A shortened training camp hasn't kept the Ottawa Senators from dealing with a growing injury list ahead of split-squad matchups.

A shortened training camp hasn’t kept the Ottawa Senators from dealing with a growing injury list.

Some of the most noticeable names during the club’s 50-minute skate on Friday at the Canadian Tire Centre were the ones missing as the club prepared to close out the pre-season on Saturday night with split-squad games against the Montreal Canadiens.

While defenceman Jordan Spence was back after missing two days with an undisclosed ailment, top blueliner Jake Sanderson — who has yet to suit up for any of the club’s first three pre-season games — wasn’t on the ice for the sixth straight day.

Sanderson, who went to Kraft Hockeyville last Monday in Trois-Rivières to sign autographs, could face the Habs in one of the games being played at the Canadian Tire Centre and the Bell Centre, but we’re going to put that down to “we’ll believe it when we see it.”

For those keeping track, here’s an update:

• Third-line centre Shane Pinto missed his second straight practice and winger Fabian Zetterlund also joined the list of those taking a maintenance day.
• We already know that defenceman Artem Zub won’t be ready to start the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs because of a knee injury he suffered in Game 1 of the club’s playoff series last spring. He’s on the ice, but he hasn’t skated with the group.
• Wingers Kurtis MacDermid and Warren Foegele were both injured during off-season training and have yet to participate in camp. Foegele took part in a skate on Tuesday, but there has been no sign of him since.
• Defenceman Thomas Chabot missed the club’s first two exhibition games because his wife, Marion, was scheduled to give birth to the couple’s first child this week. The hope is that he will face the Habs on Saturday in Ottawa, but that’s to be determined.
• Minor-league defenceman Jorian Donovan has an undisclosed injury and hasn’t seen any action.

You’re always going to get bumps and bruises in camp, but the ones to the blue line are of particular concern, especially after what the Senators went through last season and in the playoffs.

The Senators used 13 different blueliners last season and they’d prefer not to face that kind of adversity again. Yes, camp is about giving different players opportunities, but in a perfect world the Senators would get a look at their full team on Saturday night.

The injuries haven’t made it easy for coach Travis Green and his staff to fill out their lineup cards.

“A lot of guys probably haven’t played enough, to be honest,” Green said. “We’ve still got to figure out what’s best: Whether to play a full team or a partial one. At the end of the day, it’s not about winning and losing at this time of the year, it’s about getting yourself ready for Game 1.

“We’re taking everything into consideration. We’re not 100 percent sure what players are going to play tomorrow and if they’re able to play. I’d like to see Sanderson and Chabot get into a game, so there are a lot of factors going into it.”

There won’t be a morning skate on Saturday, so we may have to wait to see who comes down the tunnel to find out who is healthy enough to play.