The Ottawa Senators’ 2024 training camp opens in eight weeks. So now’s the time to look at training camp battles that will be waged for one of the very few spots on the Senators’ opening night roster that haven’t already been sewn up by veterans.
Training camp battles are the stuff of compelling story lines that hold fans in their grip. The winners of these battles often become fan favourites. After all, who doesn’t love an underdog who came out on top?
Projecting the Ottawa Senators’ Opening Night Depth Chart
On Oct. 10 at 7 pm, the Senators will face off against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in Canadian Tire Centre. In the depth chart below are the players who I think are a lock to suit up on opening night.
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
| Brady Tkachuk | Tim Stutzle | Claude Giroux |
| Ridly Greig | Josh Norris | Drake Batherson |
| Michael Amadio | Shane Pinto | David Perron |
| Noah Gregor | Open | Zack MacEwan |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
| Jake Sanderson | Artem Zub |
| Thomas Chabot | Nick Jensen |
| Open | Open |
If I’m right in this projection, there are only three open roster spots at this point.
Who Has a Shot at Playing Senators’ 4th Line Centre?
I reckon that only five players have a chance at cruising middle ice on the fourth line as the season opens. They are Adam Gaudette, Jan Jenik, Matthew Highmore, Garrett Pilon and Xavier Bourgault.
Related: 5 Ottawa Senators’ Storylines to Watch in 2024-25
While a long shot to make the roster, Pilon will be interesting to watch. Now 26 years old, this is probably one of the few chances he has remaining at cracking an NHL lineup. Last season with the Belleville Senators he put up his highest points total in his six American Hockey League (AHL) campaigns. In the league’s Calder Cup Playoffs last season, he registered five points in seven games. If his camp isn’t good enough to earn a spot on the opening night roster then at the very least, he’ll want to show that he should be on head coach Travis Green’s call-up list.
The same can be said for the recently acquired Xavier Bourgault who Ottawa got from the Edmonton Oilers in July as part of a trade involving injury-plagued Robbie Jarventie. At just 21 with only two AHL seasons under his belt, odds are long that he’ll play his way into the fourth-line centre spot.
Even so, as my colleague at The Hockey Writers, Jacob Billington wrote recently, in Bourgault, the Senators “are bringing in a player who isn’t as good as Jarventie right now. But over the course of the next few years, his much…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Hockey Writers…