The Ottawa Senators will need their work boots to find the win column this season.
That's the message from head coach Guy Boucher, who emphasized that a strong work ethic will be the Senators' biggest weapon.
"We don't have enough (skills)," Boucher told reporters, per Sportsnet. "We have to say it like it is. I think it's good that the players recognize that we have some skill, but we're not going to win because we're going to over-skill Toronto or Tampa or those teams.
"We're going to be a young team with a few guys that are vets, but we're going to have to outwork teams to win a game. Plain and simple."
Boucher's message follows a rocky offseason in Ottawa that saw the team part with a number of key players, including scoring winger Mike Hoffman and former captain Erik Karlsson.
There'll be some new faces in the Senators' lineup this season, counting Mikkel Boedker, Chris Tierney, and potentially 2018 first-round pick Brady Tkachuk. All will be counted upon to play a critical role in Boucher's system.
Boucher is entering his third season behind the Senators bench - with his first two campaigns producing wildly different results. In 2016-17, he led his squad to within one goal of the Stanley Cup Final. However, it was a different story last season, as the Senators crashed to second-last place in the Eastern Conference with a 67-point finish.
Across five seasons with Ottawa and Tampa Bay, Boucher owns a 169-150-41 coaching record.
Below are the top 200 skaters and goalies ranked in descending order based on their value in banger leagues. A typical banger league consists of the following categories:
Skaters
Goalies
Goals
Wins
Assists
Goals-against average
Plus/minus
Save percentage
Penalty minutes
Shutouts
Power-play points
Shots on goal
Hits
Blocked shots
The key difference between a banger league and a standard league is the addition of hits and blocked shots. Though it may seem like a minor difference, the inclusion of those categories can greatly affect the value of players.
Below are the top 200 skaters and goalies ranked in descending order based on their value in banger leagues. A typical banger league consists of the following categories:
Skaters
Goalies
Goals
Wins
Assists
Goals-against average
Plus/minus
Save percentage
Penalty minutes
Shutouts
Power-play points
Shots on goal
Hits
Blocked shots
The key difference between a banger league and a standard league is the addition of hits and blocked shots. Though it may seem like a minor difference, the inclusion of those categories can greatly affect the value of players.
The veteran forward was placed on waivers by the Senators on Tuesday, and is free to be claimed by the NHL's other 30 clubs.
News of the suprising transaction shocked Smith's teammates in the Senators' locker room, particularly fellow veteran forward Matt Duchene.
"I'll be honest, it's a kick in the balls for us," Duchene told TSN's Brent Wallace.
"It's tough because we love Smitty. He is a great leader, he is a great player," Duchene added. "Unfortunately, I guess, sometimes in this business, things happen that are sometimes beyond hockey reasons and things like that. It's tough right now, we are hurting."
Whether Smith is claimed by another team could be determined by his contract, as the 30-year-old is signed for the next three seasons at a $3.25-million cap hit.
Smith was limited to five goals and 14 assists in 68 games with Ottawa last season. He notched a career-high 25 goals during the 2015-16 campaign.
Rival teams have until 12 p.m. ET on Wednesday to submit a claim for Smith. Waiver priority is based on last season's reversed final standings.
The 30-year-old signed a four-year contract with the club in January 2017 and has three seasons remaining on his current deal at $3.25 million per season. If he clears waivers, he'll report to the AHL's Belleville Senators, which would give Ottawa just over $1 million in salary cap relief, per Cap Friendly.
Smith registered five goals and 14 assists in 2017-18 while averaging over 16 minutes per night. With the recent Erik Karlsson trade, Smith stood as the longest-serving Senator, having played 542 games for the franchise since being drafted in the third round of the 2008 draft.
Leading up to the start of the 2018-19 season, theScore will be counting down the top 100 players in the game today, as voted on by four of our NHL editors. We'll reveal 10 players every weekday until the top 10 is unveiled on Oct. 3.
