There were only a few question marks for the Ottawa Senators and their opening night roster for the 2024-25 NHL season, and one of those was which player would end up as the fourth-line center for the season. The competition was mostly between newly acquired Jan Jenik and up-and-coming prospect Zack Ostapchuk, and halfway through the preseason, one of those two players stood out more than the other, and that was Jenik.
Jenik’s Impressive Performance Through Preseason
After being acquired in a trade with the Utah Hockey Club where they swapped struggling prospects with the Senators, Jenik was dealt to Ottawa for Egor Sokolov. There was a lot of promise in Jenik’s development, and for a few years, he looked like he could be a legit impactful NHL player.
Over the last two seasons, Jenik’s performance dropped in the American Hockey League, and PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reported that Jenik had requested a trade in the 2023 offseason. The lack of motivation and hope for a trade could have been part of what stalled his production last season as he was hoping for an NHL spot.
Now, with the Senators, Jenik has made an excellent first impression. He started his preseason off with a four-point game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were running with a full NHL-caliber team, and followed that up with a fight against former Senator Boko Imama, who is now with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Jenik has been reliably defensively as well, which is arguably more important to the club than a four-point game and a heavyweight tilt.
Jenik Brings Good Pace Change From Last Year
The fourth line last season had two staples, Mark Kastelic and Parker Kelly. Neither player had a good combination of speed and puck skill, and Jenik brings both of those. The Senators’ bottom-six really struggled to produce, which isn’t the end of the world if they are playing great defensively, but they weren’t doing that either.
The pace of the fourth-line last season was just a hard-hitting group to wear down the opposition while the stars rested on the bench. They weren’t much of a threat and would often be part of a defensive structural collapse. Individually, the players were fine bottom-six players, and will do well in their new roles with new teams, but together, and having little-to-no structure from DJ Smith, it didn’t work.
Jenik does have some physicality, but not as much as Kastelic or Kelly. The rest of his game though, seems to be better than each of the other two. He has done a great job of playing smart on both sides of the puck and can be trusted in any situation.
Jenik just turned 24, which is a prime age for a player to make the jump to the NHL. He isn’t a prospect that had been written off or anything, it was just time for a change of scenery.
In two Ontario Hockey League (OHL) seasons, Jenik posted 86 points in 54 games, which was a very promising start. Since turning pro, Jenik has had his taste of NHL action with 22 career games, earning four goals and six points in that time. His 2021-22 season in the AHL was very impressive, where he posted 47 points in 51 games as an AHL sophomore.
A lot of diverse experiences and having a chip on his shoulder are both assets that Jenik has taken into training camp this year, and by the looks of things already, he is proving that he belongs in the NHL and can be impactful.
