Boucher: Senators won't win on skill

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.