<a href='https://www.markerzone.com/hockey/stats/nhl/player/Nikolay-Kulemin-4919' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Nikolay Kulemin</a> hasn't been able to find his form like he had with the Leafs, and sadly <a href='https://www.nhl.com/senators/' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>the Ottawa Senators</a> have just cut him from his professional tryout. The Ottawa Senators are slowly making cuts to their roster as they inch closer to the beginning of the season. On Monday afternoon, they made another move in the direction of finalizing their opening night lineup. After a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins during the Kraft Hockeyville game in Sudbury, the team had a day off on Monday. In the meantime, they did make a few moves, optioning four players down, as the season opener with the Florida Panthers will be October 10. Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nikolay Kulemin was released from his professional tryout, and goaltender Leevi Merilainen was reassigned along with defensemen Filip Roos and Donovan Sebrango to the Belleville Senators in the AHL. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/SunGarrioch/status/1841084351561212175'> </a></blockquote></div> With these moves, the Senators are now down to 16 forwards, nine defensemen, and four goaltenders still in camp with just three pre-season games remaining. The team will face the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre, where some of the remaining roster hopefuls will get a final opportunity to prove themselves. Leafs fans definitely remember their team's most recent matchup against the Habs when both Patrik Laine and David Reinbacher suffered brutal injuries, so no doubt the Habs will come out with fire tonight against the Sens. The decisions remaining for the team's president of hockey operations and general manager, Steve Staios, will be difficult to make as some players continue to fight for their place on the team, and he will get a good look at them tonight. Among some of the hopefuls was the 38-year-old Kulemin, who has been trying to make a return to the NHL after spending the last six seasons in Russia's KHL. Although being realistic about it, <a href='https://ottawacitizen.com/ottawa-senators/ottawa-senators-release-winger-nikolay-kulemin-from-pto-as-roster-cut-down' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Kulemin wanted to take one more crack</a> at the roster after coming back this summer to stay in Toronto. The product of being selected 44th overall by the Maple Leafs in 2006 has ties to hockey in his family as well. He has a son, Aleks, 15, playing midget-AAA for the Don Mills Flyers. The Senators invited Kulemin to camp mostly out of necessity, needing veteran bodies to populate exhibition game rosters without making any sort of commitment. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/TLNdc/status/1833921038834696328'> </a></blockquote></div> But with the pre-season in its final week, the attention turns more toward preparation for the opener against Florida. Head coach Travis Green and his staff will start to focus more on building chemistry among players who will make the roster. The final exhibition games, including Saturday's visit from the Canadiens to the Canadian Tire Centre, will go a long way in determining the final roster spots that are still open to competition. The Senators are getting closer to their final roster, but there are still a number of hard decisions left. The likes of Nikolay Kulemin have been given their chance to shine, but the time has come for the team to get serious about piecing together some sort of cohesive group for the season ahead, so they had to sadly say goodbye to the former Leaf. With a few more opportunities left in the pre-season, the Senators will be finding out which of those players fit into their plans as they head toward the start of their campaign on home ice.