Ottawa Senators Training Camp Check-In: September 21st

With the start of the 2022-23 NHL preseason three days away, the Ottawa Senators released their 59-man training camp roster yesterday. Here are a few notes:

• Defensemen Tomas Hamara and Jorian Donovan will represent the Senators’ 2022 NHL Entry Draft class, as both are projected to play in the OHL this year, with Kitchener and Hamilton, respectively. Even though Donovan hasn’t signed an ELC at this point, CHL players are still eligible for training camp.
• The roster contains four players on amateur tryout contracts: defenseman Zackary Massicotte, as well as forwards Kyle MacDonald, Reid Valade, and Dalyn Wakely, all previously seen on the rookie camp roster earlier this month.
• Players have been divided into three different groups, each with a mix of NHLers and minor-league guys. In each group, you can see the various lines and pairings the coaching staff have envisioned — for example, Alex DeBrincat, Tim Stutzle, and Claude Giroux are together on “Team Phillips”, and Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub are featured on “Team Neil”. /

#Sens camp group breakdowns.
Subject to change daily. pic.twitter.com/QgRXdXFa9J

— Murray Pam (@Pammerhockey) September 20, 2022

• The following players are absent from the above list due to injury: Ridly Greig, Zack Ostapchuk, Viktor Lodin, Kyle MacDonald, and Zackary Massicotte.
• Greig’s absence, in particular, is troubling in light of the fact that it’s now been over a month since he was injured at the World Juniors.
• The Sens hosted their charity open yesterday and the optimism for the season ahead was thick in the air. Claude Giroux even went so far as to say he thought the club could be a play-off team.
• At the event, team president Anthony Leblanc also announced the re-launch of the Senators Community Foundation. Welcome news, indeed!
• Training camp officially kicks off today with the players checking in for their physicals, and Pierre Dorion and DJ Smith set to appear before the media at 1:30 pm./