  Sens captain Daniel Alfredsson skates during the first on-ice session of training camp on Monday. (Sun Media/Darren Brown)
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The Ottawa Senators are a better team today than they were yesterday -- before Dany Heatley was traded -- their captain, Daniel Alfredsson, said after the first on-ice session of training camp.
"Obviously, Dany is a very talented hockey player," said Alfredsson. "But we knew his situation. He wanted out of here. I still think we could have worked it out. It would have been okay. But this is something that would have happened eventually, but getting it done early is obviously a big plus for us."
Neither of the two players acquired for Heatley in Saturday's trade with the San Jose Sharks -- Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo -- were able to make it to Ottawa in time for the start of camp. As of noon, the team did not know when they would be arriving.
Taking Heatley's old spot on a line with Alfredsson and Jason Spezza was Nick Foligno.
"I don't know if I'm going to read too much into that," said Foligno. "But I want to be up in that high rank, and it was fun to skate with them today. I'm sure we'll see how it plays out for the rest of training camp."
In the afternoon session, newcomer Alex Kovalev was on a line with Mike Fisher and Binghamton-bound winger Mike Hoffman.
