Ottawa Senators Training Camp Check-In: Sept. 24th

If you’re having any doubts about how great this season is going to be, just watch this.

HOCKEY HUGS 🤗 pic.twitter.com/GvUZAwEvpK

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) September 23, 2021

• We’re just getting started with the fun part of the pre-season with everyone energized and ready to prove they belong. DJ Smith was impressed with what he’s been seeing from the team so far, commenting that they’re working hard and just nailing those drills. It’s comforting to know that they’ve got the basics covered.
• The biggest to monitor on the back end is whether Chabot and Zub work together. Both Dorion and Smith are relying on this pairing working and finally giving the Sens a top pairing they’ve been missing for a while. Chabot had some good things to say about playing with Zub, and he mentioned that the two have been skating together even before camp started.
• On Chabot, Smith mentioned the goal this season is to allow him to focus on being a more offensive player where he mostly excels. He is hoping that some of the new additions alongside Josh Brown (ha!) could relieve the pressure on Chabot having to be the best player on the ice every night.
• More on defense, the Senators were quick to welcome their new summer acquisitions in Michael Del Zotto and Nick Holden.
• There’s a general expectation that Holden will be at least serviceable but Del Zotto is a bit more of a mystery; Sens fans will be hoping he turns out a bit better than some of their recent veteran defensive acquisitions.
• DJ Smith had an interesting comment about seeing a huge difference in the conditioning of the team at the beginning of training camp compared to previous years. While it’s a nice compliment to pay to the young guys coming in this season, we’re left to wonder if there was an issue in previous years with other players showing up to camp out of shape?
• DJ Smith also had high praise for the line of Chris Tierney, Connor Brown and Tim Stützle mentioning that even without proper structure in the scrimmage, they were able to have control of the puck at almost all times.
• Stützle seems to enjoy being a winger and has expressed that he has no interest in moving to center this season so you can take his name out of the running for the second line spot n. He also got high praise from Smith on his confidence and his compete level, as he’s apparently even hitting a lot more.
• No real update on Brady Tkachuk but according to Shawn Simpson, he won’t be in Ottawa for yet another week while both sides iron things out. Don’t worry people, it’ll get done!/

Brady Tkachuk will stay in Michigan for another week. If a deal is gonna get done, it's the Sens that will need to give to make things happen, from what I'm being told.

— Shawn Simpson (@TSNSimmer) September 24, 2021