Training camp 2023-2024

[Dionysus]

That's what I thought but here we are.

Pierre at home enjoying enjoying some turkey, no time to sort out this boondoggle.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

No surprises. I knew Kelly would make it, even if he didn't deserve it.

Contracts and the salary cap dictate roster spots beyond the odd outlier. Always have always will and we all know this.

Good luck DJ. Gonna be rough with that center lineup. May not make it past US Thanksgiving this year.

 

[BondraTime]

Parker Kelly is hubris incarnate.

An undrafted free agent that we signed at the young age 18, and have been gifting chances as a representation of the ability to find him.

 

[bert]

No surprises. I knew Kelly would make it, even if he didn't deserve it.

Contracts and the salary cap dictate roster spots beyond the odd outlier. Always have always will and we all know this.

Good luck DJ. Gonna be rough with that center lineup. May not make it past US Thanksgiving this year.

Thought he played surprisingly well as the pre season went along. Almost all the forwards had good camps which is encouraging. However Smejkal and Jarventie were both better than Kastelic, Kelly, Chartier and MacEwen. Which is sad that they both aren't up here. Another dorion cap situation blunder.

 

[Big Muddy]

The cap issues come from locking up all the young guys early. Melnyk legacy is killing us, Ryan and Del Zotto buyouts to save money rather than letting them age out.

Yes, its a combo of the things you mentioned. I don't mind signing players like Stutzle, Sanderson & Tkachuk to reasonable, long term contracts. But they have $5 m of dead cap space from 4 different players that are not on the roster that makes a pretty large difference as well.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Good camp, really enjoyable games after the summer off.

I liked a lot of what I saw from the guys on the bubble and the vets as well.

I think we now have a nice deep team with no glaring holes, and guys who can get called up from the AHL.

Norris will eventually be healthy, and Pinto will eventually sign a deal so I’m not going to stress about that stuff.

Can’t wait unit Wednesday, hockey’s back!

 

[Big Muddy]

BIG Game hunting .. Dorion loves the big names. ; Duchene, Debrincat, Tarasenko.

He would have had the same issue if he extended DeBrincat at 8+ so this wasn't his first simple addition failure.

I hope the addition of Tarasenko makes up for all this cap kerfuffle but I have some doubts there even though some people love the move.

Yes, he certainly got locked on to Duchene who he pursued for a long time.

I never really agreed to Debrincat signing with his limited term (one year and a maybe year). That was short term thinking likely aimed at increasing attendance and boosting the sale of the team. From a strategic and long term perspective, I don't think the Debrincat signing was wise as much as some tend to disagree (or don't want to admit perhaps).

All of these non-stellar and weak strategic moves will come back to bite the team at some point. Maybe we mitigate the damage with whatever pick/prospect we get.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Parker Kelly is hubris incarnate.

An undrafted free agent that we signed at the young age 18, and have been gifting chances as a representation of the ability to find him.

So Kelly doesn't deserve a spot and this explains why he has one because there is no other explanation?

 

[Ice-Tray]

Personally I like Parker Kelly’s game a lot, he just needs to be consistent.

He is the biggest hit to hurt player we have on the team, and that says something. He’s also a solid PKer, can chip in a bit of offence and is pretty fast and aggressive on the forecheck.

He is a pretty good 4th line player.

He NEEDS to bring it every shift, and be consistent game to game bringing his hitting, pettiness, and aggression though.

He also has to be more disciplined with his stick and toe the other side of the line a bit more with his hits. Basically he needs to focus on bringing his game without always ending up in the penalty box.

I liked the Semegal Kasty Kelly line. I think they are a nice mix for a heavy aggressive energetic 4th line.

 

[Ice-Tray]

As an aside, I think it’s interesting how PD was derided for not setting playoffs as the stated goal earlier in the summer, but now we have seen both guys at the very top of the organization refuse to set playoffs as the goal, with Staois going a bit further and talking about how we still have work to do.

Andlauer has also been pretty clear that the team isn’t moving anywhere anytime soon.

It feel like there is going to be an adjustment of expectations again this season based on what fans expect and what the team is once again saying.

I love the optimism surrounding the change, with more to obviously come, but underneath all of that it really feels like expectations for a new arena, and playoff hockey is being tempered by the new owner and POHO.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Good camp, really enjoyable games after the summer off.

I liked a lot of what I saw from the guys on the bubble and the vets as well.

I think we now have a nice deep team with no glaring holes, and guys who can get called up from the AHL.

Norris will eventually be healthy, and Pinto will eventually sign a deal so I’m not going to stress about that stuff.

Can’t wait unit Wednesday, hockey’s back!

Yes, sounds OK IF all this happens relatively soon i.e., a few weeks before American Thanksgiving.

What Staois & Andlauer have said is that there's still a lot of work to do. It will be interesting to see what that actually entails. A lot of the existing roster are young with long term contracts, so perhaps the focus will be on other aspects (i.e., not players).

 

[Ouroboros]

Kelly's job was there for the taking and nobody really took it. A guy like Jarventie - who had a very good camp - isn't really competing for the same spot/role.

 

[Hale The Villain]

There was a time Kelly actually deserved his 4th line LW spot

That was back when he was throwing big hits and chipping in the odd goal.

