As preseason begins, Senators focus on the fit rather than roster battles

The Ottawa Senators will begin putting the pieces of the puzzle together on Monday night.

Training camp isn’t about a battle for jobs for the Senators, it’s about trying to determine where everybody will fit when the regular season gets underway on Oct. 3 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Senators will open the preseason against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night in the annual Kraft Hockeyville game, which will be held at the 4,300-seat Centre Vidéotron in Trois-Rivières.

While alternate captain Thomas Chabot won’t make the trip because his wife, Marion, is due to give birth to the couple’s first child any day, judging by the 23 players and three goaltenders on the ice Sunday at the Canadian Tire Centre, this will be a strong lineup.

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The three goalies on the ice were Linus Ullmark , Samuel Ersson and Leevi Merilainen.

“Tomorrow, we’ll have a majority of our group play,” coach Travis Green said before the club’s short flight to Trois-Rivières.

The Senators have only five exhibition games before Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, Green and the rest of the group have to declare the club’s final 23-man roster by Monday, Sept. 28, at 5 p.m.

Though the Senators will essentially practise as a National Hockey League group, the club will need to keep extra players around. Ottawa will host the Leafs for a split-squad game on Wednesday at home, while 20 other players will travel to Scotiabank Arena.

That will be the same scenario on Saturday when one group hosts the Montreal Canadiens at the CTC and 20 more players wearing Ottawa uniforms will face the Habs at the Bell Centre at the same time.

“It’s exciting to get going and to play a game to get yourself ready. It’s all about gearing up for the first game of the year,” Green said. “And as camp goes on, you’ve got to fight through fatigue and stay mentally sharp. Those are all things we’ve talked about, and it’ll be nice to get a game under our belt for sure.”