Ottawa Senators release winger Nikolay Kulemin from PTO as roster cut down
The Ottawa Senators are slowly closing in on their opening night roster, and they made another step in that direction Monday afternoon.
While the players were given Monday off after a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday during the Kraft Hockeyville celebration in Sudbury, four more were sent packing with the season opener set for Oct. 10 against the Florida Panthers at home.
Winger Nikolay Kulemin was released from his professional tryout while goalie Leevi Merilainen, along with defencemen Filip Roos and Donovan Sebrango, were sent to the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville.
That leaves the club with 16 forwards in camp, nine defencemen and four goaltenders with only three pre-season games left. The Senators will face the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
But the most difficult decisions remain ahead for Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, because there are players here that are still pushing for spots.
The 38-year-old Kulemin was trying to make the National Hockey League roster after spending the last six seasons playing in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia.
He knew his chances of making the Senators weren’t great when he came to camp, but he was trying to see if he could make it back to the NHL after returning to Toronto this summer.
Kulemin was drafted No. 44 overall by the Leafs in 2006. His son, Aleks, 15, is playing midget-AAA hockey with the Don Mills Flyers.
The Senators didn’t mind giving Kulemin an opportunity to make the roster because there’s no cost involved and they needed to have players who could suit up for exhibition games.
But camp is about to shift to a different mode this week with head coach Travis Green and his staff preparing players to get ready for the start of the season. Included in the club’s three remaining exhibition games will be a visit by the Habs to Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night.
THE REMAINING PLAYERS
FORWARDS: Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, Shane Pinto, Jan Jenik, Matthew Highmore, Zack MacEwen, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Nick Cousins, Michael Amadio, Claude Giroux, Zack Ostapchuk, David Perron, Ridly Greig, Noah Gregor, Adam Gaudette.
DEFENCE: Artem Zub, Nick Jensen, Calen Addison (PTO), Travis Hamonic, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Tyler Kleven, Carter Yakemchuk, Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson.
GOALTENDERS: Linus Ullmark, Anton Forsberg, Dustin Tokarski (PTO), Mads Sogaard (injured).
Players in BOLD are on the bubble and trying to make the roster.
Oilers Notes: Sam O’Reilly heading back to OHL after strong camp
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After Edmonton Oilers’ first-round pick Sam O’Reilly’s excellent training camp, through his four pre-season games, we can expect a three-year entry-level contract coming his way soon after the teenage centre was sent back to his junior London Knights team Sunday.
“He got better and better every day,” said Oiler coach Kris Knoblauch, who had the 18-year-old O’Reilly on a line with the 38-year-old Corey Perry and Vasily Podkolzin Saturday night in his last Oiler exhibition — fitting because O’Reilly will be skating back in London and seeing Perry’s No. 94 retired jersey there nightly.
“It’s a big jump to go from junior to an NHL camp for the first time and we gave him a lot of responsibilities, either in a checking role, or playing with more offensive guys. He had penalty-kill work, some power play time and, everything we gave him, he handled well. He showed why our scouting staff believed in him,” said Knoblauch.
If his play is as solid in London over the next two months, maybe he gets invited to Canada’s U20 selection camp for the worlds in Ottawa over Christmas.
The Oilers believe in Matt Savoie, too, after they traded Ryan McLeod to Buffalo for the local product and especially need his young legs on the oldest team in the NHL but Savoie, 20, was sent to Bakersfield. He played six AHL games last season in Rochester, but that’s the extent of his pro career. He played about 60 minutes in his four pre-season games and assisted on Cam Dineen’s OT winner in the game against Winnipeg here but he needs to be playing 17-20 minutes every night on the farm, either at wing or centre, not hanging around as a bubble guy.
While O’Reilly’s back in London for a second OHL season, defencemen Connor Carrick (242 NHL games, signed as a free agent in July) and Cam Dineen are on waivers. If they clear, as expected, they are on their way to Bakersfield along with forward Seth Griffith who has an AHL contract.
