Ottawa Senators Make Final Cuts

With the preseason coming to an end in Montreal last night, the Ottawa Senators had some tough decisions to make regarding their opening night roster.

It didn’t take them long, though. The team announced, today, they had reassigned Logan Brown, Vitaly Abramov, and Christian Jaros to the Belleville Senators.

News Release: #Sens reduce training camp roster by three players: https://t.co/remVHLnNoi

Communiqué : Les #Sens retranchent trois joueurs de leur alignement du camp d’entraînement : https://t.co/Wwpfh4dAoR

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) September 29, 2019

In doing so, it appears that Scott Sabourin and Cody Goloubef will be with the team to start the season. Rudolfs Balcers and Christian Wolanin are currently out with injuries, and both would clearly have affected the final roster had they been healthy.

Arguably the highest-profile cut is Logan Brown. The 21 year-old came into camp with a lot of promise, following a breakout season in the AHL last year. But a couple new arrivals at the centre position, combined with an inability to really get going during the exhibition games, saw Brown fail to crack the roster once again.

Vitaly Abramov had a quietly solid preseason, but missing time with an injury ultimately hurt his chances.

The Senators likely dealt the toughest break, however, to Christian Jaros. He played only one game in Belleville last year, and 61 in Ottawa, as a mainstay on the NHL blueline. The addition of Ron Hainsey, and the emergence of blue-chip prospect Erik Brannstrom presented a challenge that Jaros ultimately couldn’t surmount.

Though the decision to keep Goloubef instead of him may be perplexing to some, it makes sense when one considers that the role is for a seventh defenceman. It’s far better to have Jaros playing meaningful minutes in Belleville, than sitting in the press box in Ottawa.

Barring any more changes, the 2019-2020 Ottawa Senators opening roster appears to be as follows: