Ottawa Senators’ Leadership Group Have High Expectations

On what was a dreary Tuesday morning on the outskirts of Ottawa, the Senators kicked off their prequel to Wednesday’s training camp medicals for a charitable cause at Loch March Golf Club.

The club announced a $55,000 donation to the Youth Services Bureau; in addition to re-igniting their relationship with Roger Neilson’s House, a palliative care home for children and their families while re-introducing a re-vamped Senators Community Foundation.

However, the misty weather quickly turned to breaths of fresh air, as the Senators leadership group comprised of captain Brady Tkachuk, alternates Thomas Chabot and Claude Giroux each spoke about the excitement of opening the season and playoff aspirations.

Ottawa Senators Leadership Group Excited

For Tkachuk, entering his fifth campaign, second as captain, he could barely hide his excitement heading into Senators camp.

“It’s the most excited I’ve been. Everybody is ready to rock and roll from Day One in camp. It’s going to be very important for us to get off to a good start. We’ve done a lot of things as a group already. We’ve done a couple of golf rounds. We’ve done a fantasy football draft. It’s been good, a lot of guys have been filtering in, a lot of guys came in earlier than expected. It’s been good. It’s been fun. I already feel a lot closer this time than we were last year.”

A reCAP of Brady’s day at the Ottawa Senators Charity Open! #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/qSrSLgvh4R

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) September 20, 2022

The Ottawa Senators offseason acquisitions of forwards Alex DeBrincat, Giroux and netminder Cam Talbot, the 23-year-old relishes a window is open for the team to make the playoffs, but the captain in him stopped short of declaring an outright prediction.

“I don’t think we need to put to set numbers on a place in the standing, but just take another step, take another step in development, take another step on our will to win. We’re not going to throw out expectations and add extra pressure, but we’re confident with what we’re able to do,” said Tkachuk.

The addition of  Claude Giroux, the longest-tenured captain in Philadelphia Flyers franchise history also lends Tkachuk another veteran voice in the Ottawa Senators’ locker room, a player the St. Louis area resident can learn from.

“He’s really going to help. For me individually, he’s someone to learn from – someone to lean on. From his experiences as captain for these years, I’m looking forward to getting some advice, for stuff like that. I just think our new additions and the guys we have, everybody leads in one aspect or another. If everyone is leading on their own way, it’ll be good for us.”

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Claude Giroux is Exactly Who the Senators Need For Playoff Push

For Giroux who’s got playoffs on his mind, it’s also his first training camp with a team other than the Flyers since 2007. The Kanata resident’s anticipation is high.

‘It’s the first time coming to training camp with a different team, so it’s all weird. But I’ve been able to skate with the guys for two weeks here and I’ve gotten to know the guys. We’ve had a few team events and so far, so good. At this time of year, everybody is kind of anxious to start – start camp and start the season. It’s coming sooner than you think.” 

Giroux feels the buzz around the city.

“I mean, just go to the store, or go anywhere with my kids, and you can see everybody, how excited they are -the fans, players, management and coaching staff. Everybody is excited to get going. At the end of the day, we have to put in the work, and we know that. So, we’re excited to put in the work and start the season.”

Unlike Tkachuk, Giroux went a small step further, stating the team is close to earning a playoff berth.

“I mean, for us, we believe we’re a playoff team. You know, there are no bad teams in the league anymore, and every game is going to be hard to win. But for us, it’s starting Day One. We need to get better every day and work on our chemistry.”

The upcoming season will also be the first in 10 not donning a “C” for Giroux.

“There’s a lot of players on this team that don’t have a letter, and you can see how they’re leaders already. Obviously, when you have a letter, you have a bit more confidence in saying or doing something. You can see guys like Nick Holden and Travis Hamonic, older guys that have been around, they’re just leaders. It’s just in themselves. When you have a big group of leaders like that, and everybody works together, it just makes everybody’s job a lot easier,” Giroux explained.

Claude Giroux expects his new team to be competitive and playoff are not unrealistic. #Sens @FullPressNHL pic.twitter.com/JkvHqR96ex

— Murray Pam (@Pammerhockey) September 20, 2022

Senators Young Defenceman Ready To Go

Entering his seventh NHL season, the current longest-tenured Ottawa Senators player, Thomas Chabot is another who can hardly wait to get it going.

“We’ve been here for two weeks skating. The excitement is there. The first day of training camp always reminds me of the first day of school when we were kids – seeing all your buddies again, getting on the ice together. Looking forward to it,” Chabot noted Tuesday.

The club’s premier defenseman also has high hopes of playing beyond 82 games.

