Senators play 1 skater short for opener due to cap crunch, injuries

The Ottawa Senators were shorthanded for their 5-3 season-opening loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.

Ottawa was forced to go with 11 forwards and six defensemen due to salary-cap issues and injuries to forwards Josh Norris and Zack MacEwen.

The Senators thought Norris would be ready to play in the preseason after he had shoulder surgery during the 2022-23 campaign. He still isn't ready to return, but the club is choosing not to place him on long-term injured reserve.

Norris would miss 10 games or 24 days if he lands on LTIR, but it'd free up his $7.95-million cap hit and allow Ottawa to add a player to the roster.

MacEwen, meanwhile, didn't skate Wednesday and is considered day-to-day with an upper-body ailment.

The Senators only have approximately $63,000 in cap space, according to CapFriendly.

Because of the club's cap constraints, it hasn't been able to re-sign Shane Pinto, who's essentially a restricted free agent. (He's a "10.2c" player who hasn't played enough to qualify for the standard "Group 2" RFA status.)

The 22-year-old forward scored 20 goals and added 15 assists while playing all 82 games in his first full campaign last season.

Ottawa's roster conundrum may not be a long-term issue. The Senators can use an emergency recall on a player with a cap hit of $875,000 or less once they play a man short for one game, per PuckPedia. The recalled player wouldn't count against the cap until the Sens have 20 healthy players.

The Los Angeles Kings were in the same boat on Wednesday night.

Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson missed Wednesday's clash against the Colorado Avalanche due to a lower-body injury and Los Angeles was forced to ice a lineup of 11 forwards and six defensemen due to cap constraints.

The Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers also played one skater short because of injuries.