Preseason Preview & Open Thread, Game 1: Ottawa Senators @ Toronto Maple Leafs

After spending an obscene amount of time over-interpreting the results from a (devastating) rookie tournament and an intra-squad scrimmage game, the Ottawa Senators’ 2024-25 season edges closer to official action with the start of the preseason schedule. Tonight at 7:00pm ET, it's the first of a home-and-home series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Projected Lineup

Mads Søgaard is expected to start, with Dustin Tokarski – who's on a PTO – expected to backup over AHL netminder Michael Simpson. While TSN1200 has Calen Addison alongside Tyler Kleven, the Sens Instagram has Artem Zub in that spot. We shall see, I guess!

Meanwhile, in Toronto, the Sens are expected to face a pretty talented roster for Craig Berube's first game in charge. Based on how the Leafs have been lining up at practice, our friends at Pension Plan Puppets speculate that the Leafs might go with something like this, with Nikita Grebenkin, Max Pacioretty, and Ryan Reaves filling in the gaps at forward, and Noah Chadwick and Cade Webber doing the same on defence:

Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Max Domi - William Nylander - Calle Järnkrok
??? - John Tavares - ???
Easton Cowan - Jacob Quillan - ???

Chris Tanev - Morgan Rielly
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Jake McCabe
??? - Timothy Liljegren

Joseph Woll is expected to mind the net, while former Sens netminder Matt Murray might get action as his backup.

Game Notes

• Sens fans worried about the team's on-ice performances over the last few weeks are expected to continue worrying after tonight. Based on the crude metric of "number of NHL-calibre players in a lineup", the Sens could get smoked.
• On the flip side, what a test for Travis Green and co. The Sens are icing three different versions of a potential fourth-line with Halliday, Jeník, and Gaudette centring and it'll be interesting to see if Green chooses to match Pinto up against Matthews or if he tests one of these lines to see how they survive against some of the league's best. Regardless, one of them will have to match up against Nylander.
• Here's hoping for a big game from Leafs legends, Nik Kulemin, Noah Gregor, and Adam Gaudette.
• On defence, all eyes are on Tyler Kleven. A steady, reliable game from him will go a long way in showcasing his readiness for an all-situations role on this defence corps.
• It'll be interesting to see the Chabot - Yakemchuk pairing again. While there's no doubt in my mind that Carter will be returning to the WHL, it was interesting watching the feedback on these two from yesterday's scrimmage in Gatineau. I didn't get to watch the game, but it looks like they were dynamite offensively but that Chabot had to do a lot of covering for Yakemchuk's defensive miscues. Tonight's contest is a good trial-by-fire for the youngster, and should give him a strong visual for where he needs to improve this season to realize his potential as a top-pair NHL rearguard.
• Mads Søgaard will have a chance to showcase how NHL-ready he is against this Leafs lineup. A big game from him is probably Ottawa's best chance at keeping this game close.

You can watch tonight's game on Sportsnet.