"We can hem and haw all we want," said defenseman Mark Borowiecki, named one of three alternate captains (Bobby Ryan, Matt Duchene) against the Maple Leafs. "I get it when star players are traded it definitely hurts for our fan base. But we're going to play hard for the fans.
"We have some good players here. We're going to rally together and hopefully do some good things."
One of Karlsson's replacements who played against the Maple Leafs was London, Ontario, native Dylan DeMelo, who was acquired by the Senators in the Karlsson trade. The 25-year-old defenseman has been paired with Christian Wolanin, 23, and could be counted on to play a top-four role with the Senators after he had an NHL career-high 20 assists and averaged 14:12 of ice time per game last season.
"Erik Karlsson is an extraordinary player, a once-in-a-generation player," DeMelo said. "I'm not going to sit here and tell you I'm going to be the next Erik Karlsson, because that'd be a lie, but I'm going to do my best to help build a foundation for Ottawa.
"We have a good team. I think a lot of people are writing us off because of the trade, but we have some good skill up front and good speed. There's a lot of skill. It will just be how quickly we can come together and how quickly we can execute within our system."