The Ottawa Senators have announced the defenseman Artem Zub will be returning to the lineup for their game against the New York Islanders on Nov. 7.
With Zub returning to the top pair with Sanderson, Hamonic will pair with Kleven tonight, and JBD will be the healthy scratch on defence.
— TSN 1200 Ottawa (@TSN1200) November 7, 2024
Zub has missed the previous nine games with a concussion after taking a big hit from LA Kings forward Tanner Jeannot 24 days ago. Since the injury, the Senators have played fairly well, but certainly missed his defensive presence on the top pair alongside Jake Sanderson.
In his absence, the Senators have had Travis Hamonic playing in the top pair role, and while Hamonic can be a solid depth option, he is far past his prime and isn’t suited for a role in the top four anymore. Sanderson has had to carry a big portion of the workload for that duo, which has resulted in a significant slowing of his offensive pace, and he is being put in unfortunate situations more often, making his defensive metrics seemingly worse than he has been.
Coming out of the lineup will be Jacob Bernard-Docker, and while like Hamonic, Bernard-Docker isn’t a bonafide top-four defenseman, he has been a steady presence for the club, and there is certainly an argument for him to remain in the lineup over Hamonic.
While Zub was absent, the Senators had a record of 4-5-0, and in some of their losses, there was a good argument for them being the better team and just unable to close out the game. Zub’s reliability will certainly help the team, and while it may take longer than just one game against the Islanders to get back up to speed, he is an immediate upgrade on the Senators’ blue line.
Shane Pinto is still out of the lineup as well, but has been skating with the team. He will likely return to the lineup soon, but for now, the depth scoring has been good enough that Pinto’s absence hasn’t been detrimental to the team in the same way Zub’s was.
