The Ottawa Senators currently have a winning record halfway through their preseason games as they continue to take a good look at the players that will make up the team. Although the final roster will look different, they’ll have to continue these winning tendencies from the moment the first puck drops in the team’s opening game against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Senators will be playing their most meaningful hockey early on, and many different circumstances make it crucial for them to start it all on a winning note.
The Scheduling
Arguably the most impactful factor for the Senators to start their season is their interesting scheduling. Not only are the team’s first 13 games to be decided at the Canadian Tire Centre, but the stretch extends itself to the first 16 of 21 games, leading up to mid-December (from ‘Ottawa Senators kick off 2023-24 schedule with lots of home cooking’, Ottawa Sun, 5/27/23). Within that stretch is a trip to Sweden for two games, which takes up one of the five games they’ll be playing on the road, as well as a home game.
The strengths of the opponents during that stretch can be difficult to determine given that the season hasn’t started yet. Luckily for the Senators, their chances of continuing their historical streak of poor performances in November are slimmer with this abundance of home games. But after November comes December, and with it comes a six-game road trip, their longest of the season. They’ll want to make sure to be in an advantageous position by then, as it could take a toll on the team physically and emotionally.
Plus, having more road games at the end of the season could complicate itself if the team isn’t in a nice spot in the standings.
New Faces, Familiar Faces & Injuries
While it is true for most teams, the Senators have many important players returning from injuries. Josh Norris, Jakob Chychrun and Anton Forsberg are either close or expected to be healthy by opening night. To add to that, Vladimir Tarasenko, Joonas Korpisalo and Dominik Kubalik are amongst the shiny new toys for the Sens and could help them greatly in pursuing the postseason.
Related: Senators’ DJ Smith Facing High Expectations This Season
While having all of these new and familiar faces back is lovely, the obvious truth is that the injury bug can hit any team, at any time. On the plus side, they do have a young, energetic roster that could keep up for a good chunk of the season. However, that also comes with inexperience late into the season. On paper, Ottawa has a good, balanced roster in comparison to the others in their conference. That being said, they’ll have to capitalize on the presence of their full roster until it is too late with injuries potentially catching them by surprise.
Atlantic Division
The final factor for the Senators in their quest to reach the postseason is… well… their opponents, of course. Their division looks stronger than ever and could result in a bloodbath.
The Detroit Red Wings added a familiar face in Alex DeBrincat by acquiring him from the Senators. They’ve also added J.T. Compher, Jeff Petry, Klim Kostin, Justin Holl and James Reimer via free agency and trades.
The Buffalo Sabres haven’t made many changes but finished off on a strong note at the end of the season. They’ll look to the growth of key young players and the potential emergence of promising rookie Devon Levi as a starting goalie to help them claw their way up the standings.
In addition to these new teams improving, some consistently good teams are set to continue on their paths. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning (despite their loss of star goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to start the season) continue to compete on a regular basis. On their side, the Florida Panthers could cause a surprise the same way they did by reaching the Stanley Cup Final last season. Finally, the Boston Bruins have lost a lot in the offseason, but always find a way to remain competitive.
In the end, there is no question that the Atlantic Division will remain competitive throughout the season, on top of the Metropolitan being strong as well. Whichever teams will earn their tickets for the postseason in the Eastern Conference will really have to work for it. The Senators, who look to qualify for the postseason for the first time since the 2016-17 season, will have to make the best of their initial situation if they want to see the ice in May.
