Training camp isn't about fighting for jobs. It's about figuring out where the pieces fit.

Hope springs eternal across the National Hockey League in the fall, especially when training camps open and every team is undefeated.

That sense of optimism was alive and well at the Bell Sensplex on Thursday morning as the Ottawa Senators opened camp following an off-season featuring sweeping change.

With captain Brady Tkachuk gone, in a lot of ways this is the dawn of a new era for the Senators.

The Senators aren’t simply trying to reach the playoffs for a third straight year. The expectation is for them to take the next step and establish themselves as legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference.

So, what did Day 1 tell us?

Not much about roster battles, but a bit about what head coach Travis Green is thinking.

Training camp isn’t about fighting for jobs. It’s about figuring out where the pieces fit.

“We’ll see how practices go a little bit, but we have a plan,” Green said. “The one thing about our guys is that we don’t have a lot of new guys, and they know each other well. We’ll play it by ear.”

Green told reporters not to read too much into the way the groups were split up in the first few days of camp.

Of course, asking reporters not to overreact to Day 1 line combinations is a lot like telling fans not to check the standings in October. It’s not going to happen

• Winger William Eklund, acquired from the San Jose Sharks only 24 hours after Tkachuk was sent packing to the Florida Panthers in June, skated on a line with centre Dylan Cozens and winger Fabian Zetterlund.
• Top centre Tim Stutzle was with wingers Andre Burakovsky and Drake Batherson. Ridly Greig was at centre with Michael Amadio and Sammy Blais.
• Shane Pinto was in the middle between Nick Cousins and Phillip Tomasino. Claude Giroux skated on a fourth line with Stephen Halliday and Tyler Boucher.
• With Artem Zub absent on defence due to injury recovery, rookie Carter Yakemchuk had a prime spot beside Jake Sanderson on the first pairing, while Thomas Chabot and Jordan Spence skated together.

This could all be meaningless by the time the Senators open the regular season against the Maple Leafs on Oct. 3 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, but you have to start somewhere, and that’s what Green is trying to determine.

“Every coach wants to have lots of options,” Green said. “With our forward group, we’re going to have to make some decisions on our lineup, whatever we choose to do. It’s a nice option, and we’ll see how it plays out.”

Green heaped his biggest praise on Giroux, the  38-year-old veteran.

“I thought G looked good today. He looked like he was 25 years old again. Honestly, but it’s not surprising,” Green said.

Heading into camp, the belief was Eklund had been acquired to play with Stutzle, and that could still be the case. Burakovsky had the chance to play with Connor Bedard with the Chicago Blackhawks last season, so he knows what it takes to be with good players.

Stutzle will try to have success with whoever is on his right or left when the dust settles.

“There’s so many good players on this team, it doesn’t matter who we play with,” Stutzle said. “It’s going to be good either way.”

So, what did he see from Burakovsky on the first day?

“He’s a really fast guy. He plays hard on pucks, wins puck battles, and he can score. He’s shown throughout his career that he’s a goal scorer, and he’s just a fast player. He can skate and flies up the ice, so it was a good first day,” Stutzle said.

It was intriguing to see Eklund and Zetterlund skating with Cozens.

Steve Staios, the Senators’ president of hockey operations and general manager, likely made a few more changes than he expected during the off-season, but a big part of the club’s success will require improvement from within.

We’ve talked a lot about the core, but the fact Cozens was skating with two Swedes wasn’t an accident. Eklund and Zetterlund are good friends. The latter has struggled to find consistency with the Senators, but he will be given every opportunity to play on the top line.

“I think I read somewhere that people said I should play him with him, so (he) got it out of the way early. But, yeah, (Eklund) looked good, as advertised,” Green said.

At least a summer of change didn’t cost Green his sense of humour.

Eklund has the speed to play with Stutzle, and so does Burakovsky.

“They’re both good skaters,” Green said. “That’s the league now. If you can’t skate, you’re going to be in trouble. You’d better be smart if you’re not a good skater.

“It’s no secret we want to play a fast game. We want to be aggressive, and hopefully they can add to that.”

Training camp is about experiments. The regular season is about proof. The Senators have 16 days to find out what works.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com