Last 55 games he's had 1 goal and does anyone remember the last big hit he had that wasn't from behind?

Has done nothing this pre-season besides continuing to take stupid offensive zone penalties. Ridiculous that he's still penciled in on the 4th line.

 

[aragorn]

Personally I like Parker Kelly’s game a lot, he just needs to be consistent.

He is the biggest hit to hurt player we have on the team, and that says something. He’s also a solid PKer, can chip in a bit of offence and is pretty fast and aggressive on the forecheck.

He is a pretty good 4th line player.

He NEEDS to bring it every shift, and be consistent game to game bringing his hitting, pettiness, and aggression though.

He also has to be more disciplined with his stick and toe the other side of the line a bit more with his hits. Basically he needs to focus on bringing his game without always ending up in the penalty box.

I liked the Semegal Kasty Kelly line. I think they are a nice mix for a heavy aggressive energetic 4th line.

I prefer Kelly to Joseph, with Kelly you also get the speed & given he is a pest he can draw a lot of penalties & for the Sens this is a good thing since we have such a good PP. He also hits a lot more than Joseph who usually does fly bys & he will drop the gloves when needed, something else we have never seen from Joseph, not to mention he makes the least amount on the team & Kelly can play all three forward positions in a pinch.

Kastelic is another guy I like who is very strong in the faceoff circle something else that goes unnoticed but is very important especially for coaches, the 4th line just needs to add a little offense which I suspect will happen as the season progresses. Smejkal has shown he is a player who can move up & down from the 3rd to 4th lines & can take faceoffs which again is important. We need to sign Pinto to give them much more offence from the 3rd line & a healthy Norris to move Kubalik down a line & help increase 3rd line production.

 

[GCK]

Kelly's job was there for the taking and nobody really took it. A guy like Jarventie - who had a very good camp - isn't really competing for the same spot/role.

Smejkal took it IMO. Once the dollars work I hope the change is made.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Smejkal took it IMO. Once the dollars work I hope the change is made.

Could take it if he's slotted there for sure.
I would slot him on the 3rd line ahead of Joseph.
Joseph (ignoring his salary) would look better as an energy forward on that 4th line

 

[Ouroboros]

Smejkal took it IMO. Once the dollars work I hope the change is made.

I think it's more likely that he would have been playing over MacEwen if they had cap space to carry 13 forwards. Kelly at least provides some penalty killing utility.

Carrying a guy like MacEwen when you're as tight to the cap as the Sens are can be pretty tough. He's just not versatile enough.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Putting this here .. not sure if there was a better place.

GARRIOCH: All options on the table for Ottawa Senators with season opener Wednesday

The Ottawa Senators had to do some salary cap gymnastics, but had a little room to spare at the deadline for their final roster Monday at 5 p.m.

ottawasun.com

Based on practice Sunday if winger Zack MacEwen can’t play after taking a hit Saturday night then the Senators may dress only 19 players against the Hurricanes because they don’t have the cap space to call anyone up if Norris isn’t placed on LTIR.
Coach D.J. Smith told reporters Sunday that Norris is “day-to-day” and was doubtful he’d be placed on LTIR. As we’ve learned through camp, anything can change with this situation and placing him on LTIR is a big commitment because Norris has to miss 10 games and 24 days.

If Norris is ready soon that means director of hockey operations Steve Staios and Dorion will have to shuffle the roster to get Pinto, a restricted free agent, to fit under the cap once he does sign.

Everybody assumed that space would be created by placing Norris on LTIR Tuesday morning so the club can go up to $7.9 million over the cap. That move would allow the organization to sign Pinto and kick the can down the road on how to alleviate the cap issues.

If Norris isn’t placed on LTIR then Staois and Dorion will have to come up with another plan to make this work. That could mean getting a contract off the books by making a trade or sending a one-way deal or two to the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville.

Tough situation .. I am guessing Norris would be ready ahead of 24 days
They have very little flexibility to deal with short term injuries as we see with MacEwen

Call it what you want. Given the C depth to start . I call it a mess .. and Dorion backed the whole thing into a very tight corner with an important piece left off completely and better slightly higher paid players left off for meagre savings. I am not sure Staios and Andlauer could be left with a better example of his incompetence ..but of course he always wanted help.

 

[redbrick98]

They can't even call anyone up if McEwans injured...

They're gunna play with 19 skaters potentially ... what a mess by PD

 

[BondraTime]

Being unable to call-up a player prior to the 1st game is hilarious

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

The Pierre Dorion "Get Off to a Fast Start" line up

 

[Dionysus]

They can't even call anyone up if McEwans injured...

They're gunna play with 19 skaters potentially ... what a mess by PD

It's a bit embarrassing really. It's like management forgot there was a salary cap since they have never been close to it before.

 

[Cosmix]

We will see. Smejkal was taking reps on PP2 yesterday. There's always a chance for some shuffling, I wouldn't rule out him being in the line up on Wednesday.

I wonder what Smejkal has done to deserve a spot on the PP.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I wonder what Smejkal has done to deserve a spot on the PP.

Big Body for a net front with decent hands

 

[Ouroboros]

They're lucky they made it through pre-season as healthy as they did. What was the plan if they had a bunch of short/medium term injuries?