The Ottawa Senators are next in our series of training camp job battles for NHL teams leading up to opening night on Oct. 8. We've also covered the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens.
Strong training camps by Mark Stone and Curtis Lazar, plus a possible position change for the latter, is putting heat on Ottawa Senators right-winger Erik Condra as training camp nears an end.
There was talk Senators head coach Paul MacLean might put Lazar on the wing for this weekend's final pre-season games, putting him in direct competition with Condra for a roster spot.
Kyle Turris, Mike Zibanejad, David Legwand and Zack Smith are the likely centres to begin the season Oct. 9 in Nashville, but Smith could be shifted to left wing if MacLean believes Lazar is a better fit in the middle.
Still, the 28-year-old Condra is in a fight to break camp with the NHL team as the right wing spot he has held the past four seasons is not guaranteed. A training camp injury, believed to be to his shoulder, hasn't helped the penalty killing specialist's cause.
"I think I bring a different aspect than a lot of [my teammates] and you need a lot of pieces to a puzzle to be a hockey team, to win games," Condra told reporters in Ottawa recently.
Condra, whom the Senators drafted in the seventh round in 2006, said the 22-year-old Stone and Lazar, 19, are good, fast players with plenty of skill
"Now I'm an older guy, and you've got to help those guys out," said Condra, who's in the final year of a contract that has a $1.25 million US salary cap hit. "You don't bury them … just because they're trying to look for your spot. You help them out.
"You want to be a good guy, because the next night they could be playing on your line."
Other Senators camp battles:
Defence
Erik Karlsson, Marc Methot, Jared Cowen, Chris Phillips will be the regulars and you can probably add Mark Borowiecki to that group as well.
It gets a little tougher when deciding who fills the sixth spot on a daily basis among Patrick Wiercioch, Eric Gryba and Cody Ceci. Ceci is the only blue-liner who doesn't need to clear waivers to be sent to the minors but it's hard to imagine he would be going anywhere after a solid camp.
Wiercioch, a 24-year-old who has two years left on a deal with a $2 million cap hit, might be the odd man out. Last season, he was frequently the designated sitting among the rearguards.
Goaltending
This is not so much a battle right now but rather Craig Anderson's job to lose once the season begins.
The 33-year-old signed a three-year extension in August and will try to rebound from a disappointing 2013-14 season during which he posted a 3.00 goals-against average and .911 save percentage, far lower than his NHL best .941 save percentage during the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign.
Robin Lehner, 23, was once considered Ottawa's goalie of the future but it's unclear how soon that will be, given Anderson's contract extension.
Lehner also signed off on a three-year extension in the off-season after he appeared in a career-high 36 games last season, going 12-15-6 with a 3.06 GAA and .913 save percentage.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Ottawa Senators training camp job battles
Dengan url
https://sportiflover.blogspot.com/2014/10/ottawa-senators-training-camp-job.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Ottawa Senators training camp job battles
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Ottawa Senators training camp job battles
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar