The Ottawa Senators’ roster cuts have left 27 players vying for a spot, but those dreams of making the team will have to wait. On Sunday, the Senators released five players outright, including defenseman Scott Harrington, who played 68 games with Belleville last season and has 255 NHL games under his belt. These players, Landen Hookey, Luke Mistelbacher, Cal Uens, and goalie Vadim Zherenko, were all on professional tryouts.
Zherenko was initially a backup plan if the Senators had lost Leevi Merilainen on waivers. However, after Merilainen was claimed by Vancouver, the Senators acquired Jonas Johansson from Tampa Bay for future considerations to shore up their goaltending. As a result, Zherenko didn’t quite make the cut at camp.
Ten players have been loaned to Belleville, and all of these are waivers-exempt—including Djibril Toure, Oskar Pettersson, Kasper Halttunen, Tomas Hamara, Eskild Bakke Olsen, Matthew Andonovski, Gabriel Eliasson, Lucas Ellinas, Jackson Parsons, and Kevin Reidler.
Other prospects headed back to Belleville will need to clear waivers first, such as Tyler Boucher (their 10th overall pick from the 2021 draft), Samuel Blais, Philip Tomasino, Samuel Bolduc, Xavier Bourgault, Philippe Daoust, Ryan Suzuki, and Christian Kyrou. Meanwhile, four players will return to junior hockey for another season: Jaxon Cover (London, OHL), Louis-Félix Bourque (Drummondville, QMJHL), Adam Nemec (Sudbury, OHL), and Blake Vanek (Calgary, WHL).
Currently, 29 players remain on the roster, but they must be reduced to the NHL maximum of 23 by 5 pm Monday. This means six players will likely be released, placed on waivers, assigned to Belleville, or put on injured reserve, depending on circumstances. The goaltender spots are set with Linus Ullmark and Samuel Ersson, but the rest of the roster remains uncertain beyond that.
Injuries are complicating matters further, with key players like Artem Zub, Jake Sanderson, Shane Pinto, Warren Foegele, Andre Burakovsky, and Kurtis MacDermid all injured. Sanderson and Burakovsky exited Saturday’s game early due to injuries. Ridly Greig will miss the first two games due to suspension from a playoff incident last spring. Zub is the only injured player not expected to be available when the season begins, as injured players cannot be sent down to the minors.
The team’s projected roster includes those in bold as probable NHL starters once they’re healthy, while players in regular font are likely to remain as depth options. A key debate centers on whether Carter Yakemchuk performed well enough in camp to earn a spot in the top six defensemen; if not, Nikolas Matinpalo might fill that role, with Ben Hutton as a possible seventh defenseman to ensure depth.
Defense lineup options include Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson (injured), Artem Zub (injured), Jordan Spence, Tyler Kleven, Nikolas Matinpalo, Carter Yakemchuk, Cameron Crotty, Jorian Donovan (injured), Ben Hutton (on a PTO), and Hoyt Stanley. Forwards include Michael Amadio, Drake Batherson, Andre Burakovsky (injured), Nick Cousins, Dylan Cozens, William Eklund, Warren Foegele (injured), Claude Giroux, Ridly Greig (suspended first two games), Shane Pinto (injured), Tim Stützle, Fabian Zetterlund, Stephen Halliday, Kurtis MacDermid (injured), Hayden Hodgson, and Blake Montgomery.
In summary, although the roster deadline has arrived, injuries and other factors have made final decisions especially challenging for the Senators.
Fan Take: This roster shuffle highlights how challenging it is for teams to balance talent, depth, and health at the start of the season. For hockey fans, these developments could signal a competitive edge for the Senators if their injured stars return strong, making their upcoming games even more exciting to watch.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
