As the Senators open training camp today, this could be the least interesting camp in a while. With most of the roster spots spoken for, there probably won't be much in the way of surprises when all is said and done.
Up front, there isn't much wiggle room as the locks appear to be
Mark Stone Bobby Ryan Kyle Turris Mike Hoffman Derick Brassard Clarke MacArthur Zack Smith Jean-Gabriel Pageau Curtis Lazar Chris Kelly Chris Neil
That is 11 spots, leaving just 2 open spots for the likes of Matt Puempel, Max McCormick, Nick Paul and Ryan Dzingel.
On the blue line, things get substantially more interesting. With Erik Karlsson out of camp at the World Cup, that could open the door for rookie Thomas Chabot to get key exhibition minutes on a pairing with Marc Methot. I think most fans hope (if not expect) that Chabot will get a look into the regular season for at least a 9 game audition to determine if he can handle the NHL or if he needs to go back to junior again.
Karlsson, Methot, Cody Ceci and Dion Phaneuf are the locks, but I think most fans are hoping for stiff competition between the likes of incumbents Mark Borowiecki, Chris Wideman and late season call-ups Freddie Claesson and Mike Kostka. Add Matt Bartkowski, Andrea Englund and Ben Harpur (and possibly Dennis Seidenberg?) to the list and hopefully will force Guy Boucher and Pierre Dorion to make tough decisions.
Judging from the comments over the past....well...2 years or so, people would prefer to see Borowiecki in the minors (or the 7th spot) with a more all-around option. He seemed to be a favorite of the previous regime and depending on the system that Boucher wants to instill (hopefully more puck-moving) he might not fit the bill anyway.
And of course, in goal there would have to be a shocking performance from Chris Dreidger or Matt O'Connor to unseat Craig Anderson and Andrew Hammond from the goal.