With quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski not participating in Patriots OTAs Deion Sanders Jersey , the young players don’t have the benefit of the examples they set and the leadership they bring. To balance that out, receiver Julian Edelman is back, after a torn ACL wiped out his entire 2017 season.

鈥淗aving him out there brings leadership to this team, he brings excitement to this team and he brings an aggressive nature to this team,鈥?Patriots safety Duron Harman recently told Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. 鈥淗aving him out here makes the team better.”

鈥淗e鈥檚 definitely in the category of one of the most competitive players I had as a teammate,鈥?former Patriots running back Kevin Faulk聽told Guregian. 鈥淢an, he was fearless. It goes back to a young age when someone tells you that you can鈥檛 do something. He鈥檚 had that chip on his shoulder for a long time.鈥?/p>

The Patriots will need that chip during the season Sam Mills Jersey , given that both Danny Amendola and Brandin Cooks are gone. For now, they’re benefiting from the leadership that Edelman brings, especially with two of the teams other great leaders not around to provide some of their own.

And that really is the biggest impact on the team from the absence of Brady and Gronkowski. Even though they arguably don’t need the reps, the young players who are learning how to do things the right way don’t have the ability to watch them and learn.

But at least the young players can watch Edelman.

OTTAWA — Two teams sliding toward the regular-season finish line and early tee times will meet up on short rest at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday night.

The Ottawa Senators (26-38-11) will be the hosts 24 hours after having their losing streak extended to five games with a 4-1 road beating by the Carolina Hurricanes. The Senators, who are still very much in contention for the dubious distinction of owning best draft lottery odds, have now been outscored 22-7 in their last four games.

Supplying the opposition will be a New York Islanders (31-35-10) team still had a shot at qualifying for the postseason tournament the last time they won two in a row. Unfortunately, that was Feb. 15-16.

Since then Dan Bailey Jersey , the Islanders are 2-10-4 and — after being shut out 3-0 at home by the Florida Panthers on Monday — have now dropped three straight.

The loss officially eliminated the Islanders from the playoffs for the second spring in row.

“We got off to a pretty good start this season (but) the second half of the season really hasn’t been very good,” captain John Tavares told reporters after the game. “We put ourselves in this position.”

The future of Tavares comes under even closer scrutiny now that the Islanders final six games have no significance. The rest of the NHL will be watching closely for signs of whether they’ll be able to sign their first overall pick of the 2009 entry draft or if he hits the free agent market on July 1.

In nine seasons with the Islanders, Tavares has played 663 games and scored 615 points.

Asked about his plans on Monday, Tavares was brief with his response.

“I’m just focused on playing,” he said.

The Senators were without their own captain, Erik Karlsson, when they travelled to Carolina. That meant they had three rookies on their blue line — Thomas Chabot J.J. Jansen Jersey , Ben Harpur and Christian Wolanin.

Playing his first NHL game was center Ben Sexton, whose father Randy was one of the franchise’s founding fathers as well the team’s second GM.

Senators coach Guy Boucher compared having so many fresh faces in the lineup to “throwing lions into the den.”

“They’ve got to learn somehow, right,” said goalie Craig Anderson, who made 26 saves in Carolina. “Right now, it’s a good time. You see some guys stepping into roles they’re not used to playing and doing quite well with it.”

The Senators and Islanders have met twice this season, with the Islanders scoring a 2-1 win Nov. 25 at Canadian Tire Centre and Ottawa taking a 6-5 victory out of Barclays Center one week later.

With Christopher Gibson playing Monday John Simon Jersey , the Islanders are expected to go with Jaroslav Halak in Ottawa. He has a 7-7-3 career record against the Senators.

Mike Condon is expected to play the second of Ottawa’s back-to-backs. He has a 3-1-0 all-time mark versus the Islanders.

The only player to score for either team on Monday was Senators winger Bobby Ryan, who now has two goals in two games and 10 on the season.

Dzanan Musa Jersey ,