Summer Renovations: Inspecting the Ottawa Senators Upgrades

It's safe to say the real NHL off-season has arrived. Ottawa Senator GM Pierre Dorion and his 31 trading partners have all retreated to the cottage or the golf course, with their overworked cell phones gloriously set to, "Do not disturb."

If the Senators make any more changes this summer, it'll be a quick salary flush so they can cram RFA Shane Pinto into that small space under the salary cap. But beyond that, the roster appears set. 

So now that the summer renovations are done and the smoke has completely cleared, let's have a look at the finished product for this fall, along with Dorion's craftsmanship.

When the Senators opened up in Buffalo last season, Senators head coach D.J. Smith felt like this was the best alignment of his chess pieces for their first game:

2022-23 Opening Night Roster

Forward lines:

Alex DeBrincat-Josh Norris-Claude Giroux

Brady Tkachuk-Tim Stutzle-Drake Batherson

Tyler Motte-Shane Pinto-Mathieu Joseph

Parker Kelly-Mark Kastelic-Austin Watson

Defence Pairings:

Thomas Chabot-Artem Zub

Jake Sanderson-Travis Hamonic

Nick Holden-Erik Brannstrom

Goalie: 

Anton Forsberg

By the way, the Senators season began exactly the way it ended – with a loss in Buffalo against the Sabres and former Senator Craig Anderson.

With a new season set to begin in less than two months, 15 players from last year's opening night roster will be back for Ottawa in 2023-24. Smith will inevitably mix up his lines with all kinds of mad science, and maybe camp will provide a surprise or two, but the five main roster changes are clear. And they make the Senators significantly better – at least on paper. 

With the FIFA Women's World Cup on right now, let's make the substitutions like a soccer manager.

- Vladimir Tarasenko in for Alex DeBrincat (top six, slight downgrade).

- Dominik Kubalik in for Tyler Motte (third line, big upgrade).

- Zack MacEwen in for Austin Watson (fourth line shift disturber, slight upgrade).

- Jakob Chychrun for Nick Holden (big upgrade, displacing Hamonic in top four)

- Joonas Korpisalo in for Anton Forsberg (slight upgrade)

It's possible that Forsberg (2 years left at $2.75 AAV) will eventually outduel Korpisalo (5 years left at $4 million AAV), but their contracts pretty clearly indicate who'll get more work in the early going. And let's be honest, when it's time to play, everyone starts out by choosing the shiny new toy.

The Senators again enter a new season with a dynamic top six forward lineup, featuring Norris and Stutzle up the middle, with Tkachuk, Giroux, Batherson and Tarasenko on the wings. 

Here's how we'd line things up:

Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson

Giroux-Stutzle-Tarasenko

Kubalik-Pinto-Joseph

Kelly-Kastelic-MacEwen

If Smith wanted to spread the wealth around a little more evenly, it wouldn't be a shock to see the left shot Kubalik move up into the top six to play left wing, allowing either Giroux, Batherson or Tarasenko and slide down to play right wing alongside centre Pinto (assuming they get him signed) and perhaps left-shot, first-rounder Ridly Greig. 

I hesitate to move Giroux, but that not only keeps him on his natural side, he's also had such great moments of chemistry (and mentorship) with both Pinto and Greig.

Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson

Kubalik-Stutzle-Tarasenko

Greig-Pinto-Giroux

Joseph-Kastelic-MacEwen

A lot of the decision-making might depend on Greig, who's more than capable of forcing Ottawa's hand. Some nights, he's looked fantastic and involved. Other nights, not so much. That said, he was on and off the roster, moved up and down the lineup and still managed 2 goals and 9 points in 20 games. Parlayed over a full season, that's slightly more than Pinto's production (35 points). 

So that's a tidbit to keep in mind. If Pinto wants to hardball his way through the rest of the summer into the regular season, they've still got Greig who can do a damn fine Pinto impression. It's also a possible solution, though not a preferred one, to their current cap issue.

One thing is clear. Smith should have all the chess pieces he needs to get off to a great start and get to the playoffs. It's now up to him to ensure everyone's where they need to be (looking at you, defensive zone coverage), while he says a little prayer that everyone stays in one piece.