Will Carter Yakemchuk handle the Leafs' speed and skill better this time around? Can a clearer-minded Linus Ullmark get off to a good start?

The FOMO is nearing an end for the Ottawa Senators.

When they hit the ice on Saturday night in Toronto, they’ll be the 32nd team to begin the 2026-27 NHL regular season, which started on Tuesday. The Maple Leafs already have two games under their belt.

The extra five days off have served the Sens well. Jake Sanderson, his second training camp ailment seemingly mended, should ready to go. New pairings and forward combos have had ample time to get on the same page.

Ottawa should be absolutely flying when the gates finally fling open just after 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Here are five storylines we’ll be keeping an eye on.

The Senators will debut their new setup and strategy on the man advantage in front of the man that used to run it, Maple Leafs associate coach (that’s a tough read) Daniel Alfredsson.

Sens assistant coach Ben Sexton has been given the reins. New personnel in William Eklund, Andre Burakovsky (currently injured) and Carter Yakemchuk are getting acclimated.

Surely, returning players will be on board with any tweaks Sexton proposes. Something had to change after going 1-for-21 against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs six months ago.

This past Saturday, the Senators scored four power-play goals in a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens during the final game of the pre-season — though it was essentially against an American Hockey League squad. Coach Travis Green was careful not to make too much of it.

“Pre-season’s a different animal,” Green said Friday before flying out. “I think with our power play, we’ve got lots of different options. We can play different players. We’ve got two ‘D’ on our second unit — we could easily go one.

“We’ve got the making of good power plays. We’ve got to go out and execute and do it.”

Indeed, blue liners Yakemchuk and Thomas Chabot will each feature on the second unit Saturday. It’s the first time Chabot has had another defenceman join him on the power play since Jakob Chychrun three seasons ago.

“It’s kind of more adapting and finding each other,” Chabot told the Ottawa Citizen of the dynamic. “But, I mean, he’s such a good shooter, such a good puck mover that you kind of use him on the half wall as like a forward type.

“We had the one look in pre-season last Saturday and our unit scored two goals. And even in practice, I feel like things have been good.”

The pressure seems to be ramping up for Yakemchuk’s first game of the regular season, more so than his NHL debut down the stretch last season and his playoff debut in the spring. Expectations were tempered for the latter two.

Returning to the scene of a particularly concerning pre-season performance, the 21-year-old must prove that he’s at least serviceable without the puck, that Green doesn’t have to hold his breath each time he calls on the third pairing at 5-on-5. Toronto remains a flawed team, but can they ever play with pace on offence.

Yakemchuk, hopeful to stick with the big club for his first full NHL season, has gotten a ton of important reps in practice this week with ‘D’ partner Tyler Kleven. The Senators pushed hard during four lengthy sessions.

If Sanderson does play Saturday, it’ll be alongside Nikolas Matinpalo, as young Hoyt Stanley — who was paired with Sanderson against the Habs last weekend — was sent down to AHL Belleville on Friday morning.

This is not a panic play by the coaching staff. Matinpalo is fully capable of playing tough minutes; of Sens skaters to factor into each playoff game against the Hurricanes, he was the only one to receive zero offensive-zone starts and was on the ice for a single goal against at even strength.

Sanderson’s normal partner, Artem Zub, practiced with the team for the first time Friday since sustaining a knee injury in Game 1 against Carolina. It could still be a while before he ditches the yellow non-contact jersey. Though, for what it’s worth, he looked great.

Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka had been overhauling the team’s forward corps long before bringing in Kirill Marchenko from the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier this week.

Over the summer, Toronto traded for Nick Paul and signed Jack Roslovic, Colton Sissons, Brandon Duhaime and Zack MacEwen in free agency. And, of course, there’s that new kid, Gavin McKenna.

Marchenko has shown early chemistry playing on a line with Auston Matthews, while McKenna is learning the ropes flanking veteran John Tavares, but the real revamping is apparent in the bottom six.

Coach Jim Hiller’s habitual emphasis on skating in post-practice pressers matches the makeup of the Leafs’ new third and fourth line, with burners like Sissons and Duhaime.

Under Craig Berube last season, the Leafs’ high dump-in rate was an awful mix with poor puck retrieval. It’s early, but there is a noticeable focus on cleaner breakouts, possession over the far blue line and more creative freedom in the offensive zone.

This will be a lofty test for the Senators’ stingy defence that allowed just 24.4 shots per game last season, the second fewest in the NHL.

Goaltender Linus Ullmark carried his second-half success last season into a phenomenal playoff performance, a much better summer and, now, an encouraging training camp. The 33-year-old is as upbeat these days as he was after first being acquired from the Boston Bruins in 2024.

Barring anything unforeseen, this could be the first season of his career that he hits 50-plus starts. After Ullmark returned from a leave of absence mid-2025-26, the Senators showed what they could accomplish with average-to-good goaltending.

If they get competence in the crease starting from Game 1, the Sens will be a dangerous team.