The Ottawa Senators don’t play their first game of the 2026-27 season until Saturday. And it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Injuries to key players have been a story of Senators training camp to date. The injury bug bit the team during their opening-round playoff loss to Carolina, and it continues to do so.
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Senators Infirmary
Defenseman Artem Zub injured a knee in Game 1attempting to make a hit on Hurricanes Taylor Hall. Five months later, he remains out of the Senators lineup. Zub was able to skate in camp, but not as a practice participant. However, the soon-to-be 31-year-old October 3, suffered a setback, per head coach Travis Green on Monday, making his return to ice unknown.
Forward Warren Foegele returned to practice this week for the first time since camp opened September 17. Foegele sustained an injury while training. A versatile, speedy forward, Green immediately slid Foegele on the left side of Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson on Ottawa’s top unit.
On his decision to put this line together, Green noted he liked Foegele’s “Speed, strength.”
Adding, “He’s got a scoring touch. You know, with the kind of the injuries we’ve had during camp and guys not being in, we’re kind of doing it on the fly a little bit. And you know lines can change quick. But he brings that element to any line he plays on.”
Unfortunately, Foegele’s move was necessitated due to an upper-body injury to Andre Burakovsky. Burakovsky left Saturday’s preseason game in Ottawa shortly after being hit on the numbers into the boards by Canadiens Arber Xhejac. There was no penalty on the play.
Green said Burakovsky will not be available for the Senators this weekend.
But Ottawa’s main concern is the health of d-man Jake Sanderson. Sanderson, who’s been battling an undisclosed injury, has missed several practices. Arguably the club’s most valuable player, Sanderson played 13:22 on Saturday, his only preseason appearance, leaving after setting up Batherson for a power-play one-timer.
Sanderson skated prior to Senators practice Wednesday, but wasn’t available to participate with the main group. It’s unknown if he’ll be ready to play Saturday in Toronto.
“We’re hoping he’d been in practice today, but he didn’t feel right, so he stayed off and we’ll see where it goes,” said the Senators head coach.
“Practice, not a game, practice.”
Not playing a game until the fifth day of the season has it’s druthers. Players are getting antsy. Tim Stütze stated he watched parts of all four NHL games Tuesday, “Probably staying up later” than he should’ve.
One bonus is; healing injuries, of course; the other is taking time to go over systems, including special teams, especially with short practice windows at times during the regular season.
Green explained to Hockey Hot Stove that it’s ok to practice, but it’s still tough to replicate actual game action.
“I don’t really think about it too much, to be honest. It’s out of my control. You know, perfect growth. Probably have our game not developed before Saturday. Guys don’t like to sit around that long, and they get antsy. They want to play, especially when they see the rest of the league playing. I mean, they’ve loved practice. We’ve tried to mimic as close to game-length situations as you can. Talking to our team about it and the importance of it, and they understand that as well, and they want to be ready to go on Saturday.”
Respect for the Captain
To a man, Senators players were ecstatic for Thomas Chabot being named the Senators 11th captain Tuesday.
Tim Stützle
“It’s awesome. Super fired up for him, but also for the whole group, for this organization means a lot. I’ve been here with “Chabby” since Day One. He’s just the best guy to be around. He’s always got a happy face, and he’s a great leader. So he’s been so big for us, especially since I’ve been here for me personally, but for everybody here, I’m just so happy for him and for this organization that they made that decision.”
Drake Batherson
“He’s a guy, you name it. He organizes things, organizes dinners. He’s loud in the room, jokes with everyone every day. He’s been here for a long time in this city. He deserves it. There’s just so many things that goes into being captain, and he checks all the boxes. Like I said, he gets along with everyone. Never in a bad mood.”
Claude Giroux
“I feel like when I got it (named Philadelphia Flyers captain) I was pretty young, and I did a lot of mistakes, and I’m gonna own that. But you know, I feel like he’s older. He’s got a lot of experience, and maybe hasn’t never had a “C” before. But I think it’s just in his blood that he leads on and off the ice. I mean he’s not going to change as a person, so just got to go out there and play his game.”
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