Compared to opening night last year, the Ottawa Senators will open next season with at least eight new skaters and a new goalie.
Through his actions in the past two weeks, no one has to wonder what Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios thought of the club's rebuild and roster construction over the past six years.
He didn't like it.
The construction was out of balance and built with some parts that were either inferior or incompatible. One part, located near the pipes, was leaky from the day it was installed.
So, Staios went all Mike Holmes and tried to make it right this summer, doing a little bit of everything. He hopes he's fixed the goaltending, rebalanced the blue line, and levelled out the veteran-to-kids ratio. Staios has tried to bring in good, responsible players who play the right way. They should help the coaching staff expedite the maturing process of the younger players.
On that note, one could argue that some of the kids have been spoiled to this point, rewarded with nothing but big ice time and money, with little in the way of behavioural consequences for their effort level or mistakes without the puck.
Linus Ullmark, Nick Jensen, David Perron, Michael Amadio, and Noah Gregor will be among the new players on this fall's opening night roster. Departed players include Jakob Chychrun, Mathieu Joseph, Erik Brannstrom, and Parker Kelly.
The top nine forwards and top four defence seem set, so it's hard to imagine too much tinkering there. But there will be a battle for jobs on the fourth line and the bottom pairing D.
Here's our projected opening night roster, which, unlike last season, won't be a man short.
Forwards
Brady Tkachuk-Tim Stutzle-Claude Giroux
Ridly Greig-Josh Norris-Drake Batherson
Michael Amadio-Shane Pinto-David Perron
Noah Gregor-Adam Gaudette-Zack MacEwen
Defencemen
Jake Sanderson-Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot-Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven-Travis Hamonic/JBD
Goalies
Linus Ullmark
Anton Forsberg
With $3.6 million in cap space, Staios might still go out and add another depth forward. He also has other forward options internally who could push for jobs at camp, like Roby Jarventie, Jan Jenik, Zack Ostapchuk, Matthew Highmore, Angus Crookshank, or Garrett Pilon.
Is this a playoff team? What roster changes would you make to our projections? Leave your comments below.