Remember That Hockey Thing? It's Right Around the Corner

That's right, the newest version of the Ottawa Senators will open their pre-season on the 21 of September against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

That's only five days away.

This has me, well, decidedly more excited than just about anything else in the world right now. For serious.

Pre-season is a fun time of year for me, because historically I've been someone who gets really excited about young players, and I like that they get mixed into the games along side veterans and give us a taste of what it will be like when they finally make it to the show.

Now for every Erik Karlsson, who had his highlight reel assist, banked off the boards from two zones away against the Bruins last year (which I couldn't find on youtube), there is a Brandon Bochenski. But at the end of the day, after watching the final game of the rookie tournament, I'm interested in seeing how those kids do on a line with Jason Spezza, or in a pairing with Chris Phillips.

The obvious ones that we will all be watching of course are Butler, Wick, Hoffman, Gryba, Weircoch and Cowen. But even a kid like Jakob Culek intrigues me, and I'd love to see how far off he is from being a professional, or if he will end up a professional at all.

Because the fact is, this is a league that has been taken over by young players. Every year the top 4 or 5 scorers are not over thirty, and many of them are closer to 25. This has become a league where one year you are playing major junior, and the next you are counted on to be a top contributor on a professional NHL team (like Tavares and Duchene of last year).

So watching how these young players fit in with the existing group of veterans and existing systems at the NHL level, even in pre-season is both interesting and important.

Me? I'm intrigued most by Roman Wick, so that's who I will be watching closest.

Who do you have your eye on in training camp?

So Rookie Camps Are Fun, but Are There Any Spots?

As of this writing, the Ottawa Rookie Senators are currently winning 7-3 in the third period to Chicago's rookies. Yesterday, the Rookie Sens lost to Pittsburgh 5-3.

One very bright spot in the loss to Pittsburgh was the play of Bobby Butler, who picked up two goals and was all over the ice, having excellent chemistry with Mike Hoffman.

BOBBY BUTLER

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Bobby Butler, the Hobby Baker finalist and top NCAA player from last season is a player the management are very high on, and who looked quite promising in two games last year. Bryan Murray describes him as a very smart player who is "a goal scorer". We know he can put the puck in the net at the collegiate level with 29 goals in his last year, and appears to be able to put the puck in against his prospect-peers.

So the question is simple, can he do the same at the NHL level? Oakes did a sweet piece back when the Sens first signed him that can be found here, that talks about what we might be able to expect.

ROMAN WICK

Another, exceedingly intriguing prospect is Roman Wick. A similar type of player to Butler in that he is an offensive winger (an area where the Sens are not so deep), Wick is a prospect from the past. He was brought back into the consciousness of the fanbase while playing for the Swiss at the Olympics. He is big, strong and could look good on a line with someone like Milan Michalek.

The question with him is, can he bring the success from the Swiss League, playing for the Kloten Flyers, to North America? And if he cannot right away, how long is he willing to stay here improving in the AHL?

Now I would say these are the two most NHL-ready forward prospects the Sens have (assuming, as I do, that Zach Smith is a lock for the 4th line, and is therefore not a prospect), and they are exciting because they offer at the chance for some offence. But is there even a roster spot for either of these gentlemen?

Well let's look at the roster. Under one-way forward contracts, the Sens currently have

Spezza, Kovalev, Alfie, Fisher, Michalek, Regin, Kelly, Ruutu, Neil, Winchester, Shannon, Foligno.

That's twelve, and technically, that's all you need. But if you remember, I said I believe Z. Smith is our fourth line centre, so now we are at 13, which is the number most teams carry. So let's look at line combos with these thirteen.

Regin--Spezza--Alfie

9MM--Fish--Kovy

Ruutu--Kelly--Neil

Foligno--Z.Smith--Shannon

Winchester

This is, in all likelihood, the most safe bet as to how the lines will start this season. I'm not Winchesters biggest fan, I think Z.Smith does everything Winchester does, only better and with more intensity. I'm also not a huge Shannon fan.

So in reality, in Training Camp, Wick or Butler only has to outplay Ryan Shannon for a roster spot.

Now there are pros and cons to this. Would Butler and Wick benefit from 4th line duty? Or is it better to give them more minutes at the AHL level and use them for injury call-ups (remembering that Locke and Keller will also be in line for call-ups)? In addition both players need new contracts after this year, and you want to keep them happy and around for the not-so-distant future when Kovalev and Alfie retire leaving huge holes in the top six for wingers.

So how do you handle these two young players?