The Ottawa Senators’ 2024 training camp will be full of drama as players battle for roster spots and management agonizes over who to keep and who to cut. Yet this year, the battles and storylines fans will be following will be as much about who turned heads in the executive suite as it will be about who snagged one of the few roster spots up for grabs.
Few Senators Roster Spots Open at 2024 Training Camp
As the Senators’ training camp opened on Sept. 18, it was clear that their roster was mostly set. In the depth chart below are the players who I think have a lock on the opening night roster. If I’m right, there are only three roster spots that are in play.
Forwards:
| Brady Tkachuk | Tim Stutzle | Claude Giroux |
| David Perron | Josh Norris | Drake Batherson |
| Nick Cousins | Shane Pinto | Michael Amadio |
| Noah Gregor | Ridly Greig | Open Spot |
Defence:
| Jake Sanderson | Artem Zub |
| Thomas Chabot | Nick Jensen |
| Tyler Kleven | Open Spot |
Seventh Defenceman: Open Spot
Goaltenders:
Challengers for Senators’ Open Spot at Forward
Some pundits say 6-foot-3, 205-pound tough guy Zack MacEwen should have the lock on the only open spot on the Senators’ fourth line since he’s signed to a one-way contract, albeit at the league minimum. Sending him down to the American Hockey League (AHL) means running the risk of losing him on waivers for nothing. Even so, last season he bounced back and forth between the Belleville Senators and the NHL, clearing waivers twice. There’s a low risk of losing him.
That may mean president of hockey operations and general manager (GM) Steve Staios will feel he’s able to experiment with five or six options he has to beef up his fourth line. They include veteran Adam Gaudette and rookies Angus Crookshank, Stephen Halliday, Jan Jenik, and Zack Ostapchuk.
Among the rookies, my money would be on Ostapchuk to battle his way onto the opening night lineup. As my colleague and resident prospect sage Dayton Reimer at The Hockey Writers pointed out, Ostapchuk proved in his six NHL games last season that he could be a good fit for the Senators and slide into a prominent role even as a rookie. He’s a heart-and-soul player who brings a physical edge, is good with the puck, is fast, and has a high hockey IQ.
Related: Senators Prospect Report: Ostapchuk, Crookshank, Nikitin & More
Crookshank won’t roll over in training camp and give up the open spot on the fourth line to Ostapchuk. Crookshank made his NHL debut last…
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