Senators head coach Paul MacLean joined Team 1200's The Drive on the eve of the 2013 season that kicks off tomorrow in Winnipeg. The 'Stache hits on a number of important notes, including the power play personnel, naming Craig Anderson as his starting goaltender and his comfort level with the state of the defence corps. 

Please note MacLean touched on a few things that I did not bother to include in this post, so if you wish to listen to the full interview, you can do so here, or via streaming the embedded audio below.

As always, my thoughts will be in bold.

The 2013 Senators training camp first roster casualties should have shocked few, forwards Stefan Noesen and Mike Hoffman have been reassigned – Noesen was returned to the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL and Hoffman rejoined his teammates in Binghamton – while defenceman Cody Ceci was returned to the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack.

Great experience at camp, excited to get back to playing games now with @pwhalers #fridaynighthockey

— Stefan Noesen (@ScubaShteve93) January 16, 2013

The real news isn’t that Ottawa has cut Noesen or Ceci, two players whose fate was ordained from the moment that each player was brought up to training camp and set foot within the dressing room. This was simply a look-see for the coaching staff and an opportunity for them to get a closer look at their development. And conversely, this was an opportunity for the players to take whatever imparted knowledge and confidence that he muster from this experience and positively translate it into their performance for the second half of the junior season.

And no, the real news was not that a dark horse candidate like Mike Hoffman was unable to play his way onto the team. With the business side of hockey being playing such a pivotal role in the personnel decision-making process, the likelihood of the Senators exposing a well-liked player like Kaspars Daugavins – who is also on a one-way contract – was remote.

The real news is that their respective departures signify the next event in a sequence of events leading up to Saturday’s afternoon tilt with the Jets. And with goaltender Robin Lehner surviving the latest round of cuts, one has to wonder why the team would keep him around in the interim, unless they had some designs to ultimately play him. 

During TSN's NHL Season Preview tonight there was much time given to #65; could he replicate last season's success? Aaron Ward liked his chances, Ray Ferraro not so much. That discussion was followed by a Karlsson feature looking back at the 2008 draft and his development since. Bryan Murray and Paul MacLean provided commentary...as did Don Brennan.

Well okay.

But surely they included a reference to his infamous "Karlsson's 'a garbage pick'" piece.

They didn't.

#producerfail

It doesn’t take a genius to assess Ottawa’s blue line and realize that it lacks proven NHL talent. Gene can yammer on all he wants about loving the team's depth, but having a slew of warm bodies means nothing unless this depth can be effective players at the game's highest level. 

Beyond the four veterans, we enter a world where Mark Borowiecki, Patrick Wiercioch and Andre Benoit have a combined 18 games of NHL experience under their collective belts.

It seems like just yesterday when one of the strengths of this team was its wealth of defensive riches. With a group that featured Zdeno Chara, Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, Wade Redden, Andrej Meszaros, Filip Novak and Brian Pothier. Okay, so it wasn’t yesterday. It was 2005-06 and yeah, maybe one of those names doesn’t belong either.

*sigh*

Some have stated that one of the benefits of a lockout (puke!) is the fact that a number of the young players or veteran AHL fodder will have a leg up on the competition in the early going because they’re already in game mode and should have their instincts and reactions in mid-season mode. I hope so because if these three players can hold their own, it will prevent Bryan Murray from sifting the scrapheap.

Wait, what’s that you say Mr. Garrioch?

"The Sens have looked at the free agent market to see what’s available. It’s believed they’ve held talks with the likes of Chris Campoli and Milan Jurcina."

*Dry heaving*

Fantastic work by @SensForLife11. Give him a follow. 

With the CBA ratified and the memorandum of understanding signed, the Senators organization held an introductory press conference -- featuring the Euge, Alfie, Cyril Leeder and head coach Paul MacLean -- to formally kickstart this abbreviated 2013 NHL season.

While Leeder spoke at length about the perks and benefits that Senators season ticket holders would receive and MacLean preserved his consistent message about the Senators being a rebuilding team that needed to provide an opportunity for the organization's youngest players to develop, the real star of the press conference was owner Eugene Melnyk.

You're shocked, I know. 

The following is a transcript of what was said and as always, my thoughts in bold: 

While one Swedish Senators’ forward prospect is being shut down for the season, another made his anticipated return to the Binghamton Senators last night.

In his first game back since November 24th, Mika Zibanejad suited up against the Norfolk Admirals and finished the night +1, with 0 points and 4 shots on net. It's an encouraging start for a player whose development has been stalled over the past season and a half because of injuries. 

According to a report from @SensProspects, Andre Petersson will undergo the same surgical procedure that Jared Cowen had to repair a torn labrum in his hip. Like Cowen, Petersson, Binghamton’s second leading scorer from the 2011-12 season, will miss the remainder of this season. If you'll remember Petersson has already missed a decent number of games in his young career due to back problems.

Entering camp this season on what was a young and inexperienced Binghamton team, he like many of Binghamton’s other "veteran" forwards who were expected to carry the team’s offensive production, struggled out of the gate this season; producing only two goals and five points in 17 games before getting hurt.

There was enough reason for optimism however that his offensive numbers would have reverted back to norm. In amassing 36 shots in those 17 games, he was averaging 2.12 shots per game – good enough for one of the four highest rates amongst forwards on the team. He was getting his chances, he just wasn’t burying them.

The risk that Petersson’s injury runs is that his prolonged absence will allow a number of the organization’s other prospects to surpass him in the organizational depth chart (mind you, had his production continued to stink, this would have happened anyways). With one year left on this entry-level contract, if things don't trend sharply upwards for him in 2013/14, he could be heading back to SEL.

Done and done.

Training camp starts tomorrow and is free to the public, SBP doors open at 12:30.

Player list:

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Think you could just throw your old 2005-2012 CBA in the trash? Think again. While doing an interview with Uffe Bodin of Sweden's no. 1 hockey outlet HockeySverige, the Senators top goalie prospect mentioned that he is of the understanding he will be a restricted free agent at the end of the year.

”I’ve heard people say I’ve got one year left on my deal, but I’ve been a pro for three years now and this is my last year.”

 “I was in more than 10 games the first year, because you count the games where you’re backing up as well.”

On whether he thinks he’ll get a one-way deal.

“I really hope so. It would take a lot for me to sign a two-way deal again.”

So let's dust off the old Egyptian parchment, shall we...