D.J. Smith can feel the excitement amongst the Ottawa Senators\u0027 faithful.
General manager Pierre Dorion and the hockey operations staff have made significant additions to the roster by acquiring forwards Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux along with veteran goaltender Cam Talbot from the Minnesota Wild.Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Smith was back in town last Sunday with assistant coach Bob Jones, video coach Mike King and goalies coach Zac Bierk. They’ve spent the week in the office getting ready for the start of camp and the regular season. “It’s time to start winning more hockey games right from the get-go. We want to bang away and get as many points as we can and try to take points every time we’re on the ice.”
“Whoever you’re defending against, one of those lines is going to get a secondary pairing or a secondary-line. We’re front-loaded and the other team brings in a defensive pairing that makes it really tough matching up against our top line, well we’ve got a few more weapons and a lot more depth.”Advertisement 6“They’re so fast and they’re going to track when the puck gets turned over,” he said. “They can get going north so quickly.
“He was out over a week and a half and I could have easily shut him down for a while,” Smith said. “He wanted to play. He’s a high-end kid and he’ll get on the inside of the rink. He’s explosive, he loves the game and his energy is unbelievable. I just think there’s another gear for him to go to still. He’s been patient and I just see there’s more there.GIROUX BRINGS VETERAN PRESENCE
Smith said Giroux will make an impact on the power play and he can help the club big time in the faceoff circle where, he’s one of the best in the league. And you can bet he’ll be working with the likes of Stuetzle, Norris and Shane Pinto during the season. Smith revealed that a couple of his veteran defencemen, including Hamonic and Nikita Zaitsev, played through injuries last season. He expects both to be fully healthy.Article content
The club will try several different options during the pre-season, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Dorion acquire another blue-liner at some point.Article content
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