nick Paul probably has the best shot at making the roster between these two players. Several factors come into play with this one, but I think the fact that Paul would have to clear waivers before going down to Belleville would mean that the organization would give Nick Paul every opportunity to make the roster out of training camp.