Senators forced to play with just 17 skaters, down a forward against Hurricanes
Due to their tight cap situation, the Senators will have to play a man short for their opener against the Carolina Hurricanes.
With a salary cap mess on their hands, it looks like the Ottawa Senators will start the season down a man. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Senators will play with 17 instead of 18 skaters during their Wednesday opener.
They’re expected to be limited to six defensemen and 11 forwards (instead of 12).
Today's alignment. It appears the #Sens will go with 11 forwards and six defencemen on a 19-man roster tonight in Raleigh. I am led to believe if Norris can't play Saturday this would allow them to make an emergency recall. https://t.co/dFqSqLvWNb
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) October 11, 2023
Garrioch adds that the Senators may be allowed to make an emergency recall if Josh Norris still cannot play on Saturday.
Senators’ salary cap issues also slow signing of Pinto
Late in the offseason, the Senators attempted to trade Mathieu Joseph and his $2.95 million cap hit, however, as Elliotte Friedman indicated, teams like the Philadelphia Flyers had hoped to squeeze out a rich reward for taking Joseph off of the Senators’ hands. Reportedly, that price remains too high for Ottawa's liking.
Moving Joseph and his near-$3M cap hit isn’t just about gaining some breathing room, either. The Senators still need to hash out a deal with RFA center Shane Pinto. If nothing else, it sounds like the two sides aren’t taking the delay personally.
Pierre Dorion continues to grind to create cap space for Shane Pinto. Both the Pinto camp and Sens are trying to find a resolution. There’s no stalemate, this is purely a cap issue.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) October 11, 2023
On Tuesday, player agent Allan Walsh slammed the NHL and Gary Bettman for its “triple hard salary cap crunch,” noting that several teams would be starting the 2023-24 season well short of the standard 23-man roster. No doubt, the glacial climb of the cap is a major hurdle for plenty of teams.
More concerns about Ottawa's direction
That said, it’s tough not to see the Senators’ salary cap mess as an indictment on GM Pierre Dorion.
It’s one thing to scrape against the salary cap ceiling as a perennial contender. It’s less acceptable given that Ottawa has missed the playoffs for six straight seasons.
In addition to spending big on depth players including Joseph, the situation attracts extra scrutiny given the Senators’ penchant for handing significant extensions to its young players, including those without much pedigree including newly minted blueliner Jake Sanderson.
In the case of Tim Stützle, that looks like a brilliant strategy. Such a move may pay off in each situation, including that of Sanderson. Yet, with the Senators’ offensive ceiling still somewhat limited, it’s harder to give Dorion the benefit of the doubt when kicking off a crucial season at such a disadvantage.
