While training camp may not officially start until September 20th, members of the Ottawa Senators have already started trickling into town in order to get ready for the season. According to The Ottawa Sun. New faces Zach MacEwan and Joonas Korpisalo have been spotted along with more familiar players, Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson. If nothing else, the players seem eager to get the season underway after an interesting summer.
It was a busy offseason for general manager Pierre Dorion and his staff as he had to manage the Alex DeBrincat situation, sign some free agents, and lock up at least one youngster to a long-term deal. Oh, and he had to deal with a new owner taking over. He’s not quite at the finish line as Shane Pinto and Egor Sokolov have yet to sign off on new contracts, and their deals will have a trickle-down effect on the roster due to the salary cap implications.
With less than two weeks to go until training camp officially opens, it is a good time to take a snapshot of where the Senators stand and what they can look forward to this season.
New Faces
For the most part Dorion was patient in free agency. He made one big splash on the first day, inking goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to a 5-year, $20 million deal. The 29-year-old goaltender is coming off of a season where he posted decent numbers (.912 SV%, 10 GSAx) in 28 games behind a Columbus Blue Jackets team that was not very good. That earned him a trade to the Kings at the deadline where he was solid for them down the stretch.
The knock against the signing was that Korpisalo has never been a true number one in net, with 38 games being a career-high in appearances for him in a season. The good news is that, for now, the Senators aren’t expecting him to take a Marty Brodeaur-esque load of work and appear in 70 games. The expectation is that he’ll split time with Anton Forsberg in a 1a/1b rotation. If one of the two netminders grabs the reins, so be it, but in this day and age in the NHL it’s always good to have two quality options to choose from in net.
Other than that signing, the 1st was relatively quiet as Dorion focused on re-signing Travis Harmonic, Erik Brannstrom, and Jacob Bernard-Docker. A few days later he did add a little bottom-six depth by picking up veteran winger Zach MacEwan.
The big deal that everyone had been waiting for, the trade of Alex DeBrincat, finally happened on July 9th and brought in Dominik Kubalik along with prospect Donovan Sebrango, a conditional first round pick, and a fourth-rounder. Kubalik should slot onto the third line and the Sens would be ecstatic if he could come close to the 20 goals he put up with Detroit last season.
With DeBrincat in the Motor City there was a need for a top-six winger and at the end of July Dorion found his man in Vladimir Tarasenko, signing the veteran to a one-year, $5 million contract. The Russian might not be scratching the 40-goal mark like he did a younger man in St. Louis, but he is still a legitimate scoring threat. He might not drive the offensive on his own, but pair him with a center that can set him up and he still has pretty good finishing skills:
Familiar Faces Back in Action
In addition to those new faces, the Senators are looking to get a boost from a couple of players that missed some time last year. Forsberg is reportedly fully recovered after tearing the MCL in both knees last February. As mentioned, he’ll be in a tandem with Korpisalo throughout the season.
More importantly, Josh Norris returns to the center of the ice. After a shoulder injury limited him to just 8 games last season, the 24-year-old is healthy and ready to regain the form that saw him score 52 goals in 122 games two seasons from 2020 to 2022. He likely enters camp as the second-line center behind Tim Stutzle, giving the Sens a pretty good one-two punch in the middle of the ice.
Jacob Chychrun was a bit of a surprise pick-up at the trade deadline and then an injury limited him to just 12 games. With a full training camp to prepare and acclimate with his new team, Chychrun should be a strong addition to the top pairing with Thomas Chabot.
Still Some Work To Do
So, that’s all of the good news. The less-than-great news is that Dorion still has work to do, namely in figuring out a contract for Shane Pinto. The 20-goal scorer is looking for a new deal and the Senators are trying to figure out how to fit in with just under $900,000 available in cap room left. The most likely solution is a short-term bridge deal somewhere in the realm of about $1.5 million. Evolving Hockey projects a two-year deal with an annual average value of $1.78 million, which would definitely put the Senators in a bit of a pickle.
Offseason cap rules still apply, so Ottawa can go 10% over the $83.5 million cap ceiling which gives them some room to work if they want to sign him before camp starts. If they do that, they have to figure out how to make things work before the season begins. CapFriendly has them with a projected cap of $82,604,047 without Pinto or Sokolov under contract. The rub is that only 20 players are currently making up that number so it’s not like they have room so there isn’t much fat to trim off of the roster.
If Sokolov signs a contract, the Senators will likely be able to bury it in Belleville if he doesn’t earn a spot on the opening night roster, so that isn’t too much of a concern. Pinto is penciled in to be the third-line center, so whatever deal he signs for will cause a little more of a financial headache.
Dorion could look to flip Kubalik before he ever suits up for a Senators’ game, but moving that $2.5 million cap hit could require a sweetener. Mathieu Joseph is carrying a $2.95 cap hit and is coming off of a somewhat disappointing season. However, he is a solid penalty killer and hard worker that could play a role for a contender if Dorion is willing to eat a portion of the deal. Brannstrom could draw some interest, but that would thin out a defensive corps that has some question marks outside of the top four.
Could Dorion move Forsberg and his $2.75 million hit? Possibly. Most of the goaltending holes have been filled in the offseason, but a training camp injury could spark some inquiries. The general manager would also have to be confident that Mads Sogaard is ready to split time with Korpisalo in net.
Is it enough to snag a playoff spot? Possibly. The elite of the Atlantic Division will likely see some attrition this year while the Senators, Buffalo Sabres, and Detroit Red Wings have built up some young and feisty teams. There is likely to be a logjam for the wild card and the Sens have just as good of a chance as the rest of the teams to earn one of the two spots.