Ottawa Senators: Your Complete Guide to the Season Opener

It's been almost six months since the Ottawa Senators played a meaningful hockey game. Their last one was on April 13th in Buffalo, a 4-3 overtime loss, as they bid farewell to Craig Anderson in his final game in the NHL.

Now, 181 days later, the slate has been wiped completely clean and the Senators open the 2023-24 season on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Senators finished just six points out of a playoff spot last season while the 'Canes have finished in the top three overall in the NHL for three straight years. 

So, while the Sens will have their hands full in the opener, the same can't be said of their opening night roster. 

Due to salary cap issues, the Sens will have to play the game down a man. Zack MacEwen is injured and the Sens just don't have the cap room to replace him right now. Josh Norris is still not right after January shoulder surgery but hasn't been placed on LTIR. And the cap crunch is also preventing them from re-signing Shane Pinto. 

On the bright side, the Senators have their best lineup in years, and if there's ever a game where you don't mind going with 11 forwards, it's your very first game when you're as rested as you'll ever be.

"There's guys here that love minutes," head coach D.J. Smith said. "And there's guys that can play lots. We have a couple of days off between games, so (we'll) put Parker Kelly on left and Mark Kastelic at centre, you can double Drake back, or Tarasenko back or Giroux back. I can do a lot of things where guys can get extra minutes."

Based on lines at Wednesday's practice, the Senators will likely line up like this:

Forwards

Tkachuk-Stützle-Giroux 

Joseph-Greig-Batherson

Kubalik-Chartier-Tarasenko

Kelly-Kastelic-"Tarabatheroux"

Defence

Chychrun-Chabot 

Sanderson-Zub 

Brannstrom-Hamonic

Power Play

PP1 Chabot, Giroux, Batherson, Stützle, Tkachuk 

PP2 Sanderson, Chychrun, Kubalik, Tarasenko, Greig

Penalty Kill 

PK1 Brannstrom, Hamonic, Joseph, Chartier

PK2 Kastelic, Kelly, Zub, Chabot

Here's Carolina's roster for opening night:

As the Senators continue to wait on Norris, the 'Canes have their own young star who's not quite ready to return to action. Andrei Svechnikov suffered an ACL tear in March and is not expected to play in the opener on Wednesday. 

It's always worth noting when Brendan Lemieux and Brady Tkachuk are on the same ice surface. Two years ago when he was with LA, Lemieux grabbed the Sens captain from behind and, in the ensuing wrestling match, infamously bit Tkachuk twice on the hand. 

Lemieux was thrown out and suspended by the NHL for five games. Lemieux claims he had no choice because his hands were tied up by the linesmen and Tkachuk was gouging his eye in the scrum. 

There's still bad blood there and Lemieux may try to use it and lure Tkachuk into something. But Tkachuk can't bite on it. That's a penalty trade off Carolina will take all night long.

The 'Canes really didn't mind adding a little truculence in the offseason. Not only did they add Lemieux, they signed former Leaf, Michael Bunting. They even brought back defenceman Tony DeAngelo after getting three draft picks for him just a year ago. The Flyers bought him out after just one year.

Stefan Noesen finally came into his own last year, more than a decade after the Senators drafted him in the first round. Noesen had never scored more than 13 goals in any pro season and erupted for 48 goals in the AHL two years ago. Last season he came up and posted a career best 36 points for the 'Canes. 

Ottawa's top three scorers last season were Tim Stutzle (90 points), Brady Tkachuk (83) and Claude Giroux (79). Carolina's offence was a little more spread out with Martin Necas (71), Sebatian Aho (67) and Brent Burns (61) leading the way. 

Carolina's Possible Lines:

Bunting-Aho-Jarvis

Teravainen-Kotkaniemi-Necas

Martinook-Staal-Fast

Lemieux-Drury-Noesen

Defence:

Slavin-Burns

Skjei-Pesci

Orlov-DeAngelo

Goalies:

Andersen

Raanta

TV

Networks: RDS, SN1

Location: PNC Arena

Faceoff: 7 pm ET