Ottawa's Offseason Additions Are Already Undermined by Three Simultaneous Absences

The Senators spent the better part of July reshaping their roster — Eklund in, Tkachuk out, Spence signed, Giroux back for a 20th season. On paper, it looked like a front office that knew what it was doing. Then the absences stacked up. Sanderson is sidelined, Artem Zub is out, and Ridly Greig is suspended. Three players, three different problems, all at once.

As I noted last week, Sanderson's injury is the one that cuts deepest. He averaged 24.5 minutes a night last season, posted 37 points, and finished a plus-7 on a team that struggled badly in close games. Spence was signed to play beside him, not instead of him. That pairing was the whole logic of the blue line plan, and right now half of it isn't available.

Greig's suspension adds a different kind of hurt. He put up 21 points in 44 games last season — real secondary production on a team that leaned almost entirely on Tim Stutzle to generate offense. Losing him for any stretch of camp or the early schedule makes the depth problem worse before it has a chance to get better.

The additions are real. The intent is clear. But a rebuild that was already asking a lot of unproven pieces is now also asking those pieces to cover for three missing contributors before a single puck drops.