It’s just over a month — 39 days for those keeping score at home — until the Senators report for training camp at the Canadian Tire Centre but Pierre Dorion sounds like a man who can’t wait to get going.

The Senators GM, heading into his first season in this role after taking the reins from Bryan Murray in April, still has a little bit of work to do before the roster is set for the arrival of the players Sept. 22 but, for the most part, Dorion and his staff have put the pieces in place to get this club back on the road to respectability.

Dorion would take another defenceman if he could find one and he has to find an end to the contract stalemate with RFA blueliner Cody Ceci.

Coach Guy Boucher was hired to replace Dave Cameron in May and associate coach Marc Crawford was added to the staff immediately. The Senators sent blueliner Patrick Wiercioch and underachieving winger Alex Chiasson packing while prospect Mika Zibanejad was dealt for impact centre Derick Brassard.

By the time the Senators hit the ice for the season opener Oct. 12 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, this won’t be the same team that took a step backward last season and missed the playoffs. Changes have been made and Dorion is quite confident there will be post-season hockey here next spring.

“Without a doubt, and I know when you work for an organization you’re biased about your players because you drafted a lot of them and you’ve made a trade for a few of them, but, for sure, there’s no doubt in my mind that I think we’re a playoff team,” Dorion said in an interview with Postmedia on Friday.

“I don’t want to make any brash statements. For us, I think if we play with the structure Guy is going to bring. I’m very positive with the coaches we hired — both Guy and the coaching staff with Marc Crawford, Rob Cookson, Martin Raymond, Pierre Groulx and Kris Young — I feel really confident they’re going to do a good job.

“You look at the personnel, the coaching and the improvement of the 20 guys we’re going to put on the ice from where we finished last year to where we are now and I really feel this is a playoff team.”

With a 38-35-9 record and 85 points last season, the Senators were 11 points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the final wildcard spot in the East. Owner Eugene Melnyk and Dorion have high expectations for this team and missing the post-season didn’t sit well with anybody here.

Yes, there is going to have to be improvement from within, but Dorion has made changes on the ice that should have an impact on the roster. An avid golfer, he’s barely touched a club this summer because he’s focused on the goal of making sure the Senators get it right this season.

“I’ve probably had my busiest summer since I’ve been working with the Senators,” Dorion said. “For us, it was unacceptable not to make the playoffs last year.

“When I took the job, I knew there were changes that needed to be made. We didn’t renew Patrick Wiercioch, we traded Alex Chiasson and to give Curtis Lazar a chance to grow, we had to do that. We traded Mika for Derick Brassard. To me, that’s a move that shows we’re right there and we need to be there. This is a move that makes us better right away.

“I felt our penalty killing was not at the level it should have been last year. Now, that’s coaching, but it’s also personnel. Adding a guy like Chris Kelly, who is a tremendous penalty killer and who can take draws, is something else we needed to do. People are going to say we haven’t done much on defence but what has been encouraging to me is the way Chris Wideman played at the world championships. Last year, he was feeling his way out. If Chris Wideman and Mark Borowiecki are our third pair, I feel comfortable with that. I would like to add because you always run into injuries but if it’s (Michael) Kostka or (Fredrik) Claesson I feel comfortable with that.”

Yup, Dorion’s been busy and that was only part of his summer in a nutshell. The club also signed restricted free agent Mike Hoffman to a four-year extension but the biggest move was the deal for Brassard in mid-July. That was a direct message to the team that the Senators want success next season.

“A lot of players felt that we’re going to be good in a few years. My thinking was, ‘Why can’t we win now?’ Let’s just not accept that we’re going to be good in a few years,” Dorion said.

“The reason I took this job, and there’s no doubt this is my dream job, but at the same time you don’t want to fail at your dream job and you want to put every chance on your side to succeed. I just felt if we told our players, ‘Hey, look what we’re doing, we trading a bit of youth but we’re getting a better player just to show you guys we have to have the mentality to win now.’”

Still, there will be old faces in familiar places.

Winger Clarke MacArthur, who missed most of last season with post-concussion syndrome, is completely healthy and is ready for camp. He was missed because he plays a big role on the ice and in the dressing room.

“He’s the piece we missed the most last year,” Dorion said without hesitation. “We missed his on-ice presence, we missed his off-ice presence. Having a healthy Clarke MacArthur from Day 1 — who could have played last year he had clearance from the doctors —will be a big thing for us.

“It solidifies our top six and it solidifies our top nine, where Guy decides to play Zack (Smith) (Jean-Gabriel) Pageau and Lazar, however, (Boucher) decides to do it, I really feel comfortable with our group of forwards. We were ninth in scoring and with an improved power play we’ll be even better than that.

“Offensively, I feel really good. Defensively, with an improved structure, I feel really good.”

A player who is going to play a key role is veteran defenceman Dion Phaneuf. He arrived in a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs last January and is going to have the opportunity to make an impact from the start of camp.

“Dion Phaneuf is one of the best pros I’ve ever been around,” Dorion said. “There’s a reason the guy was the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He leads by example. He’s a man’s man.

“Having him, everyone knows it’s Erik (Karlsson’s) team, but having him there to support Erik can only help us right from the get-go.”

Speaking of Karlsson, he won’t be in Ottawa for camp because he’s the only member of the Senators invited to play for his country at the World Cup of Hockey that gets under way Sept. 16 in Toronto.

Karlsson is coming off an 82-point season and the sky is the limit.

“Erik Karlsson had 82 points last year and he knows the potential for him is unlimited,” said Dorion. “Last year, he took over a lot of games.

“And, I think, how we’re going to do things this year is going to help him even more to be better.”

Naturally, a lot of the success is going to depend on the impact Boucher makes in his second chance behind an NHL bench.

“I think the biggest impact of anyone will be our coaches,” Dorion said. “I wish I could tell you I was going to have the biggest impact but it’s not going to be.

“Working together as a team, with our management group, will be important but, at the same time, our coaching staff will have the biggest impact on our team. Our special teams weren’t very good in the past few years, our defensive structure will be better and how we attack will be better.”

The end of a long, hot summer in Ottawa is just around the corner.

SUMMER RENOS

The Senators hardly sat still after missing the playoffs last spring. Here’s a look at the changes from a busy off-season:

April 10: Bryan Murray steps into senior adviser role and Pierre Dorion is named as club’s general manager.

April 14: Coach Dave Cameron along with assistants Rick Wamsley and Andre Tourigny fired by Dorion. Assistant Jason Smith is offered job in organization but opts not to return.

May 8: After exhaustive search, coach Guy Boucher hired to take over from Cameron by Dorion.

May 9: Marc Crawford hired as associate coach. Later in the summer, the Senators round out staff with goalie coach Pierre Groulx along with assistants Rob Cookson, Martin Raymond and Kris Young.

May 24: C Tom Pyatt signed to one-year contract.

May 26: D Chris Phillips retired.

June 23: F Buddy Robinson signed.

June 27: F Alex Chiasson dealt to Calgary for D Patrick Sieloff.

July 1: D Michael Kostka, F Phil Varone, C Casey Bailey, F Max McCormick and C Patrick Nehring all signed to one-year, two-way deals. D Patrick Wiercioch not given qualifying offer and signs one-year contract with Colorado.

July 6: D Frederik Claesson signs one-year, two-way deal

July 7: C Chris Kelly signs one-year contract.

July 15: F Matt Puempel signs one-year, two-way deal.

July 18: Send C Mika Zibanejad and pick to N.Y. Rangers for C Derick Brassard and pick.

July 27: F Mike Hoffman signs four-year contract extension before arbitration.