Andersen was the busiest goalie in the league last season, serving as the backbone of the Toronto Maple Leafs and posting a career-high 38 wins to go along with a .918 save percentage in 66 starts. He'll need to maintain his strong play for the new-look Leafs to reach the next level as contenders. There's no reason to believe he can't. -- O'Leary
69. Vincent Trocheck, Panthers
Wegman
O'Leary
Gold-Smith
Hagerman
51
75
65
95
Trocheck enjoyed a breakout season a year ago, collecting 31 goals and 75 points while centering the Florida Panthers' second line. He remains mostly an unknown commodity - part of which is due to playing for the small-market Panthers - but another stellar season could put him on the map as one of the league's craftiest centermen. -- Wegman
68. Jeff Carter, Kings
Harry How / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Wegman
O'Leary
Gold-Smith
Hagerman
75
86
75
45
If not for an abrupt ankle injury last season, Carter may have hit his highest goal total in years. In just 27 games, he tallied 13 goals - putting him on pace to score 39 over 82 games, which would have served as his best mark since the 2008-09 season. He remains one of the elite shooters in the league and a near necessity for the Los Angeles Kings' offense. -- Hagerman
67. Ivan Provorov, Flyers
Wegman
O'Leary
Gold-Smith
Hagerman
66
67
69
72
Provorov hit the 40-point plateau (41), ranked 20th in the league in average ice time and 10th in total ice time, and played in various situations while suiting up in all 82 games for the second time in as many seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers. That's pretty remarkable for a 21-year-old defenseman, whose stock is definitely on the rise. -- Gold-Smith
66. Dougie Hamilton, Hurricanes
Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photo / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Wegman
O'Leary
Gold-Smith
Hagerman
80
60
61
68
Hamilton's 17 goals were tied for the league lead among defensemen last season, and his 21:32 of ice time per night was a new career best. He drives play at a rate among the game's most elite and is more than capable of shutting down an opponent's top line. It's truly hard to believe Hamilton has already been traded twice in his young career. -- O'Leary
65. Rickard Rakell, Ducks
Wegman
O'Leary
Gold-Smith
Hagerman
77
72
62
53
Rakell has seen his point total climb in each of the last three seasons. Last year, he paced the Anaheim Ducks with 34 goals and 69 points. He also led the team in shots, power-play goals, and power-play points. Continued progression could see him become the new face of the franchise. -- Hagerman
64. Kris Letang, Penguins
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Wegman
O'Leary
Gold-Smith
Hagerman
40
71
70
82
Letang might be reaching the tail end of his prime years, but he's still one of the game's elite offensive defensemen, reaching the 50-point mark in 2017-18 for the fourth time. Injuries have slowed him down a bit, but when healthy, he's workhorse, finishing in the top 10 in average ice time in four straight seasons. -- Wegman
63. Brock Boeser, Canucks
Wegman
O'Leary
Gold-Smith
Hagerman
59
95
50
51
Boeser was lighting it up before a back injury put an end to his rookie season after 62 games, but he still led all qualified first-year NHLers in goals per game and finished second among the class to Kyle Connor in overall goals with 29, despite playing in 14 fewer contests. Boeser is a bona fide sniper who already looks more than comfortable at the NHL level. -- Gold-Smith
62. Logan Couture, Sharks
Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Wegman
O'Leary
Gold-Smith
Hagerman
55
58
58
79
Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski have led the San Jose Sharks' offense for the better part of a decade, but while they've been piling up numbers, Couture has been neutralizing opposing top lines, serving as the team's matchup center. He's no one-way player, though, as he potted a career-high 34 goals last year. -- Wegman
61. Zach Werenski, Blue Jackets
Wegman
O'Leary
Gold-Smith
Hagerman
64
49
60
75
A shoulder injury hampered Werenski's game last season, but you'd hardly be able to tell by looking at his numbers. Playing on the Columbus Blue Jackets' top pair, he potted 16 goals - 13 coming at even strength - and added 21 assists. At only 21 years old, the 2015 eighth overall pick is on the fast track to superstardom. -- O'Leary
Tuesday's cuts include forward Nick Suzuki, who'll report to the OHL's Owen Sound Attack. Earlier this month, the Canadiens acquired Suzuki from the Vegas Golden Knights as part of a deal for former captain Max Pacioretty.
The Canadiens also released veteran forward Joel Ward from his professional tryout offer. Defensemen Michal Moravcik and David Sklenicka have been assigned to the AHL's Laval Rocket.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Montreal's first-round pick in 2018, is among the players remaining at training camp.
The Vegas Golden Knights have signed restricted free-agent defenseman Shea Theodore to a seven-year contract worth an average annual value of $5.2 million, the team announced.
Shea Theodore's 7-yr contract is a flat $5.2 M salary per season, no fluctuation. No signing bonuses. Includes a 5-team no-trade clause in the last 2 yrs of the contract
The agreement ends a protracted saga that saw the 23-year-old miss the start of training camp while the sides negotiated this new deal. It's not immediately clear when he'll arrive in camp, or whether he'll be able to play in the Golden Knights' next preseason contest, Friday against the Kings.
Selected by Vegas from the Anaheim Ducks in last year's expansion draft, Theodore emerged as a critical piece of the Golden Knights' core during their remarkable run to the Stanley Cup Finals. In 61 regular-season games last year, the former first-round pick tallied six goals and 29 points while averaging just over 20 minutes of ice time, and he added another 10 points in 20 playoff games.
