Steven Stamkos has seen this all before.

Training camp doesn’t open for a week but if they dropped the puck tomorrow at the Canadian Tire Centre, Guy Boucher would have everything in place.

While most NHL coaching staffs don’t gather until early September, the new man hired to guide the Senators has been in the office for the last month with his assistants getting everything in place for the opening of camp, with medicals set for next Thursday in Ottawa.

If the Senators aren’t successful this season under Boucher, it won’t have anything to do with a lack of preparation.

Speaking as Team Canada wrapped up the Ottawa portion of its training camp Monday, Stamkos, the Tampa Bay Lightning captain who played for Boucher from 2010 until he was fired midway through the 2012-13 campaign, maintained the Senators new head coach is a big believer in the details.

“He’s definitely got a mind for the game,” Stamkos told Postmedia Monday in an interview before Team Canada left for Pittsburgh. “He’s always trying to come up with different ideas that people haven’t thought of yet.

“He’s a smart guy so he’s very prepared. For games and practices, he has a plan and there’s definitely not a time where we went into a game or practice not knowing what’s going on. He’s always making sure that he’s prepared and the coaching staff is prepared.”

When Boucher was hired to coach the Lightning in 2010, he went to Toronto in the summer and had breakfast with Stamkos to get to know him. Since being hired by the Senators in May, Boucher has gone a similar route with all of the Ottawa players and travelled to P.E.I to sit down with Dion Phaneuf at his home.

He spent over three hours with Clarke MacArthur the night before the draft in Buffalo in June. Captain Erik Karlsson spent most of the summer in Ottawa, so the duo sat down not long after Boucher was hired. He wants to make sure everybody is on the same page when they show up for camp.

Boucher noted at the club’s golf tournament Monday night he’s met with all but two of the players and will sit down with them before camp starts.

“Any time a new coach comes in, he tries to grab a few of the guys and just go over what his expectations are, his game plan and ask you questions,” said Stamkos.

But the discussions with Boucher aren’t all about hockey. He wants to get to know the person, find out what makes them tick because it gives him an idea how he may want to coach that particular individual.

“The thing that separates Guy from a lot of people is he’s interested in where you come from as a person, if you have siblings, what your parents do, he’s got the psychology background where he’s trying to dig a little deeper in how to manage his players,” said Stamkos.

“Guy always talks about how it’s not just a team that he’s coaching, it’s 23 individuals that he’s got to find a way. That’s something that makes him unique in this game with regards to other coaches. He really tries to find what gets that player going and maybe shies that player away from certain situations. He’s a smart guy when it comes to that stuff.”

Stamkos said Boucher was always available to talk in Tampa and the door to his office was always open.

“I’m not sure what he’s changed since he was last coaching in the NHL,” said Stamkos. “When he was last in Tampa he was definitely open to communication with his players.

“He’s intense and he expects a lot. There’s going to be some things that are unique to his coaching style and his ways but that’s what him the person that he is. I’m not sure if he’s changed some things but for him it’s new opportunity here and I’m sure he’s happy about that.”

KARLSSON'S ABSENCE NOT NEGATIVE

Erik Karlsson will be noticeable by his absence at training camp while playing for Team Sweden at the World Cup of Hockey.

While coach Guy Boucher is trying to institute a new system, he believes that Karlsson playing for his country is a positive.

“It opens up some room for some other guys to show themselves,” said Boucher. “The power play, for instance -- a guy like (Chris) Wideman has it wide open for him to show us what he’s got because we believe in him.

“The fact Karl is going there is not just negative for us. Of course, there’s injuries and you don’t want to think about that but if he comes back healthy, he’s still a young guy so anything he can draw experience from is positive for us. You want Canada to win as a Canadian but if Sweden has success, it helps us.”

Boucher said Karlsson, who can learn from some of the leaders on the Swedish team, is focused on making sure the Senators have a good year and not individual success. The two discussed the fact Karlsson wants to assert himself in a leadership role on and off the ice this season.

“He wants to grow his leadership,” said Boucher. “It’s all about what’s going to happen with our team now. He’s had all the individual awards now so he’s very focused on the team.”

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter: @sungarrioch