Yes, things are bad for the Ottawa Senators. After coming into the 2023-24 season with playoff hopes, the team sunk to last in the Eastern Conference, leading to the firing of their general manager and coach, but it’s hardly improved since then. The young core is not performing as expected, the depth has once again come into question, and neither of their two starting goalies can bail them out of a tough spot. The lack of success has led to plenty of trade speculation, leading to Jakub Chychrun being on the trade block. It’s not a fun time to be a Senators fan.
However, thankfully, there is a silver lining – the Senators’ top prospects are doing just fine. December was a strong month for many of Ottawa’s young players, and while there may not be any superstars left in the mix, last month demonstrated that these players look destined to make an impact at the NHL level. Here’s a rundown of the best stories from December and early January.
Donovan and Toure Are On the Move
Jorian Donovan has been having a stellar 2023-24; in 34 games with the Brantford Bulldogs, he leads the team’s defence with 28 points and sits 15th among all Ontario Hockey League (OHL) defencemen in points per game. He was also an injury replacement for Team Canada at the 2024 World Juniors and managed to play in all five games. But just four games since returning from Sweden, he’s on the move again after he was flipped to the Saginaw Spirit for a whopping eight picks: two second-rounders, four thirds, and two fourths.
Trades like that are unthinkable in the NHL, but during the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Trade Deadline, they’re all but commonplace. Even though the Bulldogs are one of the OHL’s best teams, the Spirit are hosting the 2024 Memorial Cup and have gone on a spending spree to load up on talent. No price is too expensive, and so when Saginaw’s general manager had a chance to add a top defenceman, he took it, saying, “the amount of experience this young man has packed into his hockey career is remarkable, and that naturally leads to the character and leadership qualities our staff seeks out. We believe we’ve gotten the best two-way defender in the league.”
Donovan wasn’t the only Senators’ prospect dealt in the past week. Djibril Toure was also traded from the Sudbury Wolves to the Windsor Spitfires. After seemingly coming out of nowhere at the Senators Rookie Camp, the 6-foot-7 blueliner has become one of the team’s more intriguing prospects. In December alone, he put up six points in 10 games despite playing a more defensive game. It’s strange that the Wolves, who are currently in a playoff spot, would deal one of their best defencemen to the second-last-place Spitfires, but Toure will be given an even bigger role on his new team, which should pay off well for the Senators next season when he turns pro.
Hamara Comes Up Big for Czechia
Despite having four prospects at the World Juniors, the Senators didn’t see a lot of dominance. Donovan was held pointless in five games and lacked his usual urgency, Oskar Pettersson played some of the lowest minutes among forwards on Team Sweden, and goalie Kevin Reidler didn’t appear in a single game for the Swedes. Then there was Tomas Hamara. At the World Juniors, he was Czechia’s best offensive defenceman, putting up seven points in seven games, which included the game-winning goal in the bronze medal barnburner that ended 8-5 in favour of the Czechs.
While it wasn’t a perfect tournament for him or the Czechs, this is more of what the Senators expected when they selected him in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft. That’s a welcome change of pace after starting with just three assists in 18 games with the Kitchener Rangers. A trade to the Bulldogs helped recalibrate him, placing him on the top pairing with Donovan, and since the move, he’s scored eight points in 14 games, including six in the first nine and two in his last three. With Donovan gone, he’ll be the number one defenceman in Brampton, an opportunity he’ll surely relish.
Crookshank & Guenette are AHL All-Stars
The AHL All-Star Classic is set for Feb. 4, 2024, and this year, the Belleville Senators will send two representatives, Angus Crookshank and Maxence Guenette. The last time the Senators had two prospects at the event was in 2020, when Rudolfs Balcers and Alex Formenton were selected to represent the North Division. It’s also just the third time the Senators have been represented by two players, and unlike the NHL, all the players are selected by a group of coaches before the announcement, decreasing the popularity contest element.
Given the selection process, it’s a testament to just how good both players have been this season. Crookshank has been the best forward on the team by far, leading the team in goals and points despite spending seven games up in the NHL. He practically forced the Senators to call him up, and when he was finally given a chance, he scored a goal in his second appearance.
Related: Senators’ Brady Tkachuk Named 2024 NHL All-Star
Guenette, on the other hand, has been the team’s best defenceman by far. He nearly made the NHL’s Senators out of training camp, but cap constraints forced him back to Belleville, where he’s continuously proven he’s too good for this league. In 31 games, he has 21 points, which ties him for 13th among all defencemen in scoring. If there wasn’t a log jam on Ottawa’s blue line, he’d certainly have earned a spot by now. But, until then, he’ll happily settle for an All-Star nod.
Stanley Gets His First NCAA Goal
The Senators had precious few draft picks in 2023, and the players that they added were not all that exciting. But of that group, Hoyt Stanley was the most intriguing. The 6-foot-2 defenceman has been solid as a freshman at Cornell, but after 11 games, he had just two assists and five blocked shots. But, after returning from the Christmas break, he finally broke through with his first NCAA goal against the University of Massachusetts.
When he was drafted, Stanley was described as a player who had the potential to be a top-four, two-way defenceman, showing off plenty of tools in his time in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), but needed time to put them together. He was always a long-term project, but one with a pretty good upside, and from what we’ve seen so far, it’s clear that he’s a long way away from making a push for an NHL spot.
Quick Hits
- Matthew Andonovski had a sneaky good December with the Kitchener Rangers, scoring a goal and eight points in 10 games. Not known for his offence, it will be interesting to see if he can keep up his recent hot streak throughout January.
- Tyler Boucher scored in his second AHL game but has been quiet since then with just one assist in his last five games. His skill set practically guarantees he’ll be an effective bottom-six NHLer, but injuries have completely derailed his development. Here’s hoping that he can finally find some consistency in Belleville this season.
- While Crookshank has been in the NHL, Roby Jarventie has taken over as Belleville’s top scorer. In 12 games in December, he put away seven goals and 15 points while shooting at an absurdly high 23%. He’s itching for another call-up after playing seven games in November, and with how the team is currently doing, it’s bound to come right around the NHL trade deadline.
- Sticking in Belleville, Zack Ostapchuk had five goals in December, second only to Jarventie for the most in the month. The assists haven’t come this season, but nine goals in 31 games as an AHL rookie is impressive. He could finish the season with 21 goals and 26 points.
- Kevin Mandolese strung together five wins in six games in December along with a 0.933 save percentage, outperforming Mads Sogaard in Belleville who only had one win. Could Mandolese help the Senators’ shambling crease?
That’s it for this edition of Senators Prospect Report. Although the Senators are spiralling, their prospects are looking as strong as ever, which, at the very least, gives some hope for the near future. They may not be stars, but several look like solid NHL contributors who could break out if given the right chances. Hopefully, more prospects will be given opportunities to show off their skills at the highest level in the new year.
