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After losing Marc Methot to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft, the Senators kicked tires on defencemen _ including Calgary’s Michael Stone and Buffalo’s Dmitry Kulikov _ when the talking period for unrestricted free agents opened June 25, but none of those deals really made sense.

Yes, losing Methot, who was subsequently dealt to the Dallas Stars, hurt the Senators, but defence is also a position where they have depth. Among those prospects attending development camp this week were Thomas Chabot and Christian Jaros, who will both push for spots during training camp.

Chabot, the Senators’ top pick in the 2015 NHL draft, is back after another year with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Saint John Sea Dogs. Even head coach Guy Boucher has seen a vast improvement in Chabot.

“We have Thomas Chabot. I don’t know if you were at the scrimmage (Thursday), but I was high-fiving the coach,” Dorion said. “We’re pretty happy. We’ve seen a lot of growth in Thomas Chabot from the time he left here to (going) to the world juniors to (being the) MVP in the playoffs. Even Guy turned to me and said, ‘Oh my God, I’m just watching how he practised’ compared to when he stepped into camp last year.

“I’m not comparing them, but, if Zach Werenski stepped into a pretty good team in Columbus, I think Thomas Chabot can step into our team.”

Dorion didn’t stop there, though.

“If Ben Harpur can step into the playoffs last year the way he did, I think he can step into our lineup. We’ve got Jaros, he’s like a right-handed (Mark Borowiecki) and he can hit as hard as you see. If you look at our opening-night roster, and you look at what we have now, yes we did lose Marc Methot but there’s a good chance Thomas Chabot will be able to step into that role and we’re as good as we were last year up front.”