Ottawa Senators: 3 Players Who Could Surprisingly Make the Opening Day Lineup
A Senators lineup that has spots up for grabs, some players could surprisingly make the opening night roster
Heading into the offseason it was seeming like there would be a ton of spots available on the Ottawa Senators’ opening day roster but through their plentiful offseason additions, there are fewer spots available.
With key offseason acquisitions of Evgenii Dadonov, Alex Galchenyuk, Erik Gudbranson, Austin Watson and Josh Brown, all likely to start on opening night. Tim Stuetzle is likely to make the team out of camp as well, leaving room for players on the outside looking in very minimal. That being said there is still a chance for those players to make the roster if they show enough in camp.
There are some expected graduates from the AHL that wouldn’t be a surprise to make the roster, players include: Drake Batherson, Josh Norris and others such as Rudolfs Balcers and Filip Chlapik who’ve already proven themselves at the NHL level. D.J. Smith hasn’t been afraid to take chances on players, like the surprising insertion of Scott Sabourin into the opening day lineup or J.C. Beaudin’s 22-game stint in Ottawa.
There’s at least going to be one player who surprisingly makes the lineup that nobody expected, so I go through three players who could pull it off.
Alex Formenton
This seems like a bit of an odd “surprise” since Alex Formenton has made the Senators opening day roster twice already but oddly he didn’t appear in an NHL game last season. Ottawa went the development route in Formenton’s first year of professional hockey and boy did it pay off, playing in 61 games the speedy-winger had 27 goals, 53 points and appeared as an AHL All-Star.
Formenton’s speed fits today’s NHL perfectly and once he jumps in as a full-time player he will be one of the better skaters in the league. The talent is there and personally I think that Formenton can immediately step in on the third-line and be a staple on the Senators’ PK as soon as the season, but it remains to be seen if he’s given the opportunity. It’s safe to say that Formenton will see NHL games this upcoming season but I along with others have my doubts about the coaching staff’s willingness to start him with the big club.
The Senators are pretty weak on the left-wing after Brady Tkachuk. Alex Galchenyuk, Tim Stuetzle, Artem Anisimov and Nick Paul round out the competition but there are some question marks. First off, Stuetzle appears he will be recovered from his injury in time for Senators camp but there’s no guarantee he leaves Manheim, due to contract stipulations. Galchenyuk was signed on a one-year “prove it” deal that doesn’t tie the Senators to him in the least, so if they don’t see him as a fit he can be easily overtaken. Nick Paul seems like a staple in the bottom-six, especially after his new contract and Artem Anisimov shouldn’t be preventing younger more deserving players from getting ice-time, he seems like an ideal 13th forward.
With the speed, skill and two-way game Formenton brings to the table, he’s plenty deserving of a spot in the opening day lineup.
Artem Zub
If we head back to May 1st when Artem Zub was signed this wouldn’t seem like quite a surprise, but things have changed over the last several months.
With the additions of Erik Gudbranson and Josh Brown who both shoot right like Zub, it seems as of now that his chances of cracking the opening day lineup are slim. This doesn’t mean it will be impossible for the 25-year-old Russian to crack the roster but two NHL defencemen are likely now ahead of him on the depth chart.
The contract he signed in may is a one-year, entry-level contract which carries a salary of $925,000 for the season, so expectations were for Zub to play in the NHL this season. At 6’2″, Zub is a rangy defensive defenceman who offers an extra bit of offence that likely turned plenty of eyes to him last season. Zub scored 13 goals and 22 points with SKA St. Petersburg last season and while plus/minus isn’t the most reliable stat, he led the whole KHL with a +35 rating.
If the Senators are not impressed with either one of Gudbranson or Brown and Zub impresses the job could be his, with not a ton of high-end talent on the backend if Zub impresses there’s no reason he can’t start the season in Ottawa.
Micheal Haley
While this is not a move I would advocate for, this is definitely a possibility due to trends in the D.J. Smith regime. Last year they started the season with Scott Sabourin who was primarily an AHL enforcer before getting his chance, while Micheal Haley has 270 career NHL games under his belt.
Michael Haley: This years Scott Sabourin?
— Locked On Senators (@SensCentral) November 13, 2020
73 fights in 270 NHL games for NYI, NYR, SJS & FLA.#ProtectYourInvestments pic.twitter.com/pSdezi4JJZ
Already having scrappy veterans Austin Watson and Erik Gudbranson, the need for Haley on the NHL roster seems unnecessary, and my hope is that the two-way contract he signed means he will be seeing AHL time.
The Senators have made it a plan to “protect the investments” and this is another addition that does just that. At the AHL level, Belleville needed some toughness and Haley will provide that for a very young Belleville Senators team if need be. While the AHL is the likely course of action, with Sabourin making the team on opening night last season, don’t count Haley out.