Ahead of their opening game of the season, the Ottawa Senators are surprisingly set to healthy scratch centreman Colin White.
According to Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas, Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith has confirmed that Colin White will be a healthy scratch when the team take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight.
With the absence of White, the Senators could rotate a number of other players into the centre position, but will likely roll with a primary four of Josh Norris, Derek Stepan, Artem Anisimov and Chris Tierney.
The decision to leave White out of the opening night line-up has already drawn plenty of attention on social media, largely due to the Hanover, Massachusetts native’s contract.
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After the 2018/19 season, White was handed a lengthy six-year extension after he posted 41 points (14 goals, 27 assists) in 71 regular season games, earning himself an AAV of $4.75 million with the hopes that he can be a top-six player for the foreseeable future.
The Covid-shortened 2019/20 saw White’s production drop significantly, with the former American World Juniors gold medallist registering just 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in 61 regular season appearances, while averaging around a minute less when out on the ice.
While this drop in offensive production was disappointing, the Senators will undoubtedly still be hoping that White can partner well with some of the team’s top young talent and get himself back to the standard that was expected of him before his extension.
Investing this much money in a player that wasn’t able to land a place on any of the four offensive lines for a team that is generally expected to finish around the bottom of the division, will be a concern for the Ottawa Senators.
However, it could potentially help see the team benefit from some additional motivation.
This early scratch could be a way for the Senators to ‘encourage’ White to work harder in practices, with Smith specifically mentioning the other centremen had good training camps, potentially suggesting that the coaches did not see enough of what they wanted.
It will now be up to the 23-year-old to win back the favour of Smith and his staff and become a prominent feature in the Senators’ promising offence once again, with the young Norris arguably the most surprising addition to the line-up with just three NHL appearances to his name.
Beating out the likes of Stepan, Tierney and even Anisimov will be a challenge, but if White is determined to become a bigger part of what is being built in the Canadian capital, then this ‘demotion’ should be an extremely short-term situation.