“It’s pretty obvious our team is a lot different than the team we ended the season with. We’ve added some great players. Obviously, we want to take a bigger step. We’re aware our goal is different. Obviously, this is a year for us as a team. It’s going to be a fun season. It’s going to be a challenging one. It’s not going to be easy, but at the same time, I think everybody is looking forward to it. We all want to make the playoffs. We all want to play games that matter until the end and extend our season. But then again, at the same time, we’re all aware that our division is not an easy division to sneak into the playoffs. Every team in our division also improved this summer.”

Ottawa Senators 59-man training camp

Six goaltenders, 2021-22 team(s): Antoine Bibeau (Allen – ECHL, Charlotte – AHL), Logan Flodell (Acadia – AUS, South Carolina – ECHL, Reading – ECHL, Belleville – OHL), Anton Forsberg (Ottawa – NHL), Kevin Mandolese (Atlanta – ECHL, Belleville – AHL), Cam Talbot (Minnesota – NHL), Mads Sogaard (Belleville – AHL, Ottawa – NHL).

Twenty defencemen, 2021-22 team(s): Jonathan Aspirot (Belleville – AHL), Xavier Bernard (Atlanta – ECHL, Belleville – AHL), Jacob Bernard-Docker (Belleville – AHL, Ottawa – NHL), Erik Brannstrom (Belleville – AHL, Ottawa – NHL), Thomas Chabot (Ottawa – NHL), Jorian Donovan (Hamilton – OHL), Maxence Guenette (Belleville – AHL), Tomas Hamara (Tappara U20 – SM-sarja, KeuPa – Mestis, Tappara – SM-lliga), Travis Hamonic (Vancouver – NHL, Ottawa – NHL), Dillon Heatherington (Belleville – AHL, Ottawa – NHL), Nick Holden (Ottawa – NHL), Jacob Larsson (San Diego – AHL, Anaheim – NHL), Zackary Massicotte* (Shawinigan – QMJHL), Ben Roger (London – OHL, Kingston – OHL), Chandler Romeo (Hamilton – OHL, Sarnia – OHL), Kristians Rubins (Toronto – AHL, Toronto – NHL), Jake Sanderson (North Dakota – NCHC), Lassi Thomson (Belleville – AHL, Ottawa – NHL), Nikita Zaitsev (Ottawa – NHL), Artem Zub (Ottawa – NHL).

Thirty-three forwards, 2021-22 team(s): Drake Batherson (Ottawa – NHL), Tyler Boucher (Boston U. – H-East, Ottawa – OHL), Derick Brassard (Philadelphia – NHL, Edmonton – NHL), Rourke Chartier (Belleville – AHL), Angus Crookshank (Did not play), Michael Dal Colle (Bridgeport – AHL, N.Y. Islanders – NHL), Philippe Daoust (Saint John – QMJHL, Belleville – AHL), Alex DeBrincat (Chicago – NHL), Dylan Gambrell (San Jose – AHL, Ottawa – NHL), Claude Giroux (Philadelphia – NHL, Florida – NHL), Ridly Greig (Brandon – WHL, Belleville – AHL), Jayce Hawryluk (Skellefteå AIK – SHL), Roby Jarventie (Belleville – AHL), Mathieu Joseph (Tampa Bay – NHL, Ottawa – NHL), Mark Kastelic (Belleville – AHL, Ottawa – NHL), Parker Kelly (Belleville – AHL, Ottawa – NHL), Carson Latimer (Edmonton – WHL, Prince Albert – WHL), Viktor Lodin* (Timrå IK – SHL, Belleville – AHL, Ottawa – NHL), Jake Lucchini (Belleville – AHL), Kyle McDonald* (Windsor – OHL, North Bay – OHL), Tyler Motte (Vancouver – NHL, N.Y. Rangers – NHL), Josh Norris (Ottawa – NHL), Zack Ostapchuk* (Vancouver – WHL), Shane Pinto (Ottawa – NHL), Cole Reinhardt (Belleville – AHL, Ottawa – NHL), Scott Sabourin (Belleville – AHL, Ottawa – NHL), Egor Sokolov (Belleville – AHL, Ottawa – NHL), Tim Stützle (Ottawa – NHL), Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa – NHL), Reid Valade (Kitchener – OHL), Dalyn Wakely (North Bay – OHL), Austin Watson (Ottawa – NHL), Matthew Wedman (Belleville – AHL).

Injured – defenseman Zackary Massicotte, forwards Viktor Lodin, Kyle McDonald, Zack Ostapchuk.