Thomas Chabot Was the Right Choice as Senators Captain

The Ottawa Senators announced that defenseman Thomas Chabot has been named the 11th captain in franchise history on Sept. 29.

After Brady Tkachuk requested a trade out of Ottawa, was dealt to the Florida Panthers, and left the captaincy vacant, speculation began regarding the club’s next captain. Chabot was alongside Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, and Claude Giroux as fellow candidates.

Why Chabot Over Stutzle or Sanderson?

Just because Stutzle and Sanderson were not selected to be the captain doesn’t mean they aren’t strong leaders. Having candidates like these players is a luxury.

During a press conference following the Senators’ announcement, general manager Steve Staios took to the podium.

Staios stated, “It doesn’t need to be said, but totally well earned and deserved. Thomas exemplifies everything that it means to be an Ottawa Senator. It is a proud day for us.”

The announcement came just five days after the birth of Chabot’s daughter, Romy.

As part of his statement, Chabot said, “Ottawa is home for us. We bought our first house here. We had our first child here. Ottawa will always be close to our heart no matter what.”

Chabot noted how strong the fanbase is, how much he cares about the city, and how he takes pride in wearing the jersey every single game.

There were strong arguments for other candidates, but there aren’t any strong arguments against Chabot being named the captain.

Chabot Stayed Loyal Through Difficult Seasons

After being selected 18th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Chabot joined the team full-time following the 2017 Cinderella run the Senators made to the Eastern Conference Final.

As a rookie, Chabot posted an impressive 25 points in 63 games, and upped his game the following season with 55 points as a sophomore.

While that 55-point season would prove to be his highest point total through nine years with the team, his game has continued to develop into a very well-rounded defenseman. With strong puck-moving ability and good shutdown skills, Chabot leads by example.

The challenge for Chabot has been finding the right defensive partner. When the Senators had Dylan DeMelo, he was a great fit alongside Chabot, but he was dealt to the Winnipeg Jets as they worked on their teardown.

Since DeMelo, Chabot’s most common defensive partners include names like Ron Hainsey, Nikita Zaitsev, Erik Brannstrom, and Travis Hamonic.

There have been times when he played with Artem Zub, he and Nick Jensen made for a great pairing one season, but the biggest standout is what seems to be a never-ending carousel of partners. Through all of that, Chabot continued to develop into not only an excellent defenseman, but a true leader.

Just ahead of the 2019-20 season, with the Senators amidst an ugly rebuild, Chabot signed an eight-year deal, which currently has two seasons remaining. That marked the first player to commit to the Senators long-term during the rebuild.

Chabot Represents a New Era for the Senators

The big story of the offseason was the Tkachuk trade situation. It has been exhausted, and Senators fans are ready to move on from it. Naming Chabot the captain does that.

The Senators were in a fortunate enough position to have plenty of candidates to be named captain. Chabot was the runner-up in 2021 before Tkachuk was given the “C”, and many others have developed into leaders, or in the case of Giroux, signed with the club.

If they didn’t go into the season with a captain, that role would still be associated with Tkachuk. Questions like ‘who will take Tkachuk’s spot?’ would have been asked, but now that is Chabot’s spot.

It had been reported various times that the Senators’ locker room was getting tired of the Tkachuk rumours. As long as he was in Ottawa, they weren’t going away. It had also been reported that some players didn’t like that Tkachuk had the Wingmen podcast going, either.

There were a lot of distracting storylines throughout the season, and the change of captaincy and departure of Tkachuk should help calm things down.

None of that is to say anybody was happy to see Tkachuk go, but now that the saga is over, a lot of the rumours and storylines will be gone as well.

Chabot has been a part of the leadership group for a long time, and now that he is the captain, his voice will mean that much more. The Senators have high aspirations in a difficult Atlantic Division, and Chabot is going to look to lead them deep into the playoffs.