Ottawa Senators Prospect Update - March 25th

On one hand, Angus Crookshank. On the other hand, why did the Ottawa Senators wait for the wet cement in the basement to solidify before calling him up?

Forwards

Angus Crookshank

Crookshank was one of two players in the entire organization to score a game-winning goal this past week and was an overall positive contributor against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. The 2018 5th-rounder had a pretty long road to the NHL, from spending three years in college to missing the 2021-22 AHL season to an injury. Expect him to lock down a full-time job on the 4th line next season, but if the Senators have to send him down, they can still do so without putting him on waivers for one more year.

Zack Ostapchuk

It's not necessarily a good thing that an AHL rookie with 23 points in 59 games is Ottawa's best choice for a 4th-line center going forward, but the 2021 2nd-rounder has shown in a very small sample size that he's a better option than Rourke Chartier and Mark Kastelic. He finished his stint with the big club without any points in 6 games but got an assist upon returning to Belleville. By all means, give him an opportunity up here next year, but I'd like to see a veteran option to ensure that spot is always filled by someone competent.

Tarun Fizer

Tarun Fizer wasn't exactly one of the top three forwards of the week in Ottawa's prospect pipeline, but the free agent signing finally recorded his first AHL goal this week.

Defensemen

Maxence Guénette

In a tough week for the Belleville Senators, Maxence Guénette was one of the more consistent players for the club. While they only managed a point in their three game weekend, Guénette's goal and assist on Saturday was a main contributing factor in Belleville almost completing the comeback against the Laval Rocket.

Matthew Andonovski

The only OHL player in the system who wasn't traded this season, Andonovski added an assist in three games to his new total of 32 points in 65 games. He's second on the team in scoring by a defenseman, and leads the entire league with a +58 rating, 27 more than the next best player on the Kitchener Rangers. OHL playoffs start Thursday, and the Rangers will play Game 1 of their series against the Erie Otters on Saturday.

Goaltending

Kevin Reidler

The Riddler is having a bit of a similar year to which fellow goalie prospect Leevi Merilainen had with the Kingston Frontenacs a few years back. Tons of wins, in spite of a less than great SV%. The Dubuque Fighting Saints are dominating the USHL, and only allowed 38 shots across the two games they played, and Reidler stopped 35 of those shots for a .921 on the weekend. He has a .901 on the year with a 25-5-4 record.

Belleville Update

The Belleville Senators have chosen an inconvenient time to start to falter. This time last week, they were in the thick of the playoff race while securing a spot. Now they're still in the thick of the race, since it's so tight, but are on the outside looking in. The reason? Well, they had three games in three nights this weekend and only secured one of a possible six points. And two of those losses were to Laval, a team with which the Senators are heavily battling for one of the North Division's playoff spots.

There were some highlights of the week, like Tarun Fizer scoring his first AHL goal and Leevi Meriläinen stopping 35 of the 38 shots he faced (.921). But there were also a few lows, like allowing Laval to get four incredibly important points and Mads Søgaard landing back on the injured list.

The BSens have an opportunity for revenge this weekend as they have another back-to-back on the schedule with Laval. I've been ringing this bell all year but we're now officially getting into "must-win" territory for virtually every game if the Senators want an opportunity to comfortably secure a playoff spot with only 10 games left on the schedule.

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