The slumping Ottawa Senators will take on the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night without their top three defencemen.

Already without Erik Karlsson (lower-body, day-to-day) and Marc Methot (broken finger, out for regular season), Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said Sunday the team will be without defenceman Cody Ceci "for a while."

Ceci (lower-body) was injured in Saturday's loss to the Winnipeg Jets and will be replaced in the lineup by AHL call-up Ben Harpur.

“Ben will play (against the Red Wings)," Dorion said Sunday, per the Ottawa Citizen. Cody will be out for a while.”

Head coach Guy Boucher added Monday Ceci and injured forward Zack Smith will not return to the team's lineup during the regular season.

Smith sustained an upper-body injury against the Minnesota Wild on March 30 and has not played since. He owns 16 goals and 16 assists in 74 games this season.

Dorion said Sunday that despite their growing number of injuries, the Senators remain in a strong position entering the final week of the season.

“Overall, we’re still in a pretty good spot,” Dorion said. “We were going to hit a bump at some point in time in the year and unfortunately this bump has come when we’ve seen injuries - we’ve lost our top three defencemen.

“But this team has faced a lot of adversity all year. I think both the coach (Guy) Boucher and I have a lot of faith in this group. I know we’ll pull through. There’s not going to be a season where we’re not going to face a bump on the road and it’s at an unfortunate time but I think it gets us playoff mode earlier than a lot of other teams.”

Karlsson, Ceci and Methot rank first, second and fourth, respectively, in average ice time played. Dion Phaneuf ranks third on the team with an average of 23:05 minutes per game.

Along with Phaneuf, Mark Borowiecki, Chris Wideman, Frederik Claesson and Jyrki Jokipakka are the remaining healthy defencemen on the roster.

The Senators have dropped four straight games and have slipped in the final wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. However, Ottawa owns two games in hand on the Boston Bruins, who are one point ahead if them and currently own second place in the Atlantic.

White to Play

The team's offence could receive a boost on Monday from the debut of 2015 first-round pick Colin White. White signed an entry-level contract on Sunday and said Monday he will play his first game against the Red Wings.

“If he was a defenceman, I’d be happier right now,” Dorion joked Sunday of the team adding White. “I think the way he plays the game, he’s such a smart player, he brings a high level of intensity and drive. He can definitely help our team if he was ever to play.

“We can’t forget what everyone else has done for us so far this year - as far as the players that have played for us. At the same time, I think he can see how we do things here and it can only prepare him as best as we can for next year.”

The Boston College standout signed an amateur tryout last week and scored one goal and added two assists in three games with AHL's Binghamton Senators. 

The 20-year-old centre scored 16 goals and added 17 assists in 35 games with the Eagles this season. He was selected 21st overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

White skated on the team's fourth line in practice on Monday, taking the place on Ryan Dzingel.

White will wear No. 82 with the Senators.