Ottawa Senators coach hopeful as season opens tonight

With training camp done and the exhibition season over, Ottawa Senators coach Guy Boucher says the veterans and coaches on the team are itching to see what kind of team they have.

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"It's a new team, new staff, new players, some big injuries..." Boucher told All in a Day host Alan Neal on Wednesday, on the eve of tonight's season and home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"Are we where we would like to be eventually...? No, there's so much work to be done. But I think the skeleton is in place and we'll just put some meat over the bones over the next few weeks and I think I like our group," Boucher said.

The Senators missed the playoffs last year and shook up the front office and coaching staff, with Boucher replacing fired coach Dave Cameron.

MacArthur injury 'a gigantic loss'

They also traded forward Mika Zibanejad for Derick Brassard, lost Chris Phillips to retirement and sent Curtis Lazar to the minors.

But the biggest loss so far this off-season has been the concussion to forward Clarke MacArthur, who missed all but four games last season due to post-concussion syndrome.

MacArthur suffered the concussion after taking a hit during a training camp scrimmage.

"I certainly won't downplay this one," Boucher told Neal. "It was a gigantic loss...everybody is aware of his impact, the thing is it's not just a player it's a player in your top two lines."

MacArthur was expected to provide a boost to the team's second forward line alongside Brassard and Bobby Ryan. While Zack Smith will fill his spot on the line, Boucher said that will leave holes elsewhere, not to mention the void in leadership.

'If we don't play good defence, we won't win'

He said his challenge is to get his players to trust each other, and to get the best out of each of them with different motivation techniques.

"By far the carrot is mightier than the stick...by far," he said. 

The Senators hope the offensive brilliance of defenceman Erik Karlsson, along with the first line of Mark Stone, Kyle Turris and Mike Hoffman, can create scoring chances, but Boucher was brought in to install some defensive structure to the team.

How is he going to do that?

"The carrot is very simple, if we play good defence, we'll win. If we don't play good defence, we won't win," he said.

The Ottawa Senators open the 2016-2017 season Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET at home at the Canadian Tire Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs.