Preseason Game 4 Hub: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Ottawa Senators

We begin week two of the NHL preseason where a large swath of players around the league have already been cut. The final rosters are far from set, but the players in these final four games this week will mostly be NHL-caliber. In case you missed it, here are the players that the Ottawa Senators sent down to Belleville on Friday afternoon:

Along with them, these players were placed on waivers (and cleared) on their way to the AHL:

Most of those cuts were expected, although there was a belief that Angus Crookshank and Stephen Halliday could have had a better shot at making the team. Crookshank will have to show more than he did in his brief showings, and Halliday has only played 10 AHL games and should be a top call-up when injuries arise. We have a bit of a better idea as to who will make the opening night roster, and tonight's lineup is close to it besides a few changes:

The Penguins lines will feature some top players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, and Tristan Jarry, but the rest of their lineup won't be nearly as strong.

Game Notes:

• Tonight's game will be played at the Sudbury Community Arena as part of the Kraft Hockeyville series, which is always neat for so many locals who might never get the chance to see NHL stars up close.
• The Senators are 2-0-1 in the preseason so far, although you can't take much at all from preseason records when you look at the rosters some nights. Ottawa barely played anyone noteworthy on Thursday, and neither did Buffalo.
• Bubble players who may still get cut include Zack Ostapchuk, Jan Jeník, Matthew Highmore, Adam Gaudette, and Nikolay Kulemin up front, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Calen Addison, Donovan Sebrango, Carter Yakemchuk, and Filip Roos on defense. Based on the upside and not needing waivers, I feel like keeping Jeník is the best option, and I'd be surprised if anyone but Bernard-Docker is the 6th/7th defenseman. Both are in the lineup, which is a good sign for their chances.
• The biggest omission from the lineup is Josh Norris yet again. The team is saying they're still being careful with him and that he'll be good to go, but they've said that before and it didn't work out well. So I'll believe he's fully healthy when I see it.
• Zack Ostapchuk has an excellent opportunity to prove he belongs, which I wouldn't have expected a few weeks ago. He's still got a few games to show what he can do on the fourth line.
• Travis Hamonic playing with Thomas Chabot might seem daunting at first, but it looks like he's just a placeholder for the day-to-day Artem Zub. If Zub can play, I'd bet Hamonic begins the year as the seventh defenseman.
• It's been great seeing Yakemchuk look so confident out there as an 18-year-old, and although I'd love to see him play 9 games to start the year, I think they'll be patient with him and wait for 2025-26 or 2026-27 to bring him up because he's out of the lineup today.
• Tonight's game starts at 7:00pm Eastern and can be watched on Sportsnet and Sportsnet1