After spending the last week in quarantine, veteran centre Derek Stepan and 18-year-old rookie, Tim Stuetzle, finally joined Sens training camp on Sunday.
The team is busy preparing for opening night at Canadian Tire Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as whittling down its roster.
“Yeah I go to know him a little bit. He’s a good kid I was joking with my wife that I have three little ones at home and I’ve adopted a German 18-year-old,” said Stepan .
After a whirlwind few weeks for Stützle, who wowed at the World Juniors being selected as Best Forward for the tournament with 5 goals and 5 assists for his native Germany, he was thrilled to start the next chapter of his hockey career.
“It was very exciting just getting here and getting to know everyone and all the boys,” Stützle said. “I’m looking forward to being able to play with them. It was an unbelievable day and a great practice. I’m so excited to be here now.”
Sens say “he hit the ice with a huge smile on his face and got numerous stick taps from his teammates as he skated onto the Canadian Tire Centre ice for the first time this morning.”
While veteran centre Derek Stepan arriving via the trade route with the Coyotes, says he sees his himself as a mentor and leader in the upcoming Sens campaign. He told reporters “I really want to find the game that I had in the bubble and it mirrors the game I had in New York. That’s what I’m looking I to get back to. I’m never gonna stop leading. I’m always gonna be a part of mentoring and teaching the young guys along the way and hopefully they will listen to me and jump on board with me, and hopefully not get too sick of me,” said Stepan.
Tim Stützle, if you recall was announced by the late Alex Trebek as the Senators’ first of three first-round selections (third overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft. Stuetzle, 18, appeared in 41 of Mannheim’s 52 regular-season games in 2019-20, in what was his first season playing in Germany’s top professional league, and registered 34 points (seven goals, 27 assists) to rank seventh among Eagles in scoring despite being the youngest full-time player in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
The Sens are expected to trim down their roster in the coming days as they prepare for their home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night.
by OTT Times staff
with notes from NHL.com
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