Five intriguing storylines surrounding Ottawa Senators’ season opener in Toronto

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The FOMO is nearing an end for the Ottawa Senators.

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When they hit the ice on Saturday night in Toronto, they’ll be the 32nd team to begin the 2026-27 NHL regular season, which started on Tuesday. The Maple Leafs already have two games under their belt.

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The extra five days off have served the Sens well. Jake Sanderson, his second training camp ailment seemingly mended, should ready to go. New pairings and forward combos have had ample time to get on the same page.

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Ottawa should be absolutely flying when the gates finally fling open just after 7 p.m. on Saturday.

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Here are five storylines we’ll be keeping an eye on.

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1. Will the new power play click?

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The Senators will debut their new setup and strategy on the man advantage in front of the man that used to run it, Maple Leafs associate coach (that’s a tough read) Daniel Alfredsson.

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Sens assistant coach Ben Sexton has been given the reins. New personnel in William Eklund, Andre Burakovsky (currently injured) and Carter Yakemchuk are getting acclimated.

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Surely, returning players will be on board with any tweaks Sexton proposes. Something had to change after going 1-for-21 against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs six months ago.

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This past Saturday, the Senators scored four power-play goals in a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens during the final game of the pre-season — though it was essentially against an American Hockey League squad. Coach Travis Green was careful not to make too much of it.

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“Pre-season’s a different animal,” Green said Friday before flying out. “I think with our power play, we’ve got lots of different options. We can play different players. We’ve got two ‘D’ on our second unit — we could easily go one.

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“We’ve got the making of good power plays. We’ve got to go out and execute and do it.”

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Indeed, blue liners Yakemchuk and Thomas Chabot will each feature on the second unit Saturday. It’s the first time Chabot has had another defenceman join him on the power play since Jakob Chychrun three seasons ago.

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“It’s kind of more adapting and finding each other,” Chabot told the Ottawa Citizen of the dynamic. “But, I mean, he’s such a good shooter, such a good puck mover that you kind of use him on the half wall as like a forward type.

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“We had the one look in pre-season last Saturday and our unit scored two goals. And even in practice, I feel like things have been good.”

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Can Yakemchuk rise to the occasion?

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The pressure seems to be ramping up for Yakemchuk’s first game of the regular season, more so than his NHL debut down the stretch last season and his playoff debut in the spring. Expectations were tempered for the latter two.

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Returning to the scene of a particularly concerning pre-season performance, the 21-year-old must prove that he’s at least serviceable without the puck, that Green doesn’t have to hold his breath each time he calls on the third pairing at 5-on-5. Toronto remains a flawed team, but can they ever play with pace on offence.